The New GREEN IVF - When Science & Nature Combine, Pregnancy Miracles Happen!

In our new book on how to use the science of nature to help you get pregnant naturally, we also  feature a chapter on the new GREEN IVF- a brand new advanced combination of science and nature that is defying even the most difficult pregnancy odds & helping couples get pregnant!   Here's what you need to know ...

By Colette Bouchez

If you're over 35 and especially if you are over 40  and still thinking about getting pregnant ... well you have both my congratulations and my sympathy! While the world of reproductive medicine has certainly made pregnancy after age 40 a viable possibility,  I have to hand it to any woman willing to take on  the "terrible twos" and peri menopause in the same decade! 

But for those of you who do want to take the "older mom" plunge,  I want to tell you about a very exciting advance in the world of reproductive medicine.  It's called GREEN IVF - a kinder, gentler, much more natural way of performing the traditional in vitro fertilization ( IVF) procedure that appears to be having some amazing results! 

Indeed, among the most popular of all fertility treatments worldwide involves the process known as IVF or in vitro fertilization. While there are many different varieties of  IVF and varying techniques that are used, the basic premise remains the same: To allow fertilization to take place outside the body in an environment that is medically created to optimize the chance for conception.

GREEN IVF is based on the same premise, with one very important twist -  it leaves out one step!  And that omission could be what turns your fertility odds completely around!  Intrigued?  I thought you might be ! 

GREEN IVF: What It Is & How It Works

From almost the time IVF began - the first birth took place in 1978 - one of the key factors allowing this procedure to work as well as it has, is the use of fertility drugs . These are medications designed to encourage the growth and development of multiple eggs while also allowing doctors to manipulate your hormones and in a sense “take control” of your fertility cycle.

The result: Instead of making and ovulating just one egg, a woman can make many eggs; instead of pregnancy occurring from one embryo, multiple eggs are combined with lots of sperm resulting in multiple embryos. Instead of just one fertilized embryo making it’s way to a woman’s uterus, multiple embryos are

transferred into her body. All of this increases the chance for pregnancy.

And for many couples these, and medications like them, become the deciding factor that allows conception to occur. 

That said, the use of these medications are not without problems – including not only an increase in multiple births, but also many side effects – including the potential to increase  woman's risk for certain cancers later in life.  Moreover hte use of fertility drugs can add thousands and sometimes even  tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of each IVF procedure. 

Enter: GREEN IVF!  Indeed, as all of these issues came together, a group of brilliant new fertility pioneers began to look for what might be a better way to combine science and nature – one that does not involve the use of these medications. Their thought: The less that  medicine interferes with nature, the better the outcome might be!The result of this thinking eventually led to the development of  ‘GREEN IVF’ – a natural cycle fertility treatment that relies primarily on the  workings of a woman’s own body to lay the groundwork for the IVF procedure.

So, instead of bombarding your body with medications designed to force your system to produce an abnormally large number of eggs in a given cycle, Green IVF allows your body to do what it does naturally – i.e., grow, mature, and develop just one egg, the “ right “ egg, the “best” egg for fertilization. That one egg is then harvested, combined with sperm, and the single resulting embryo is placed back into your uterus – in almost the exact same way it would be if your conception had occurred naturally inside your body.

Indeed, with natural cycle IVF we are going back to the future : One egg, one embryo and one baby at a time! 

Now if this seems as if it would not work well for women over 35 - particularly since natural egg production slows down as a woman ages -  ironically, studies show that Green IVF actually works even better on women who have not responded to the typical egg producing medications.  

Indeed, in one study published recently in the journal Fertility and Sterility, a group of reproductive experts from Rome, Italy found that in women who did  not previously respond well to fertility drugs, natural cycle “GREEN IVF” was able to help them achieve a successful implantation at a rate nearly three times higher than those who underwent traditional IVF with drug stimulation. Although younger women had the best results, older women were certainly among those for whom the GREEN IVF approach worked even after traditional IVF attempts had failed. 

Certainly, the traditional form of IVF is still among the most popular and the most widely used laboratory assisted pregnancy techniques throughout the world. But for a special group of women, the new GREEN IVF may be just what the doctor ordered!

So who is the best candidate for GREEN IVF? According to John Zhang M.D., Ph.D., director of the New Hope Fertility Clinic in New York City, and one of the true pioneers of natural cycle IVF, this procedure is  “ Ideal for women who choose to live a drug-free and chemical-free lifestyle or for women who, because of age or poor fertility health, are less likely to produce multiple eggs even if heavy IVF drugs are administered.”

To learn more about the exciting new GREEN IVF – including the success rates,  which women may actually benefit most as well as other important advances in getting pregnant naturally - at any age -  visit GreenFertility.com – or pick up a copy of my brand new book  Green Fertility: Nature’s Secrets For Making Babies. 

 For the latest health, beauty and style advice for women over 40 subscribe to RedDressDiary - It's Free! And be sure to check out CheapChicDiary.com for money saving beauty and style tips! Copyright by ElleMedia Network 2010 - All Rights Reserved. In addition to US Copyright, the text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

Vitamin News: Good & Not So Good!

