Category Archives: Human Reproduction

According to recent research published in journal of Human Reproduction Update, the sperm count among men is dropping and the decline is not slowing any way. Male identity is diluting in more than one way.

We find that the deep voices of men are drowning and their valor vanishing. Men are choosing to be fair, feeble and feminine. They are getting soft spoken and slimmer every day.

On the other hand, women are getting rough and robust, struggling hard to be strong not serene, to be bold not shy, to be he not she. The result is a mere exchange of identities which is neither wholesome nor original.

The girls tend to look like tom-boys and the boys are so chocolaty. Everyone is cherishing to live by choices which are beyond the scope of natural laws.

While transgender is about a natural calamity, being Lesbian or Gay or bisexual is about the personal choice of individuals. We have been transgressing the natural disposition every day. So all of us are trans in one way or the other. Much like our mobile phones, we are badly in need of a reset and restore.

When we are in search of best quality, we always mean the original taste, the original flavour, the original color, the original fruit, the original cloth of wool, cotton and leather.

A wise man was so fond of originality that he said, It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. For the transgenders, I want to end with this wise quote of Shannon L. Alder, Your dignity can be mocked, abused, compromised, toyed with, lowered and even badmouthed, but it can never be taken from you.

You have the power today to reset your boundaries, restore your image, start fresh with renewed values and rebuild what has happened to you in the past.

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IS THIRD REALLY WEIRD? - Greater Kashmir

Its time to reimagine the debate around abortion. We are trapped in the tyranny of a binary choice: one side sees baby murderers; the other, patriarchal dictators who want to control womens bodies. This diametrically opposed pro-life/pro-choice discourse is a closed-loop. The result: a country that is dumbed down by polarisation.

Im a millennial raised in San Francisco, pro-choice and reproductive rights might as well have been my lullabies. At 15, I darted over to my nearest Planned Parenthood health center to get birth control pills. I wasnt sexually active and I hadnt even had my first period, but I pocketed them with pride a souvenir of personal choice.

Throughout adulthood, the pro-choice/pro-life binary gave me a comfortable foothold in the abortion debate and a prefabricated enemy to address. That changed when I met Sister Teresa Forcades, a former medical doctor, theologian and Catholic nun who supports abortion rights.

In our catchphrase country, complexity is like dirty dishwater opaque and best avoided. But after the Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v Wade, it is precisely what we need. The majority of Americans refuse to think in such absolutes when it comes to abortion. Most of us are more inclined to say it depends.

We need a common framework broad enough for the heart of the abortion debate: what does it mean to be a human with dignity?

Based in Barcelona, Spain, Sister Forcadess vocal opposition to the churchs stance on abortion has earned her the moniker Europes most radical nun. Christian fundamentalist news sites have dubbed her The Abortion Nun and The Nun of the Devil. In 2009, the Vatican sent a letter demanding she withdraw her abortion views and be disciplined (yes, even nuns risk getting cancelled!). Instead, Forcades replied with a theological argument for reproductive rights so rigorously articulated that it silenced her Catholic cohort. Thirteen years later, the Vatican is yet to respond.

But she wont be called pro-choice. She says this binary limits the possibility that she can simultaneously believe in the sanctity of life and abortion rights.

Her argument is also deceptively simple. The essence of the classic pro-life argument is that the mother who aborts a pregnancy is choosing to kill her child, and must be forced not to. But take another example: a father whose child needs a kidney transplant to survive.

She asked: Is the church ready to force the father under punishment of imprisonment, or ex-communication, to give the kidney to the child? The answer: The church is not.

It will not make the father feel that the whole rage of God is going to fall upon him if he does not offer a little bit of his body to save the life of his child. No, its not doing it. Such a practice could ideologically justify all kinds of abuses like sacrificing one person for the sake of saving a few others by distributing that persons organs, she adds.

Her argument is sound, but its the simplest detail that struck me most: the mans body. According to the Catholic church, a man doesnt have to give a kidney to his child, yet a woman (in the grip of a life-threatening pregnancy) must surrender her body to the foetus.

This role reversal and subtle push against double standards add a refreshing jolt of feminism to the abortion debate one that the original Roe v Wade decision never quite delivered. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling hinged on a pregnant persons constitutional right to privacy, which protects this individuals right to choose.

