Main article: Pregnancy and childbirth
Causes of infertility
For the body, the reproduction system is the most unnecessary in difficult conditions.
Such a mechanism has biological feasibility. If the brain evaluates the state of the body as "bad," the most unnecessary system for survival at the moment is turned off - the reproduction system.
The logic is quite simple: all forces must be directed to survival, and spending them on creating a new person in such conditions is irrational, so the "opportunity to get pregnant" in such a situation is turned off.
Below is an animation of how the immune system attacks male sperm inside female organs, leading to infertility.
IVF (in vitro fertilization)
Main article: IVF (In vitro fertilization)
2024: First testicular organoids created. They will help treat infertility
On February 19, 2024, Israeli researchers at Bar-Ilan University reported the creation of the first testicular organoids. The achievement is expected to help to study in more detail the causes of male infertility, which, ultimately, may lead to the emergence of more effective ways to treat this disease. Read more here.
2023
Infertility counted every sixth person in the world
By 2023, infertility affects about 17.5% of the adult population, that is, about one in six people in the world. This is evidenced by data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
They noted that the new data indicate that there are no significant differences in the prevalence of infertility between different regions of the world. In high-income, middle-income and low-income countries, the rates are comparable, and this means that infertility poses a major health problem for all countries and all regions.
 | Infertility does not discriminate against anyone and affects all categories of the population, says WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. - The huge number of infertility sufferers speaks of the need to increase access to infertility treatment and to take measures to ensure that the topic is no longer sidelined in the field of research and health policy, which will ensure access to safe, effective and affordable types of infertility care that will help parents become all who aspire to this. |  |
According to WHO, despite the large scale of the problem, methods for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), remain underfunded and inaccessible to many people by 2023 due to their high cost, associated social stigma and limited supply of such services.
In December 2023, Chinese scientists published a study in the journal Development, in which they reported that infertility affects about 48 million couples worldwide. Up to 3.7 percent of women have infertility as a result of premature ovarian failure, with 30 percent of cases due to genetic variation. The researchers found that one such variation is changes in the Eif4enif1 gene.[1]
Why the popularity of IVF threatens a real epidemic of infertility
The growing popularity of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the future could change the natural course of human evolution and provoke a real epidemic of infertility. This was warned in May 2023 by Dr. Hans Hanevik, head of the reproductive health department at the Telemark clinic in Norway. Read more here.
2022
The number of infertile women has decreased in Russia
From 2018 to 2022, the proportion of women with infertility decreased from 0.4% to 0.3% of the total number of women. Such data are provided by the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation in its report "Analysis of the implementation of state policy measures aimed at supporting women, ensuring their equal opportunities for development and inclusion in the public process."
In addition, the report notes that in 2018-2022, the number of diseases with a first-time diagnosis of infertility decreased by 25.1%. The number of female patients registered with a diagnosis of infertility decreased by 10.4%.
The auditors also noted the presence of several factors that jeopardize the development of women's reproductive health. Among such factors are the lack of preventive examinations, the lack of obstetricians-gynecologists, as well as the shortage of personnel in the pediatric service. According to the joint venture, these shortcomings are explained by the fact that not all the necessary support measures are included in the National Strategy for Action for Women for 2017-2022. As a result, it is proposed to expand measures to support women in Russia.
| | Some employers are already successfully implementing socially oriented programs to support women. These include voluntary health insurance, additional education, assistance in adapting to work from maternity leave, support for single mothers with children and others. However, according to the Accounts Chamber, these programs should expand - said Sergei Storgin, auditor of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. | |
Among the proposed measures relating to reproductive health are:
- introduce norms that expand the possibilities of remote operation;
- take into account the time spent caring for the child in the insurance experience;
- analyze and improve the procedure for medical examination and preventive examinations;
- develop additional support measures for mothers with many children.
Female infertility in Russia has grown by a third in 10 years
In 2021, compared to 2011, the prevalence of female infertility in Russia increased by a third, and among the male population - almost doubled. Such data are given in a study by employees of the demography department of the Research Institute of Health and Medical Management of the Moscow Department of Health.
