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Terror-related stress blamed for impaired IVF outcomes
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2003; 80: S51
Comparing the outcome of IVF in patients
treated in New York before and after the events of 11 September
2001.
The psychologic stress experienced in the
wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York may
have left some fertility patients permanently infertile, researchers
have suggested.
Noting that "severe stress affects many
aspects of human physiology and may impact on human fertility,"
Steven Spandorfer and colleagues (Cornell Medical Center, New York,
USA) examined whether the events of 11 September 2001 adversely
influenced IVF outcome in patients attending a New York City center.
In their retrospective analysis, the team
compared the outcome of IVF in 234 patients who had a pregnancy
test before 11 September and 163 patients who were tested after
this date. Only patients who underwent embryo transfer were included
in the study.
While the pregnancy rate was similar in both
groups of women, those who were tested after 11 September were significantly
more likely to miscarry than the patients who were tested before.
This resulted in a 25 percent lower delivery rate in the patients
who were tested after, as opposed to before, 11 September.
"There are many possible explanations
for these findings, most significantly including psychological stresses,"
the researchers conclude. Spandorfer adds: "There unfortunately
are some people that may never achieve a pregnancy."
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