Embryo Mini-Movies May Boost IVF Success

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.

For the study, British researchers used time-lapse photography to track the earliest stage of embryonic development – a process that unfolds in womb-mimicking incubators for couples using IVF. The researchers then used an algorithm to spot the embryos most likely to grow into babies.

"Embryo selection based predominantly on specific time-lapse derived algorithms could rapidly become routine in IVF treatment," the study authors wrote in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online, describing how the healthiest-looking embryos had a 72.7 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy and a 61.1 percent chance of resulting in a live birth.

Embryos deemed to look less healthy by the time-lapse technique had a 25.5 percent chance of leading to a pregnancy and 19.2 percent of resulting in a live birth, according to the study.

But the study was small, with only 69 couples, and some experts say many women lack the luxury of choice when it comes to embryo implantation.

"A lot of the time, we don't have that many embryos to choose from," said Dr. James Goldfarb, director of the University Hospitals Fertility Center in Cleveland and past president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, who was not involved in the study.

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An IVF cycle starts with a woman taking drugs to stimulate the production of multiple eggs. After about two weeks, the eggs are collected and fertilized. Then, the resulting embryos are grown in a lab for up to five days, depending on how many there are and how healthy they look.

The more healthy embryos there are, the more likely an embryologist will watch them for five days to let the weakest die off, leaving the strongest behind. The pregnancy rate for women under 35 with day 5 embryo transfers is 69 percent, compared to 57 percent for women with day 3 transfers, according to data from the Cleveland Clinic's IVF Laboratory.

"For some patients, you might get 15 eggs, and maybe 13 will fertilize and you have enough embryos that look good on day 3 to go out to day 5 without a problem," said Goldfarb. "But at the other end of spectrum, you might have a patient with only six or seven eggs, only three or four get fertilized, and by day 3, you only have two that look reasonable."

In that case, Goldfarb added, "it's better to transfer them on day 3."

The number of embryos transferred depends on the woman's age. But for women 35 and under, it's typically one or two, according to Goldfarb. So if only one or two embryos are thriving on implantation day, there's not much of a choice.

But the new study raises an interesting possibility for women with multiple embryos to choose from. Based on time-lapse imaging, the researchers were able to weed out embryos with an abnormal number of chromosomes – embryos that would likely fail to implant in the womb or result in a miscarriage. None of the embryos deemed the least healthy by the time-lapse technique resulted in a pregnancy or a live birth, according to the study.

"In some ways, it's more of a negative to get pregnant and miscarry," said Goldfarb. "That rollercoaster can be much more traumatic than not getting pregnant at all."

But the study does not break down the couples' ages and explain how that might have impacted their IVF success rate, noting only that they ranged in age from 25 to 47 with an average age of 36. Nor does it detail how long the embryos were observed in culture before being transferred into the womb, instead indicating that they were "cultured until 5 or 6 days" after fertilization. And while the study does suggest that technology can help in the embryo selection process, experts say the decision to undergo IVF and the odds of being successful vary from couple to couple.

"Obviously, the goal is to pick out the best embryos, and this study is certainly not the first to look at this technique," said Goldfarb, explaining how similar studies have found mixed results. "It's something still in play, and we'll how this sorts out in long run."

"But I think the one thing patients want to hear is your best assessment of their individual chance of getting pregnant," he added. "And you can get a pretty good estimate of that based on their age and some other characteristics."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Lessons in Parenting from Around the World

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- With tiger moms, helicopter parents, and permissive and authoritarian models, parenting styles differ as much in the United States as they do in any country.

But can American parents learn something from their counterparts in different parts of the world?

The answer is yes, according to Christine Gross-Loh, author of the recently published book Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us. The Harvard-educated mother of four traveled to and researched parenting styles in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, China, Italy and other countries.

American parents may not think they need any lessons. According to a study released in March by the Pew Research Center, moms and dads in the U.S. gave themselves good marks for how they raised their children. Almost 70 percent of parents with children under 18 said they have done a very good job or better. Only six percent rated themselves poorly.

