Reproduction

New Birth Control Pill for Men

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have explained how close we are to having a male birth control pill. They made the presentation at The 93rd Annual Meeting & Expo of the Endocrine Society in Boston, Massachusetts. They showed that "low doses of an anti vitamin A pill would stop sperm production in its tracks, with no apparent side effects." Previous research has shown that male hormone-based birth control drugs usually result in a dramatic decrease in sex drive, something which was always a deal breaker. However, thats not the case with this new tablet. And there's no long term effects on fertility as research on mice has shown that normal fertility is restored soon after the drug was stopped.

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No more periods thanks to Lybrel

Hailed by time magazine as one of the top medical breakthroughs of the year, women can now dodge the nuisance of their monthly periods. Its called Lybrel which is a name meant to conjure up the images of liberty. Its made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the new contraceptive is similar to the conventional Pill except without the placebo sugar pills making it the first continuous use birth control drug approved by the FDA.

Needless to say, a contraceptive like this is not without controversy. Many have said that a period is the epitome of fertility and femininity, and that stopping menstruation is unnatural.  In fact one of the main reasons the original pill had the placebos was because the Vatican was against it for the same reasons.

So time magazine may be right that its a major breakthrough, but its not a medical breakthrough.

Men With Erectile Dysfunction at Double Risk of Heart Disease

Monday, February 02, 2009

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Men who experience erectile dysfunction between the ages of 40 and 49 are twice as likely to develop heart disease than men without dysfunction, according to a new Mayo Clinic study.

"The highest risk for coronary heart disease was in younger men," says researcher Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D. The study was published in the February 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The results suggest that younger men and their doctors may need to consider erectile dysfunction a harbinger of future risk of coronary heart disease — and take appropriate steps to prevent it, says Dr. St. Sauver.

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Down Syndrome Prenatal Screening Breakthrough

Lenetix, Inc. today announced a significant step in the development of an improved first and second trimester non-invasive fetal chromosomal screening test to detect Down syndrome and other genetic fetal conditions. Lenetix presented preliminary study results at the 29th annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference in San Diego that indicate a potential breakthrough in testing quality and accuracy while preserving the safety of mother and fetus.

The maternal serum test developed by Lenetix medical director Dr. Stephen A. Brown at the University of Vermont incorporates the use of methylation-sensitive amplification (MSA) of fetal nucleic acid markers. In the preliminary studies, more than ten clinical plasma specimens of various ethnicities provided by clinical partners were tested with clinical partners using the MSA approach developed by Dr. Brown. Data from pilot studies indicate that highly accurate screening for common fetal autosomal (Trisomy 18, 21) and sex chromosomal (47, XXY) chromosome abnormalities is feasible, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy when MSA features of early pregnancy-derived cells can be leveraged. This approach affords diagnostic confirmation by CVS, an invasive first trimester procedure, or genetic amniocentesis in the early 2nd trimester.

“The technique described by Dr. Brown and his team at Lenetix will create a revolution in prenatal diagnosis,” said study investigator Allan Fisher, M.D., FACOG, FACMG. “This testing will ultimately decrease the number of amniocenteses, and thus reduce the number of miscarriages caused by amniocenteses. It will also help us identify patients who will need an amniocentesis or CVS where we may have missed them before. A better test that produces fewer false positives and negatives drives better patient care, and that’s exciting for the future.”

“Our preliminary results are extraordinarily encouraging, and complement nicely the work of other investigators whose efforts have focused heretofore in the 2nd trimester,” said Lenetix president and CEO Leonard H. Kellner. “Such breakthroughs in improvements of current maternal serum screening for fetal aneuploidy, including fetal Down syndrome, will lead to better quality of screening and most certainly will result in less unnecessary, invasive diagnostic testing.”

About Lenetix

Founded in 2001, Mineola, NY-based Lenetix Medical Laboratory is a privately-owned provider of innovative technologies focused on diagnostic testing, including prenatal and reproductive cancer diagnostics, and risk assessment for genetic disease. The Lenetix scientific team has nearly 30 years of experience in developing new and innovative tests used by healthcare providers and researchers worldwide. For more information, visit www.lenetix.com.