An interesting article from New Scientist In the current Covid 19 pandemic it has been apparent that this is a disease that particularly hits the elderly harder although it has emerged that there is another risk factor, being male. The first signs of a sex difference in severity emerged in Wuhan after the city entered…
I am often asked by patients what would be the best age to start trying for a family. As most people appreciate, fertility prospects decrease with age. In broad terms there is a slow decline until approximately the age of 35 and then the situation deteriorates reasonably rapidly until the age of 40 at which…
Exciting new research in mice ovaries has revealed that it might be possible to rejuvenate egg quality in human females as they age. It has been known for many years that human egg quality deteriorates from the age of 35 accelerating from the age of 40. This results in falling spontaneous pregnancy rates and increasing…
The first fully-robotic system was approved for clinical use in the USA in 2000. Amazingly that is now almost two decades ago. The last 10 years has seen an explosive growth in the use of robots particularly in the USA but increasingly in Australia. Urology surgeons led the way finding it increasingly useful to perform…
I have recently seen a patient who has been placed in a most unfortunate position. This lady has been in a happy, stable relationship for over 15 years and has been attempting to conceive unsuccessfully for most of that time. Aged 41 when I first met her, she was born with a congenital bowel issue…
This under-researched condition, possibly a variant of endometriosis, can be a critical consideration particularly for patients with endometriosis. The definition is of endometrial glands and stroma growing within the myometrium of the uterus or in other words not dissimilar to endometriosis but growing in the wrong part of the uterus. I liken it to having…
A recent media report from the Sydney Morning Herald confirms the data from Genea over the last few years that single ET at IVF clearly gives superior results. This will have significant implications for units that traditionally transfer multiple embryos. The USA in particular is likely to have a significant change in practice and probably…
The current definition of endometriosis is the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterus. This limited definition of the disease unfortunately creates unrealistic expectations that simply removing the disease results in a “cure”. The reality is that we are hopelessly lost in understanding this disease and the underlying pathological process. It is known…
A recent series of articles in The Guardian again reveals the significant financial and debilitating cost of this terrible disease. My friend and colleague, Dr Geoff Reid outlines the tremendous impact this has on women and their partners. Increasingly it is becoming clear that advanced cases require multi-specialised teams to cope with the different facets…