In other parts of the world, American parenting styles stand out. When Gross-Loh and her husband were raising their four children in Japan, she noticed something unusual when they were playing in the park.
“I was the only parent following my children around the park and preventing disputes,” she said in an interview with ABC's Christiane Amanpour.

Japanese parents allowed their children to get into scrapes, she said, and felt that disagreements were character-building.

“Even though we in America prize independence and autonomy and freedom so much, children in Japan were being raised with a lot more of these qualities,” said Gross-Loh.

Without a doubt, good parenting means being involved in children’s lives. But Gross-Loh’s research led her to conclude that being over-involved is detrimental and undermining.

“We like children who can speak their own minds and give their own opinions and be their own person,” she said. “This is a part of being independent. But there’s a whole other part that I think we’ve been neglecting and that’s the idea of self-reliance and self-responsibility. Those are the sorts of ideas that I see being fostered in other countries that are not being fostered as well by many parents in the U.S. It’s not our fault. We’ve been told that it’s good to look out for our children and help them out.”

One facet in developing independent children seemed counterintuitive: co-sleeping. Gross-Loh pointed to a survey showing that out of 100 countries, the U.S. was the only one in which parents provided a separate sleeping place for their children. In other countries, when little children sleep in the same bed, the same room or nearby the parents, their levels of dependence better matched during day and night.

“The idea is that when you allow children to be dependent in this way when they are babies, then they can more easily move into age-appropriate independence as they get older,” said Gross-Loh. “And research does show that even American children who were co-sleeping with their parents were more independent in different ways."

“Parents who have this 24-hour relationship with their kids, in Japan, for example, were not as reluctant to ask more of their children during the daytime,” Gross-Loh added. “They could carry their own bags, walk to school on their own, do chores around the house. In the U.S., we have this tendency to think there are things they can’t handle during the day, but we ask them to do something different at night.”

Another aspect of self-reliance and independence is safety. But Gross-Loh argued that allowing children to take some risks is actually the best sort of protection to give them, something she saw in Japan and certain European countries.

“That is how they will form the judgments to deal with all sorts of situations,” she said.
Gross-Loh recounted visiting a kindergarten in the German forest and coming across a 5-year-old child whittling on a stick with a knife.

“He had been taught how to do it safely,” she said. “Meanwhile, a lot of children in the U.S. are not even allowed to pick up a stick at the school playground because it might hurt someone.”

Through raising her children abroad and her research, Gross-Loh said she has learned her own lessons for her family.

“For me, I learned that I could be more relaxed about parenting because there’s so many ways to be a good parent,” she said. “And a lot of them involve a lot less involvement than we believe we should be doing.”

But what about lessons that American parents can teach the rest of the world?

“One of the things that was really striking is that we strive to raise tolerant children,” said Gross-Loh. “In a way, it’s necessitated because we live in such a diverse society. But it’s the sort of thing I didn’t see in other cultures.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Survey Says Bedroom Color Can Impact Sleep Quality, Sex Life

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- How much sleep you get might be at least partially determined by the color of your bedroom.

According to a recent survey, bedrooms decorated with more calm colors, like blue, yellow and green, often offer more sleep than those adorned with more stimulating colors. According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, the survey showed that people whose bedrooms are blue get the most sleep, nearly eight hours on average. Comparatively, those with purple bedrooms get an average of under six hours of sleep.

Yellow, green, silver and orange bedrooms also offered more than seven hours sleep, which contributes to how a person might feel during the day.

According to the Daily Mail, the data relates to the way the human eye reacts to specific colors. Certain cells in the retina feed information the brain controlling body rhythms. Those cells happen to be most sensitive to the color blue.

Alternatively, purple is considered a stimulating color that drives creativity. With the color of their bedroom prompting the mind to keep working, even at night, people can be depriving themselves of important sleep.

Bedroom decoration can also affect people beyond sleeping patterns, says the Daily Mail. Couples who sleep in a caramel colored have sex three times per week on average, while those in red-colored bedrooms were intimate just once each week.

Similarly, couples with grey bedrooms spend the most time online shopping in bed, while silver bedrooms were often linked with more frequent exercise.