The philosopher Immanuel Kant said a human being should never be an instrument for somebody else, as that runs against our dignity. Turning a man into a machine for organ-making, for example. Likewise, Forcades says, banning abortion turns a pregnant woman into an instrument of human reproduction, violating the very thing that makes us human.

When I met her, Forcades told me: The dignity of the person is something the church has been defending for centuries; sometimes alone in very difficult contexts.

What happens when a pregnant womans dignity, or very survival, is in direct conflict with the dignity of the life she carries? Is a mothers life more or less valuable than the child who relies on her for survival? And just as importantly, is the church or state ethically equipped to make this decision?

Clearly, entering such a conversation, free of guardrails, isnt about finding answers. Its about provoking more questions. We mustnt dupe ourselves into thinking that dialogue will lead to larger shared truths or even common ground. Nor should we feel compelled to just brush things to their neat corners with the liberal catchphrase: Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

A break from the binary should, instead, be seen as an invitation to be uncomfortable the permission to say: its complicated.

Linda Freund is an independent journalist based in Spain. This article was produced with the support of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California, the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these organisations

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What I learned after meeting a Catholic nun who supports abortion rights - The Independent

FRIDAY, July 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking is associated with a higher risk for severe COVID-19, including death, independent of sociodemographic characteristics and medical history, according to a study published online July 15 in PLOS ONE.

Ram Poudel, from the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation Center in Dallas, and colleagues assessed how smoking affects COVID-19 severity using data from 122 hospitals participating in the Get-With-The-Guidelines COVID-19 Registry (January 2020 to March 2021). The analysis included 6,717 patients who were classified as current smokers or nonsmokers according to admission data and were propensity-matched (1:2) for age, sex, race, medical history, medications, and time frame of hospital admission.

The researchers found that patients who self-identified as current smokers had higher adjusted odds of death (adjusted odds ratio, 1.41), use of mechanical ventilation (adjusted odds ratio, 1.15), and major adverse cardiovascular events (adjusted odds ratio, 1.27). Smoking was an even stronger risk factor for death among patients who were younger (18 to 59 years), were White, or had obesity.

"The robust and significant increase in the risk of severe COVID-19 seen in our study, independent of medical history and medication use and particularly among young individuals, underscores the urgent need for extensive public health interventions such as antismoking campaigns and increased access to cessation therapy, especially in the age of COVID," a coauthor said in a statement.

Abstract/Full Text

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Smoking Tied to Higher Risk for Severe COVID-19 - HealthDay News

By Robert G. Marshall (bio - articles - email ) | Aug 02, 2022

In what is surely an American First, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, His Excellency, Salvatore Cordileone, informed Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and third in line to be President, that she is not to receive Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.

The San Francisco Examiner, a very Leftist newspaper, editorialized, In open defiance of Pope Francis, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone on Friday banned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from taking Holy Communion here in her home diocese. The reason? Her strong support of womens abortion rights.

Actually, Pelosi is more than just a strong supporter of abortion. Pelosi described herself at a Catholic Georgetown University meeting, I am a rabid supporter of a womans right to choose. San Francisco Archbishop Cordileone had previously alerted House Speaker Pelosi (4/7/22) that she had crossed a line by announcing that she would support codifying the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision in Federal law, noting, should you not publicly repudiate your advocacy for abortion rights or else refrain from referring to your Catholic Faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, I would have no choice but to make a declaration, in keeping with canon 915, that you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.

The timing was not political. Archbishop Cordileone had been in dialogue with the Speaker on the abortion question for at least ten years. The Archbishop said Ive been debating this within my own conscience for many years. Ive consulted with people...who would have different perspectives on the situation.... Ive done a lot of prayer and fasting.... I really would prefer not to do this. But I cannot in my conscience allow the situation to continue and cause this scandal.

Pelosi Tries to Defend Herself

Speaker Pelosi was a guest (5/24/22) on MSNBCs Morning Joe TV program hosted by former Democrat Congressman Joe Scarborough and his wife, Mika Brzezinski. Joe Scarborough asked Speaker Pelosi, ...what do you say to Catholics who see whats happening to you...why you have an archbishop taking a step like this?

Pelosi claimed that Archbishop Cordileone, in denying her Holy Communion, was not consistent with the Gospel of Matthew, which she identified as the agenda of the Church. However, the Gospel of Matthew undermines Pelosis case as it states (18:1517) If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church.

