Dispensary Corner 22 Oct 10
October 22, 2010
IT’S a tough job, but somebody
has to do it.
A fertility campaigner in the UK
has urged that more money be
paid to men who donate sperm
for IVF procedures.
Laura Witjens, who’s the head
of the UK’s National Gamete
Donation Trust, says that most
people are not aware of the
“serious commitment” required
for sperm donation.
She said male donors are told
to avoid sex and alcohol for
several months while making
regular visits to a clinic, adding
that the men should receive “at
least the same payment if not
more than egg donors.
“Just like egg donors, to the
families these guys help, they are
heroes. And that’s something that
deserves recognition from us all,”
Witjens added.
FORGET analgesics - just look at
this picture!
Researchers at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore have
found that cancer patients are
able to lessen their pain by
looking at relaxing pictures of
idyllic scenes, the BBC reports.
The scientists created a series of
tests analysing the response of
patients undergoing painful bone
marrow biopsies.
“We did a study in which
patients were assigned to either
standard care, to have the
procedure done with a nature
scene and accompanying nature
sounds, or a city scene and city
sounds,” said research leader
Noah Lechtzin.
Patients exposed to the nature
scene - an image of Victoria Falls
in Africa - registered a significantly
lower pain response on the
‘Hopkins Pain Rating Instrument’
than the other groups.
The city scene and
accompanying traffic sounds had
no significant effect, with Lechtzin
saying he believed that the choice
of nature picture was also vital.
“Our scene was a very open
picture that had running water,
the sounds had birds chirping and
wind rustling through trees”.
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