"Room color does influence your mood and set the tone for your living environment," Frances Whitley, in-house interior designer for Travelodge, told the Daily Mail.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Is Fake Chicken the New Chicken?

Beyond Meat(NEW YORK) -- Fake meat isn’t a new thing, but good fake meat that is almost indistinguishable from real meat could be very big in cleaning up your diet and helping the planet.

Beyond Meat, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based food company that specializes in making “chicken” from plant-based protein, claims it is 80 percent of the way toward making real-tasting fake chicken. And you can find out for yourself as their products are now in Whole Foods markets and the Tropical Smoothie restaurants in New York City, where you can substitute its fake chicken for real chicken in burritos.

“What we offer the market is the cleanest form of protein that money can buy,” says Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat’s founder and CEO. “You don’t have any concerns about antibiotics, avian flu, mad cow disease. You have no hormones or steroid use.”

Brown noted that meat consumption has been linked to cancer and heart disease, and that it takes a toll on the environment, too.

“If you look at climate, 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to meat consumption,” he said.

Brown, who is vegan, looked far and wide for the technology his company uses in its fake meat products. He finally stumbled upon two researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia who had been working for 10 years on a system that heats, cools and pressurizes protein from plants so that it mimics the fibrous structure of meat.

“Now we’re not all the way there,” Brown says, “but I would challenge you in a tortilla or an enchilada to tell me which is chicken and which is not.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Aimee Copeland Gets Bionic Hands

The Copeland Family(NEW YORK) -- Aimee Copeland, the 25-year-old who lost her hands, both feet and her entire right leg to flesh-eating bacteria a year ago, has received two new bionic hands.

Copeland spent the week in Ohio at Touch Bionics, where she received two bionic hands free of charge. The hands cost $100,000 a piece, on average, a company spokesperson told ABC News.

Copeland spent the week getting fitted for the limbs and learning how to use them. The prosthetics respond to muscle signals in Copeland’s residual limbs and are capable of 24 different kinds of movements.

She will leave Touch Bionics to return to her Snellville, Ga., home Friday. Touch Bionics offered to donate the prosthetic hands because Copeland had run out of health insurance to pay for them herself, a company spokesperson said.

Copeland cut open her right leg falling from a zip line near the Tallapoosa River in Georgia in April 2012, allowing a deadly bacterium to enter her body. She said she sensed something wasn’t quite right days after receiving 22 stitches to close the wound on her calf because it hurt up to her thigh.

The bacteria advanced undetected until her leg turned “a dark purple color,” Copeland said on the set of ABC’s Katie talk show in September.

“I wasn’t able to walk,” she told show host Katie Couric. “I wasn’t able to speak. The only thing I was able to babble was, ‘I think I’m dying.’”

After being in and out of the emergency room with the painful wound that wouldn’t heal, doctors realized Copeland had necrotizing fasciitis and amputated her leg from the hip. Later, when her hands turned black, doctors amputated them, too.

Copeland spent two months in a hospital and another two months in rehabilitation before returning to her renovated home in late August 2012.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

What Teens Should Expect from Their First Gynecologist Visit

James Woodson/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Visiting a gynecologist for the first time can be awkward and embarrassing for some teens. But the visit is crucial to help them understand their bodies and lay the groundwork for future health and wellness.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends the first visit should be between the ages of 13 to 15. The exam should be an opportunity to educate teens about their bodies and help them establish a relationship with a gynecologist at an early age.

What to Expect

The first visit is an opportunity for teens to get accurate information about the changes in their bodies. A gynecologist will discuss acne, painful or irregular periods, breast changes, pelvic pain, body hair, nutrition, sexual behavior, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. It is also an opportunity to talk about preexisting conditions and any family history of cancer.

Beyond talking, the visit might also include a breast exam, pelvic exam and a pap test, which screens for cervical cancer. The gynecologist might ask for a relative or nurse to be present during these exams.

While the first visit might be awkward, it’s an important step in the transition from teenage girl to healthy woman. Starting a conversation with a doctor helps you lay the foundation for health and wellness.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Plus-Size Model Says She Chose to Gain Weight

Goodshoot/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- H&M made headlines last month when it featured plus-size model Jennie Runk in its new swimwear ad campaign.