Pelosi questioned the consistency of Archbishop Cordileone in denying Communion to Catholic public officials for abortion support, but not for death penalty support. I wonder about death penalty, which Im opposed to. So is the Church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view. But in 2004, Cardinal Ratzinger , writing specifically on the question of Catholic politicians who support the death penalty noted:

When Pope Francis modified the Catholic Catechism to say capital punishment should not be used, he did not state that the death penalty was ever lacking in justice or that it was evil in itself, as popes have said about abortion for centuries.

Cardinal Ladaria, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and therefore speaks for Pope Francis, sent a letter (8/1/18) to the U. S. Catholic Bishops explaining Franciss death penalty change: the death penalty...can be justified if it is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor, even if in reality cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender today are very rare, if not practically non-existent. (n. 2267).

One commentator noted that while Pope Francis teaches the death penalty is, no longer admissible as a general norm...it is not infallible; and therefore, it does not require the assent of divine faith on the part of the faithful....the new formulation of...the Catechism...desires...respectful dialogue with civil authorities, to encourage the creation of conditions that allow for the elimination of the death penalty where it is still in effect.

Pelosis Catalog of Abortion Support

MSNBC Morning Joe co-host, Mika Brzezinski referred to recent Senate action on the grossly misnamed Womens Health Protection Act (WHPA) (S 4132) which most assume codifies Roe. Neither the Senate (S 4132) nor the House version (HR 3755) of the morally grotesque Womens Health Protection Act merely codify the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Both versions of the bill expand abortion way beyond Roe.

The Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro Life Activities compiled a list of present federal court approved state or federal laws legal even under Roe v. Wade . All of these current state and federal provisions would be illegal under Pelosis WHPA pro abortion legislation:

Nancy PelosiAbolishing Catholic-Christian Health Care

The Charlotte Lozier Institute notes that private Christian health care is especially undermined under the Womens Health Care Protection Act from 2019, H. R. 2975. Law Professor and religious freedom expert Mark Rienzi points out that virtually every state in the country has some sort of statute protecting individuals and, in many cases, entities who refuse to provide abortions and [s]ome states expressly limit this protection to the practice of abortion, which is treated specially. Moreover:

H. R. 3755, the current House version of the Womens Health Protection Act, could have been written by Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin. Pelosis bill states, Abortion-specific restrictions are a tool of gender oppression. The findings section on page 3 of HR 3755, which judges are supposed to reference to determine the meaning of the text of the statute states:

Pelosis affirmation that reproductive rights belong to all individuals to define and make decisions about their bodies, health, sexuality, will make statutory rape and consent laws illegal in all fifty states and US Territories. This is a goal of abortionists and transgender zealots. Pregnancy from artificial reproduction outside the womb or marriage will become a right of individuals, threesomes, etc.

Pelosis radical policy is miles beyond codifying Roe v. Wade and she certainly knows that. Under Pelosis bill, LGBTQ+ persons would have a right to an abortion and to demand under a surrogacy pregnancy contract that a surrogate mother would be required to abort a child for any reason if the owners of the child were not satisfied. Note also that while Abortion services is defined in Section 3 under definitions, Abortion is not defined anywhere in the bill. Section 3 on page 16 states, The term pregnancy refers to the period of the human reproductive process beginning with the implantation of a fertilized egg. The end of pregnancy is not defined.

A legislator who wanted to authorize infanticide but who did not want use the word, could employ that verbal tactic. Further, H. B. 3755 (Section 7, page 24) contains a Rule of Construction which allows no government interference, with a persons ability to terminate a pregnancy, to diminish or in any way negatively affect a persons constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Other Findings on page 2 state, Since 1973, the Supreme Court repeatedly has recognized the constitutional right...to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability....

The Churchs Response to Pelosi, and Pelosis Response to the Church

The San Francisco Examiner (5/21/22), eager to defend Pelosis self-affirming and contrived Catholic Faith, used inflammatory words to tag Archbishop Cordileone as an insubordinate saboteur acting in open defiance of Pope Francis for ruling that Speaker Pelosi is ineligible to receive Holy Communion.

But Cardinal Luis Ladaria , Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested to Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez (5/7/21), President of the USCCB, that if the bishops wanted to establish nationwide standards relating to abortion-supporting Catholic politicians, the bishops should undertake a two-stage dialogue, first among the bishops themselves, and then between bishops and Catholic pro-choice politicians within their jurisdictions. Such a national policy on worthiness to receive Communion, should be applied to all the faithful, rather than one category of Catholics.