If you’ve been loading up on vitamins to combat a number of  age-related conditions, this week there is both encouraging and discouraging news. Here’s what you need to know.
By Colette Bouchez

Feeling a little down in the dumps? Try increasing your intake of OJ – or any food rich in Vitamin C.  The reason? New studies show this common nutrient could be a mood booster!

In research just published in the journal Nutrition, doctors from McGill Univeristy in Canada found that vitamin C could improve mood , even in acutely ill hospitalized patients.

Lead researcher Dr. John Hoffer recently said, "Patients are rarely given vitamin supplements. Most physicians are simply unaware of the problem. Subclinical deficiencies of vitamin C and D have each been linked to psychological abnormalities, so we examined that aspect in our clinical trial.”

And, in fact, the trial proved that not only are many more patients than expected low on vitamins C and D, but that increasing levels of Vitamin C could make an important difference in mood.

Indeed, using an objective scale of mood determination, researchers found as much as a 34% increase in mood after supplementation of just 500 mg, twice daily with results becoming evident in just days. Vitamin D, while important for other reasons, did not appear to impact mood.

What researchers aren’t certain of, however,  is whether or not the mood boosting effects are the same in people who aren’t deficient in vitamin C – or if the effects are limited to those who are.  But either way it can’t hurt to pump up your vitamin C intake, particularly as we head into cold and flu season. Why does this matter?

First, there is good evidence to show that keeping C levels high could help your immune system ward off some colds and flu viruses.  

But more importantly, studies show that when we are ill  the body pulls vitamin C away from our tissues and redirects it into our immune cells, where it's needed to fight off infections.  While this is a good thing,  depending on our body's supply it could leave other tissues, organs and cells literally starving for this nutrient.

Making matters worse: Since blood levels of this nutrient are high (remember, it's there, it's just all concentrated in your immune cells) there is not likely to be any sign of deficiency - making it a difficult problem to diagnose. 

Bottom line: You could be short on vitamin C and not even know it!

The way to get around all of this: Take a multi vitamin for sure. But even more important is to load up on foods rich in vitamin C such as citris fruits like oranges, grapefruits and lemons, as well as strawberries. Veggies high in vitamin C include tomatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and green peppers.  This will help keep your natural supply of vitamin C high enough that your body can use it to fight off those colds and flus - and still have enough left over for other functions.

Thanks For The Memories: B Vitamins May Not Help!

As good as the news is about Vitamin C, there is less stellar findings to report about B vitamins and their role in cognitive function, particularly protection against memory loss.

In a new study published this week in the journal Neurology, researchers from the University of Western Australia found that B vitamins appear to not  play as  significant a role in protecting your memory as once thought. This is particularly true if you have high blood pressure, a condition that has linked to memory loss.

Indeed, after a two year study of men aged 75 or older – all diagnosed with hypertension –  doctors concluded that supplementation with B  vitamins  played almost no role in reducing the risk of dementia.

“The results of this trial indicate that the use of vitamins B6, B12 and folate for two years does not change the rate of cognitive decline amongst men with hypertension aged 75 years or older,” concluded the researchers.

It’s important to note however, that this  finding is in direct conflict with another study released last week showing B vitamins may indeed help with cognitive impairment such as memory loss by reducing levels of homocysteine – an amino acid thought to play a role in cognitive function.

So who’s right?

Australian study author Dr. Andrew Ford offered this explanation: “The most economical explanation for our findings… is that elevated plasma homocysteine is not a risk factor but merely a marker that reflects underlying common processes responsible for  dementia.... and that homocysteine-lowering treatment with B-vitamins does not affect the long term cognitive function of people at risk.”

In short, if the research released this week  is correct, elevated homocysteine levels are not the cause of, but rather only the body’s response to  inflammation linked to memory loss. So, reducing levels isn’t going to make much of a difference on a long term basis.

And indeed this is what the new study found: While men who took supplements of vitamins B6, B12 and folate experienced a  temporary increase in their ability to recall information and in their attention span, the improvements were just that - temporary with no long lasting effects over time. 

Indeed, on  a long term basis these B vitamins appeared to have little benefit in terms of mortality or in protecting against the development of dementia.

What the study did not show, however, was whether or not these nutrients might help those already diagnosed with dementia. And indeed, there is research showing that once dementia has set in,  B vitamins could help slow the progress of memory loss and may even help improve temporary day to day functions, particulary if a nutrient deficiency exists.   This is particularly important since as we age we lose the ability to pull vitamin B12 from our foods, so even if we are eating a good diet we can still come up short on B12.  In this case, high potency B12 supplements, as well as supplements of B6 and folic acid may indeed help those who have already suffered clinical memory loss.

For the latest health, beauty and style advice for women over 40 subscribe to RedDressDiary - It's Free! And be sure to check out CheapChicDiary.com for money saving beauty and style tips!

Copyright by ElleMedia Network 2010 - All Rights Reserved. In addition to US Copyright, the text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements. The owners and creators of this blog may or may not directly or indirectly benefit from products mentioned or advertised on this blog.