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Families Fighting Flu (FFF) reminds parents to get their children vaccinated against the seasonal flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children 6 months through 18 years of age get a seasonal flu vaccination each year. This is the first year that this full influenza vaccination recommendation for children will be implemented by all doctors.

"Every year we remind families about the importance of getting children vaccinated against the flu," says Richard Kanowitz, president of FFF. "This year, it is just as important as any other to get your kids vaccinated. The seasonal flu is very serious as it took the life of my healthy daughter who was only 4 years old when she died. I do not want what happened to my family to happen to any other family; therefore, I encourage everyone to call their doctor now and make an appointment to get your kids vaccinated."

FFF is also announcing the availability of a new public service announcement (PSA) that features soccer legend and mom, Mia Hamm, who talks about the importance of getting a seasonal flu vaccination this year and every year. The goal of the PSA is to encourage families to get their kids, and themselves, vaccinated against the seasonal flu, which is the single best way to stay healthy. The PSA was developed in partnership with FFF, the American Youth Soccer Organization and MedImmune.

"I am excited about this new PSA as it is another great tool to help educate families about the importance of seasonal influenza vaccination," says Joe Lastinger, board member of FFF who lost his healthy 3-year-old daughter to influenza in 2004. "As a dad who has kids that play sports, it is very important to my wife and me that we help keep our children healthy by getting them vaccinated every year so that they don't get sidelined by the flu. We've seen firsthand the devastation that can result from not getting children vaccinated. It's our responsibility as parents to protect our children, so please get them a seasonal flu vaccination this year and every year."

To view the new PSA, click here.

Learn more by reading the following:

Swine Flu and Pregnancy

Swine Flu and Babies

Tackling Influenza: Healthy Decisions This Flu Season

Pregnant Women and New Parents Urged to Get Swine Flu Vaccine

Swine Flu Vaccine: One Shot or Two?

CDC Answers Questions About Swine Flu and Breastfeeding

Expert Tips for Swine Flu Prevention

What Parents Should Know About Swine Flu

(9-15-09)

Katherine Heigl, 30, star of ABC's Grey's Anatomy, and her husband, Josh Kelley, are adopting a special needs baby girl from Korea. The little girl is almost 10 months old and was born the day before Heigl's birthday in November. Heigl, who also has a sister adopted from Korea, and Kelley have been married since December 7, 2008. The actress announced the adoption on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

(9-15-09)

After years of infertility treatments, Michelle Stafford, 43, best known for her role as Phyllis on The Young and the Restless, is expecting her first child with the help of a surrogate. The single soap star is expecting a girl and she's due this December.

(9-15-09)

It may be trendy to carry bottled water – tap or otherwise – but it's just plain smart when the thermostat's inching toward 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. Lona Sandon, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says water is the best option for hydration, but opt for a sports drink if you are exercising or working in the heat for more than 90 minutes. Signs of dehydration include weakness, exhaustion and delirium.

"Just be sure to steer clear of alcohol and caffeinated drinks like tea and sodas," says Sandon, also a registered dietitian. "They may add to your fluid intake but may leave you feeling light headed and jittery, making it difficult to tell if you are well hydrated."

(9-08-09)

Bay Area fertility patients now have a new means of resolving the dilemma of what to do with leftover embryos in frozen storage, thanks to the launch of an embryo-donation program at the Reproductive Science Center of the San Francisco Bay Area (RSC).

Increasing numbers of patients undertaking IVF to create their families are finding success and a full house, with leftover embryos in storage. This leaves them with decisions regarding the fate of these embryos. Several agencies exist to help donate these embryos to other patients, but they are online or out of state, inspiring RSC to become one of a handful of private clinics nationwide to launch its own in-house embryo donor program.

"RSC's new program enables its patients to use embryos donated by other RSC patients, providing highest quality assurance and the comfort of a trusted fertility clinic," says Dr. Mary Hinckley of RSC.

Many patients are finding the cost of egg donation increasingly more challenging. Donation fees have risen due to increased costs of FDA-mandated donor screening, as well as increased competition for donor reimbursement from unregulated agencies.

Like egg donation, embryo donation is a viable option for women who cannot conceive because they produce few or no eggs or embryos that do not develop properly, as is often the case for older women.

The overall chance of pregnancy with a FET is 30 to 55 percent per transfer. "There are no known risks to baby or mother resulting from this process," Hinckley says. "The only additional considerations are the age and medical conditions of the donors."

For more information, visit www.rscbayarea.com.