Pope Francis was cited in the Tablet (5/23/22):

In many respects, the Popes actions regarding Catholic politicians Pelosi and Biden have been disappointing. U. S. Pro Life Bishops Chairman Archbishop Naumann (Kansas City, Kansas) stated that the Pope does not understand the Church in the United States, and he also noted that when the Pope publicly received Pelosi, the meeting was politically exploited. In allowing this, Pope Francis is doing exactly what he warns others not to do. During a recent papal interview with Spanish language Univision the Pope was asked about Nancy Pelosis reportedly receiving Communion in Mass at St. Peters, despite Archbishop Cordileones barring Pelosi from Communion. Pope Francis noted that Pelosi continues to receive the Eucharist in Washington, D. C. as well.

Yet during the interview, the Pope described Bidens abortion position as an incoherence with the Catholic Faith. Archbishop Naumann commented in the National Catholic Register , Its very helpful because I think thats exactly true, that his (Bidens) position is incoherent with Catholic teaching. So Im grateful for that clarification by the Holy Father. We must pray that actions will follow the Holy Fathers words.

In June, 1990 the New York Times reprinted excerpts of comments made by John Cardinal OConnor in his New York Archdiocese newspaper:

Pelosi responded: There is no desire to fight with the cardinals or archbishops.... But it has to be clear that we are elected officials, and we uphold the law and we support public positions separate and apart from our Catholic Faith. Yet, she also claims that her abortion votes are compatible with her Catholic Faith.

Some of Pelosis Faith-based claims about abortion being consistent with her Faith are linked below:

After one of Speaker Pelosis I am a Catholic and support abortion interviews on Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw (8/24/08) Speaker Pelosi was rebuked by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput: Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate...seem comfortable in the role of theologian.... The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm anti-abortion attitude The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation.

Pelosi Claims to Not Impose Her Views on Others

Nancy Pelosi claimed on the Morning Joe program (5/24/22) that, I come from a largely pro-life, Italian-American, Catholic family, so I respect peoples views about that. But I dont respect us foisting it onto others.

However, Speaker Pelosi foisted her pro-abortion views on others by strongly supporting and voting for H. R. 5, the so-called Equality Act, promoted by homosexual activists who seek to impose their radical demands on individuals and institutions governed by the morals of Moses and Jesus. Pelosis misnamed Equality Act will compel doctors and health care institutions to perform abortions and sex-change operations, and furnish puberty blockers for minors or lose their medical licenses or accreditation.

Private conscience and religious rights are presently protected under various Federal and State conscience laws which exempt doctors, nurses and health care establishments from having to comply with such immoral practices, but Speaker Pelosi wants to strip away all conscience and privacy protections for girls and women, and destroy female sports. Under Pelosis alleged Equality Act, a person, business, church, private school or religious group that does not comply with or support the LGBTQ+ agenda will be charged with discriminating under the Civil Rights Act, equal to violating the civil rights of African Americans. Fines can be $500,000 per incident depending upon the size of the organization accused of discriminating.

Background Resources

Archbishop Cordileone wrote a succinct, well-reasoned letter to Speaker Pelosi. The Archbishops second letter explains to Catholics in the San Francisco Archdiocese (and beyond) how he reached his decision. His third letter was sent to priests in which he details the Canon law background for his decision, with which priests and deacons must comply. Interestingly, the very liberal Jesuit America magazine had an excellent, thorough interview with Archbishop Cordileone hosted by Gloria Purvis, available as a podcast and a shorter print version.

Bishops honoring Archbishop Cordileones Communion directive regarding denial of Holy Communion for Speaker Pelosi include as of May 24, 2022 (source: National Catholic Register):

Recent Abortion Votes in Congress

To find out which Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate voted for the their respective versions of the Womens Health Protection act, go the following links.

Did your Catholic member of Congress vote in favor of this abortion legislation? St. Paul (1 Timothy 2:14) urges us to pray for those in authority. In addition to praying, we should make immoral positions known to others, and vote in every special, primary and general election only for pro-life candidates. Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe we must work to convince state legislatures to pass legislation to secure legal protection for the lives of all innocent children before birth.