In an industry where swimwear is traditionally modeled by willowy or waifish models, Runk’s appearance in the retailer’s general -- not plus-size -- swimsuit campaign sent a strong message.

Runk, 24, is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and wears size 12 or 14.

In an open letter this week posted on her Facebook page, and reprinted by the U.K.’s BBC News, Runk railed against the general obsession with size.

“People assume plus equates to fat, which in turn equates to ugly.  This is completely absurd because many women who are considered plus-sized are actually in line with the American average,” she wrote.

Runk, who was discovered when she was 13 years old, had a choice to lose weight and remain a size 4 or gain weight and kick-start her career as a plus-size model.

“I knew I was going to end up gaining weight anyway,” she said in an interview with ABC News’ Bianna Golodryga that aired Friday on Good Morning America.  “I was getting hips, I was growing into a woman, so I figured it was easier.”

That kind of confidence has served her well in an industry where some retailers -- most recently Abercrombie & Fitch -- don’t even offer clothing in her size.

Asked how she avoided negative thoughts about her body, Runk said, “I am the only one who can judge me.  My opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to me.”

Runk credits her success to the many other so-called plus-size models who blazed the trial before her, including Robyn Lawley, designer Ralph Lauren’s first plus-size model.

“I met a lot of them and they taught me a lot of what I know now,” Runk said.

Runk hopes she has helped start a conversation that may change attitudes about beauty and the so-called “mean girl” culture that sometimes comes along with  it.

“Our bodies are built to be naturally different sizes,” she said.  “To denote any of these body types negatively is only hurting all of us, because that’s where you get girls of one body type slamming another to make themselves feel better.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Great-Grandma, 79, Jumps from Plane

Courtesy of Carolyn Meiselbach(NEW YORK) -- What do you do after you’ve survived six strokes, beat cancer twice and suffered from osteoporosis, arthritis and diabetes?  If you’re 79-year-old Carolyn Meiselbach, you go skydiving.

Meiselbach said she leaped into the upstate New York sky last month to settle some unfinished business.

“When I was young, I went through a 20-week parachute training course.  But I was afraid to make the jump because there was no reserve chute,” she said.

The great-grandmother took the leap from more than 13,000 feet up despite three doctors advising against it.  She sustained only one minor injury, a bruise on the chest from where her pacemaker mashed up against the parachute harness.

The jump, Meiselbach said, was terrifying.  The worst part was sitting on the floor of “the narrow, dinky plane which was not exactly a 747″ waiting for her turn to jump.

“I made the mistake of looking down,” she said.

But as soon as the instructor pried Meiselbach's hands from the plane’s door and led her out into the air, Meiselbach said it wasn’t so bad.  She concentrated on keeping her mouth closed so she wouldn’t lose her teeth or look weird in the pictures.

Meiselbach is a 24-year resident of Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.  She served six years in the U.S. Navy and raised two sons as a single mom.

Considering all she’s been through, she said getting pushed out of a plane was a piece of cake.  She’s planning a second jump for her 80th birthday in October.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

How Climate Change Could Affect Seasonal Allergies

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The changing climate could prove to be very troublesome for allergy sufferers.  Here are some of the possible effects:

Attack of Potent Pollen

In the past 53 years, carbon dioxide levels have risen globally, approximately 22 percent.  Much has been written about how the rise in greenhouse gases and that it's bad for the environment, but less has been said about how these gases can help some plants flourish.

Unfortunately for humans, these plants -- like poison ivy and ragweed -- tend to be irritating or even harmful to our health.  A 2005 study found that when ragweed plants, a prime cause of hay fever symptoms in late summer and fall, were exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels they not only produced more pollen, but the grains of pollen were covered with increased numbers of nose-irritating proteins, supercharging the pollen's allergic properties.

The study subjected ragweed plants in a lab setting to different carbon dioxide levels from three eras -- the preindustrial age, the present day and even the end of the 21st century.  The study found that the allergen concentrations increased 20 percent from the preindustrial age to today.  But they were projected to rise a startling 60 percent by the end of the century.

