# Women get the wrong dose of fertility drugs



## Redcap (Oct 26, 2006)

Another article from New Scientist online.

No link as it is subscription only.

Women get the wrong dose of fertility drugs

MORE than 90 per cent of women undergoing fertility treatments may be getting the wrong doses of the drugs used to stimulate their ovaries. As well as putting them at greater risk of side effects, the drugs may not work properly.

Women usually release one egg during each menstrual cycle, but during IVF, drugs are given to make them release more eggs, which are then collected surgically. Until recently, it was hard to work out the precise dose a woman needed. Now, Geoffrey Trew of Hammersmith Hospital in London and his colleagues have used a "dose calculator" to tailor the dose according to a woman's age, body mass index, the estimated number of eggs left in her ovaries, and levels of a hormone called FSH that triggers egg development.

They tried the calculator on 161 women and determined that 75 per cent of them should be given a lower dose of drugs than they would usually receive, while 15 per cent should get a higher dose. When 113 of the women were then given the right dose, an average of 10 eggs were harvested. "That is the ideal number of eggs you would be looking for," says Trew, who presented his results at a meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lyon, France, last week. Over 40 per cent of the women become pregnant, which is comparable to standard IVF.


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## cleg (Jun 27, 2006)

nice to know that someone has recognised that woman arent getting the right dosage, now we just need all clinics to realise + act on it

xxx


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## hbrodie (Aug 17, 2007)

Is this the same research that was in Grazia magazine in the summer? I have the page from the magazine and rang my clinic to ask if they would be using this new calculation system for drug prescribing but they hadn't heard of it so I sent a photocopy to them! I am seeing cons thursday to sign paperwork and I will ask if they will be using these new findings in their drug prescribing also.
helen.x


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## chandelle (Mar 28, 2007)

It sounds to me the research is saying BMI and tests of remaining eggs are required - surely clinics already base dosages on FSH and age??! Mine did at least - not that i think they did a great job of tailoring it to my needs.


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## anna the third (Jan 15, 2008)

Chantelle, many many congratulations on your natural BFP after the low fertilization rate and drs chit chat must have left you quite despondent. I sometimes wonder if we have all leapt into ACU units too fast - so many girls on here go through so much and then lo and behold a natural bfp! actually i think ill post about it now....  all the best for your pregnanncy> )))


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