Bob Marshall served 26 years in the Virginia House of Delegates and was the chief House sponsor of the 2006 voter-approved Virginia Marriage Amendment and a ban on late term abortion. He recently wrote Reclaiming the Republic: How Christians and Other Conservatives Can Win Back America (TAN Books). Previously, he co-authored Blessed are the Barren, a social history of Planned Parenthood (Ignatius Press). Finally, dont miss Bobs Civics Lesson for Catholics in the Catholic Culture Podcast Episode 17. See the full bio.

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The grim realities behind barring Nancy Pelosi from Communion - Catholic Culture

By Gina Christian Posted August 2, 2022

Human life is an incredible gift from God, and its sacredness and dignity, from natural conception to natural death, must be honored, said Archbishop Nelson Prez.

The archbishop shared his reflections in a homily during a July 31 Mass he celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Sponsored by the archdiocesan Office for Life and Family (OLF), the liturgy which drew some 350 faithful was offered in thanksgiving for the gift of human life, particularly in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.

Concelebrating the Mass with Archbishop Prez were Philadelphia Auxiliary Bishop John McIntyre; Military Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Coffey; Msgr. David Benz, pastor emeritus of the former St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Philadelphia; and Father Dennis Gill, cathedral rector and director of the archdiocesan Office for Divine Worship; with permanent Deacon Pat Kennedy, a board member of the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia, assisting.

Quoting St. John Paul II, the archbishop said all human life must be seen in its eternal context, since man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God (Evangelium Vitae, 2).

Archbishop Prez said Gods creative designs contrasted with human efforts to (play) around with life and go places we should never have gone to in the process.

We took into our hands as a society the actual defining of when life begins, and what life should look like and what life is, he said. How arrogant.

The archbishop commended faithful Christian people who had prayed for decades, in front of abortion centers and in their own parishes, that the millions and millions of abortions performed since the 1973 U.S. legalization of abortion would be halted.

The Supreme Courts June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent on abortion, represented a partial answer to those prayers, said the archbishop, who reminded faithful of his personal maxim to never underestimate the power of the Spirit of God working through you, in you and despite you.

With the issue of abortion returned to the state level, the task at hand is to connect women facing challenging pregnancies with an array of supports, said OLF director Steven Bozza.

His office provided Mass attendees with a 94-page booklet listing more than five dozen pregnancy outreaches including archdiocesan Catholic Social Services (CSS) in the Greater Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley and Lancaster areas, as well as southern New Jersey and Delaware.

This is the message we want to get out to everybody: were there for you, said Bozza. If youre in a problem pregnancy, you dont have to (go) through this alone.

Along with such resources, pro-life advocates must continue to tell the truth about pre-born children, said Bishop Coffey.

Lots of times, people say they want to follow the science for other things, and the science here is clear, he said. A ninth grader could understand this in biology class, how 23 chromosomes from the man and 23 from the woman come together. At that moment, its a human life. The day before his birth, is a baby any less a baby?

Language surrounding the abortion debate has confused that reality, said Mass attendee Deb Mirenda, a member of the Philadelphia-area Life Runners chapter and of St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown.

When people say reproductive rights once reproduction happens, that ends the conversation, because now we need a new conversation, one on the dignity of life and of another human being, said Mirenda, who has five children.

A commitment to honesty is central to evangelization and discipleship, said Father Gill, citing a quote by Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan on Servant of God Dorothy Day: She lived the Gospel as if it were the truth.

Christine and Daniel Grimm, on hand at the Mass with their two-month-old son Peter, said the reality of a newborn child deepens the awareness of the profound and joyful gift of life.

Do not be afraid, said Daniel Grimm.

Dr. Monique Ruberu, an obstetrician and gynecologist who has been a longtime prolife advocate, urged Mass attendees to invest both spiritually and practically in the lives of those facing crisis pregnancies.

In her post-Communion remarks, Ruberu said prayer intercessors, ultrasonographers, trade and business professionals along with post-abortive women willing to share their stories of loss and healing were all vital to the task of helping to make abortion unthinkable.

Now that the Dobbs decision has been issued, Mirenda believes that a greater respect for life will gradually take hold throughout the nation.

It changes one heart at a time, one mind at a time, one person at a time, she said.

Two-month-old Peter Grimm and his parents Daniel and Christine joined faithful for a July 31 Mass of Thanksgiving for the Gift of Human Life celebrated by Archbishop Nelson Prez at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. (Gina Christian)

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Human life 'an incredible gift from God' that must be honored, says archbishop - CatholicPhilly.com

Children born to mothers with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have an increased risk of developing infections, allergies and other childhood illnesses by the age of 13, according to the largest study to investigate this.