So the plants might be flourishing in 90 years, but anyone with a ragweed allergy will be miserable.

"They're growing faster, they're producing more flowers," said Dr. Lewis Ziska, a research plant physiologist at the United States Department of Agriculture and one of the study's authors.  "It's a two-edged sword...the [plants] that are responding have implications for public health."

Double Whammy Allergy Season

Traditionally, allergists break up the year into three distinct seasons.  In spring, it's the trees that cause the most problems; summer brings flowering grasses that induce sneezing; and in fall, ragweed pollen afflicts allergy sufferers with itchy, watery eyes.  

But as temperatures more common for July start showing up in April and May in certain areas of the country, plants react to the weather and not the calendar date.  

Increased overlap between allergy seasons means more pollen in the air and little relief for people hoping for a break between seasons.  However, even when there are multiple allergy seasons happening at once, allergists say there are things people can do to stave off the worst symptoms.

To keep pollen out of the home, experts recommend washing your face and changing your clothes after you arrive home and using a neti pot daily to help flush out irritating pollen grains.

A Milder Winter Might Mean a Miserable Spring

When the weather is warmer and seasons are milder, some plants will be releasing allergy-inducing pollen for longer periods of time.

A 2011 study looked at the length of the ragweed seasons in cities along different latitudes from Georgetown, Texas, to Saskatoon, Canada, over a 14-year period.  During that time, nearly all the cities experienced fewer days with frost and longer ragweed seasons.

Cities further north also had statistically larger increases to their ragweed allergy seasons.  The population of Saskatoon had to contend with a ragweed season 27 days longer in 2009 than in 1995.

Marooned on an 'Urban Heat Island' Means More Sneezing

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 80 percent of Americans currently reside in urban areas.

While cities that lack greenery may seem like a safe place for people with pollen allergies, experts say they won't offer much sanctuary during allergy season.  That is partly because cities often become what scientists call "urban heat islands," where concrete and pavement soak up heat, resulting in consistently higher temperatures compared with surrounding rural areas.

With warmer temperatures and higher levels of carbon dioxide, some allergen-inducing plants can produce more pollen than the same plants located in rural areas.  

A 2003 study on allergen levels in Baltimore found more than three times the amount of ragweed pollen in the city compared with the surrounding rural areas.

Also, densely packed urban areas have higher levels of diesel and car exhaust, which can irritate the nose and throat, making allergy symptoms worse.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

New Details: Angelina Jolie’s Doctor Speaks Out About Her Care

ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- Earlier this week, Angelina Jolie revealed that she’d had a preventive double mastectomy, and her doctor credits the actress’s positive attitude and strength for her quick recovery.

“To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation,” Dr. Kristi Funk writes in an essay on the Pink Lotus Breast Center’s website. “Angelina expected to feel well, to be active.”

In the essay, Funk details Jolie’s treatment, including her initial BRCA gene diagnosis, surgeries and recovery.

“On day four after her mastectomies, I was pleased to find her not only in good spirits with bountiful energy, but with two walls of her house covered with freshly assembled storyboards for the next project she is directing,” Funk reveals.

Funk also credits Brad Pitt for standing by Jolie’s side throughout the three-month ordeal. After Jolie’s first operation, which took place at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, an outpatient facility in Beverly Hills, California, Funk says Pitt “was on hand to greet her as soon as she came around from the anesthetic, as he was during each of the operations.”

Funk also details which medications she prescribed to Jolie, as well as a rundown of the actress’ medical history.  She writes that Jolie’s mother, who died of ovarian cancer in 2007, also battled breast cancer, and that Jolie’s grandmother had ovarian cancer as well. As a result, Jolie will ultimately have her ovaries removed too, according to People magazine.

“Many women, unfortunately, do not know that BRCA gene mutations exist and could affect them,” Funk writes.  ”Like Angelina, I urge women who feel they may have a reason to be at risk for a BRCA gene mutation — perhaps because of a strong family history of cancer — to seek medical advice and to take control of their futures.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio