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UK Doctors Warn IVF Drugs Pose Health Hazard for Mothers

By Gudrun Schultz

LONDON, United Kingdom, October 11, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - IVF drugs are dangerous for the health of mothers as well as babies, medical experts warned last week, and there is no clear evidence they increase a woman’s chance of conceiving.

Hormone treatment during IVF procedures are intended to help stimulate egg production by the ovaries, to be collected artificially for petri-dish fertilization. The treatment leads to ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome in up to six percent of women, causing nausea, abdominal pain and bloating, and respiration problems, said a report published by Baby World October ninth. In some cases, death can occur.

Dr. Geeta Nargund, head of reproductive medicine at St. George’s Hospital in London, said more research is needed into the long-term health effects of IVF treatment.

“There are concerns [regarding] stimulating ovaries to produce more eggs. There may be consequences for a woman’s reproductive organs later in life, in particular uterine cancer and we urgently need to fund studies to test these suspicions.”

The report raised the alarm on the unregulated use of IVF drugs by fertility clinics, with one fertility expert saying the existing guidelines are not binding, leaving clinics free to prescribe dangerously high doses of the drugs.

“Women are going around from clinic to clinic and receiving different doses of these drugs but there is no sound scientific evidence to show that it will help improve their chances of conceiving,” said Dr. Nargund.

“There is also no evidence to show how these drugs will affect the long-term health of the mother or the baby.

“When we are in the situation where there are a lot of couples out there who are financially, emotionally and physically broke from undergoing repeated IVF, it is our obligation to regulate this.”

Multiple studies have documented the high risk of birth deformity and severe health problems associated with IVF births. A study from Finland in 2005 showed 43 babies out of every thousand conceived using IVF techniques suffered from a variety of abnormalities including genetic deformities, brain disorders, developmental delays and genital malformations.

Read Baby World coverage:
http://www.babyworld.co.uk/news/Oct06/09.10.06_ivf_drugs.asp

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Fertility Drugs used in IVF a Health Hazard for Women
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jul/04072204.html

Finnish Study finds IVF Increases Risk of Deformity
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05122311.html

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