The study, which is published today (Thursday) in Human Reproduction [1], one of the worlds leading reproductive medicine journals, looked at 1,038,375 children born in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2020. Of these, 7,160 children were born to mothers with PCOS.

The researchers found that children of mothers with PCOS were 32% more likely to be admitted to hospital with a variety of health problems than children of mothers without PCOS. They were 31% more likely to be admitted for infectious diseases and 47% more likely to be admitted for allergy-related problems, such as asthma.

The risk of hospitalization was increased for problems relating to metabolism (up by 59%), the gut (72%), central nervous system (74%), and ears (34%); it was also increased for respiratory problems, such as pneumonia (32%), and mental and behavioural problems (68%). There was no link with cancer, and there was little difference between boys and girls in the association of PCOS with hospitalisation.

PCOS is a common disorder of the ovaries that can affect up to 10% of women of reproductive age. The main features are irregular periods, high levels of the male hormone androgen, which may cause excess facial or body hair, and the ovaries can become enlarged and contain fluid-filled sacs (follicles) that surround the eggs. PCOS can make it difficult for women to become pregnant, and can cause weight gain, thinning hair and oily skin or acne. Women with PCOS are at risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Several studies have shown links with problems in pregnancy and birth, such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and preterm birth. However, the long-term effect of PCOS on offspring is poorly understood and has received little attention.

Dr Nathalie Auger, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Canada, who led the study, said: These findings fill a big gap in what we know about the long-term health of children whose mothers have PCOS. Primary care doctors and obstetricians should consider identifying women with PCOS before conception and offering early interventions such as weight management and strategies to help prevent problems such as diabetes and heart and blood vessel diseases. Family doctors and paediatricians should consider monitoring children more closely after birth to minimise morbidity. Greater parental awareness may help improve outcomes in children.

As this is an observational study, it is unable to show that PCOS causes health problems in children, only that it is associated with them, and it cannot show what mechanisms may be involved. However, Dr Auger said: Women with PCOS may have high levels of androgen and insulin resistance, which have been linked to problems with the placenta, such as inflammation of the membrane surrounding the foetus, damage to tissue and impaired function of the placenta. These create a suboptimal environment in the womb for babies that could lead to impaired immune function and low-grade systemic inflammation.

She said genetic factors could also play a role, with the environment in the womb causing modifications in how some genes work in offspring.

The researchers adjusted their findings to take account of factors that could affect the results such as mothers other health problems, age, parity, alcohol and tobacco use, and socioeconomic deprivation. They found that the associations between maternal PCOS and the health of offspring were not explained by fertility treatments, multiple births, preterm births or the mothers other health problems.

Strengths of the study include its size and the fact that it evaluated a wide range of infections, allergies and malignant disease, as well as specific health problems such as respiratory, cardiovascular, metabolic, gastrointestinal, urinary, genital, musculoskeletal, central nervous system, ear, eye and mental and behavioural disorders.

Limitations include the fact that the researchers used data from the Maintenance and Use of Data for the Study of Hospital Clientele repository, which contains discharge records for all inpatients, which meant that they only analysed outcomes for children that were admitted to hospital. They could not identify women with mild PCOS who were never diagnosed or children with less severe illnesses who were not treated in hospital. They also lacked data on ethnicity, education, pre-pregnancy body mass index, weight gain during pregnancy, physical activity, information about the use of medications such as metformin, and the age of fathers.

We believe that further research is needed to see if effective management of maternal PCOS can reduce the risk of health problems in offspring and improve long-term health. We need to know if exercise, dietary changes and medications can make a difference, said Dr Auger.

In future work, we intend to examine outcomes of pregnancy, as well as future outcomes of women with PCOS. These women may be at risk of developing cardiovascular disease or other health problems, and epidemiologic research documenting this possibility is needed to help improve the management of these patients.

(ends)

[1] Association of PCOS with offspring morbidity: a longitudinal cohort study, by Shu Qin Wei et al. Human Reproduction journal. doi:10.1093/humrep/deac154

Human Reproduction

Observational study

People

Association of PCOS with offspring morbidity: a longitudinal cohort study

14-Jul-2022

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PCOS in mothers is linked to increased risk of health problems in their children - EurekAlert