According to the "Medical Bulletin" with reference to this report, in Moscow the frequency of female infertility from 2011 to 2021. has tripled. The contribution of the problem of infertility to the loss of potential births is about 17-21% in Moscow and Russia as a whole. But in the capital, the prevalence of reproductive diseases is lower than the national average. According to the study, female infertility caused the loss of 16% of potential births in Moscow, male - less than 1% (in Russia: 18 and 3%, respectively).
In 2021, per 100 thousand of the population in Russia, infertility was detected in 789.1 women and 67.1 men. Indicators in Moscow are lower - 735.9 per 100 thousand for women and 11.4 for men living in the capital, for each man with infertility in Moscow there are 64 women with this problem.
According to analysts, there is a significant undercount of cases of male infertility in primary health care. Data on the true prevalence of infertility, mainly male, can only be obtained as a result of the creation of a specialized andrological service.
Russian studies of recent years confirm that the cause of infertility in a couple in 50% of cases is female infertility and in 50% of cases - male (of which 25% of cases is a combination of male infertility with female), the publication notes on December 22, 2022.
According to researchers, in the capital there are large reserves for the growth of fertility due to the improvement of the organization of medical care for infertility for women, as well as the creation of an organized structure for the provision of andrological care for men.[2]
Embryo without egg and sperm brought to beating heart stage for the first time
At the end of August 2022, it became known that the embryo without an egg and sperm was first brought to the stage of a beating heart. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology for the first time managed to grow full-fledged rodent embryos.
Lab-grown stem cell embryos of mice reportedly have working brains, hearts and other organs. The researchers described the findings in a paper for the journal Nature, and the embryos themselves were created without the use of eggs or sperm. All natural processes of embryo development were carried out in the laboratory. Three types of stem cells were used to create the embryos. Biologists consider the development of the brain of embryos the greatest achievement.
By regulating the expression of different sets of genes that take part in embryo formation, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology were able to force sets of cells to self-organize into structures going through the stages of embryonic development. In order to guide the development of the synthetic embryo, the researchers put together cultured stem cells representing each of the three tissue types in the right proportions and in the right medium to promote their growth and communication with each other, and they eventually assembled themselves into the embryo. The maximum age of the fetus reached 8.5 days, according to the study.
| | Our synthetic embryo has acquired not only the brain, but also a full-fledged beating heart and all the components necessary for the functioning of the body. This has been an unattainable dream for the scientific community for years! Our breakthrough will be the basis for the restoration or development of synthetic human organs, "said senior author Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz. | |
From the beginning of September 2022, researchers will work on the further development of embryos. So far, none of them have survived to the tenth day of development. This problem must be overcome in future phases of the study.[3]
Japan has learned how to grow eggs from other human tissues to solve infertility
At the end of August 2022, the Japanese biotechnology company Dioseve announced that it had learned to grow human oocytes, or eggs, from other human tissues. The goal of the project is to help people suffering from infertility. Read more here.
"Fertiwell" from PeptidPRO for the treatment of various forms of male infertility received state registration
On June 27, 2022, PeptidPRO announced that it would enter the market and obtain state registration for Fertiwell, an organ-specific non-hormonal drug for the treatment of various forms of male infertility. Read more here.
3D-printed testicular cells offered hope for male infertility treatment
In late March 2022, researchers at the University of British Columbia developed a technique to print human testicular cells in 3D in a hollow tubular structure that mimics the seminal tubules found in the testicles. The printed structures show encouraging signs that they can produce viable sperm. This technology can open the way to conception for men with fertility problems. Read more here.
2021: WHO - Infertility affects 17.5% of the world's adult population
On April 3, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the results of a study indicating that, globally, infertility affects one in six people - approximately 17.5% of the world's adult population.
A report on the prevalence of infertility in different regions was prepared on the basis of an analysis of a large number of scientific papers on this topic, published between 1990 and 2021. The figures obtained indicate that there are no significant differences in infertility rates between different states. In particular, in high-income countries, 17.8% of adults face this problem, and in middle and low-income countries - 16.5%. Infertility thus affects almost equally all categories of the population.
WHO notes that despite the large scale of the problem, methods for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), remain underfunded and inaccessible to many people due to their high cost and limited supply.
| | Millions of people incur catastrophic medical costs as a result of seeking care for infertility, which makes this issue one of the serious factors of inequality, and too often these people are trapped in poverty, said Dr. Pascal Allote, director of the WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. | |
The WHO report highlights the need to increase access to affordable and high-quality fertility treatments for all those in need. Specialists believe that more effective policies and government funding for appropriate services can significantly increase access to treatment and protect financially disadvantaged families from poverty associated with seeking help.[4]
2020: Human embryo analogue first grown from stem cells to tackle infertility
On June 11, 2020, it became known that an analogue of a human embryo was first grown from stem cells. Thanks to this, scientists expect to find out what leads to infertility and how to prevent it.
Researchers from Britain and the Netherlands have "assembled" a model from stem cells to study the early stages of human embryo development. It corresponds to a fetus aged 18-21 days.
The model consists of three layers, organized according to the early plan of the human body. The body plan occurs during gastrulation, when the first signs of differentiation appear - the emergence of structural and functional differences between individual cells and parts of the embryo.
| | Our model reproduces part of the human development program. It was incredibly interesting to follow those processes that were previously hidden from human view and were unavailable for experimental study, "said Alfonso Martinez-Arias, one of the authors of the study, professor at the University of Cambridge. | |
The model itself was called a gastruloid - this is a process in which the body only outlines a plan for the future living creature: which cells will go where. This period cannot be studied in the laboratory on a living embryo, since it is legally prohibited to grow human embryos older than 14 days. Models are not subject to these restrictions.
The authors note that the experiments they conduct are absolutely safe and meet current ethical standards.
In recent years, scientists have begun to take an active interest in the device of a genetic development program that turns a fertilized egg into a fetus, placenta and other components of the fetus. The discovery of developmental failures will make it possible to understand the occurrence of forms of infertility and congenital diseases.[5]
2019
Prototype sperm delivery device with defects in movement to the egg cell
Prototype of a 2019 device that can deliver sperm (with movement defects) to the egg.
Such works bring us closer to solving the problem of infertility.
Sperm and egg conservation included in official fertility therapy standards in cancer patients
In February 2019, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation issued a letter with new clinical recommendations for the therapy of female infertility. This version of the recommendations for the first time spelled out that "cryopreservation of tissues of the reproductive organs is one of the options for preserving reproductive function in cancer patients." According to the document, the indications for cryopreservation of biomaterials are:
- the need to store germ cells, embryos and/or tissues of reproductive organs for further use in the treatment of infertility using ART;
- the need to store germ cells, embryos and/or tissues of reproductive organs before the start of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy in cancer patients;
- the need to store donor germ cells for use in the treatment of infertility in ART programs;
- storage of germ cells, embryos and/or tissues of reproductive organs at the request of the patient, including in the case of "delayed motherhood."
2017
The number of diagnoses of "infertility" in Russia in 10 years has doubled to 280 thousand people
The peak incidence was recorded in 2015 and has been at the same level since then. According to Rosstat data, in 2017, over 280 thousand people were identified with a diagnosis of infertility, mainly women aged 25 to 45 years. The disease is progressing rapidly: if in 2005 reproductive disorders were officially registered in 146 thousand people, then in 2017 the number of primary diagnoses of "infertility" increased almost 2 times, to 278.8 thousand people.
In every fifth case, endometriosis is the cause of infertility. This disease is in third place in the prevalence of gynecological pathologies.
Smartphones taught to diagnose male infertility
The new device, paired with a smartphone, is able to analyze the quality of the male seed and determine in a matter of seconds whether the person being studied suffers from infertility, reports The Guardian, citing data from American scientists.
There are over 45 million infertile couples around the world. In more than 40% of cases, difficulty conceiving is associated with poor male sperm quality. Read more here.
1992
See also
Notes
- ↑ Scientists identify a key cause of female infertility
- ↑ The total loss in fertility due to infertility in Russia was estimated at 17-21%
- ↑ "Synthetic" embryo with brain and beating heart grown from stem cells by Cambridge scientists
- ↑ Infertility Prevalence Estimates, 1990–2021
- ↑ An in vitro model of early anteroposterior organization during human development
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