(8-18-09)

Cancer patients who want to start a family in the future now have a new option. Montefiore's Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Health is the only site in the New York metropolitan area and one of approximately 25 sites across the country to offer a new treatment option to preserve fertility for female patients undergoing cancer treatment. Offered in collaboration with The Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University, this procedure, called Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation, removes one ovary and freezes the ovarian tissue before the woman begins undergoing chemotherapy. Twenty percent of the tissue is used for research and 80 percent will be held for the patient for use when she is ready to have a baby.

"We are pleased to now offer this promising new option for cancer patients who may want to conceive at a future time," says Dr. Edward Illions, who is the lead physician for the program.

This procedure, which is currently available for women of childbearing age from 18 to 42, is being offered as a possible choice for those who have to begin chemotherapy immediately because of the nature of their cancer diagnosis. It involves removing a section of ovarian tissue containing eggs, freezing them and then thawing them at a later date. Additional research will concentrate on techniques to isolate and grow immature follicles in the lab setting (called in vitro follicle maturation). Once matured, the eggs within these follicles can be fertilized to create embryos as in traditional in vitro fertilization (IVF).

This procedure is a promising alternative to IVF, freezing embryos and freezing eggs – processes that require as much as three to six weeks to be effective.

Successfully freezing and thawing ovarian tissue and maturing eggs within the laboratory represents a breakthrough in fertility preservation for women diagnosed with cancer. First, the surgical removal of ovarian tissue would not cause a delay in cancer treatment for more than one or two days. Also, the procedure would not require hormone treatment, which is not appropriate for girls who have not yet undergone puberty. In fact, because a woman is born with her lifetime supply of eggs, girls as young as one year of age could eventually be eligible for this procedure.

Finally, since this procedure would not require immediate fertilization of an egg, it allows women who do not have a partner or access to donor sperm more control over their decision to have children.

For more information, visit www.montefiore.org or www.montekids.org.

(8-18-09)

Dr. Sheldon Weinstein, an OB/GYN on the medical staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, has been honored with the 2009 Vaginal Surgeons Award by the Society of Pelvic Reconstructive Surgeons. In 2005, Dr. Weinstein received the Distinguished Surgeon Award from the Society of Gynecological Surgeons, making him one of only seven physicians in the United States to be honored with both awards.

"While I'm humbled by the recognition, it's not something I've been striving for over the years," Dr. Weinstein says. "My only passion has been simply to care for my patients the best way I know how. Being recognized like this is rewarding because it's another indication to me and my team that we're doing things the right way."

Both awards are reserved for surgeons who specialize in gynecologic surgery and teach nationally and internationally in urogynecology. Dr. Weinstein has been on the Texas Health Dallas medical staff for more than 40 years. He is a leader in the field of surgeries for pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, hysterectomy and advanced surgical procedures for female cancers. He was an originator of LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure), and invented instruments involved in the surgery. The procedure is for women whose Pap smears indicate the presence of abnormal cervical cells. LEEP uses a thin wire loop electrode attached to an electrosurgical generator that transmits a painless electrical current to cut away the affected cervical tissue. This causes the abnormal cells to rapidly heat and burst, and separates the tissue as the loop wire moves through the cervix.

"What makes him a truly great surgeon is the mix of experience and an open-mindedness to new ideas," says Dr. Sheila Chhutani, a OB/GYN on the medical staff at Texas Health Dallas. She was a study of Dr. Weinstein's during her training in the Texas Health Dallas fellowship program for pelvic surgery. "He is always looking to find the next technological advancement or next research breakthrough that will benefit his patients."

In addition to surgical techniques, Dr. Weinstein is known for his gentle bedside manner and individualized attention to each patient, Dr. Chhutani says. He calls each patient at home after surgery to make sure they're doing OK and follows up personally to ensure they're comfortable.

"Dr. Weinstein's dedication is an example for all physicians," Dr. Chhutani says. "He carefully researches and reviews the latest scientific literature before jumping on the band wagon blindly. He is very willing to share his knowledge with others. And he loves to teach students, residents, fellows and other physicians."

Learn more at www.TexasHealth.org.

. (8-18-09)

As temperatures soar, people need to remember to stay cool and hydrated if they are going to be outside. Physicians report seeing more weekend warriors being treated in the emergency room for heat-related illnesses.

"In the past, the typical people who used to get in trouble were the ones who couldn't fend for themselves – the very young and the very old," says Dr. Paul Pepe, chairman of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Now, young men and women who work in super-cool office environments during the week and then spend the weekends playing outdoors are getting into trouble because their bodies haven't had a chance to adapt to the hot weather."

If you're going to be outdoors during summer's triple-digit days, Dr. Pepe offers these tips to stay safe:

Wear lightweight, loose-fitting and light-colored clothing.

Try to exercise early in the morning or later in the evening.

Stay in a well-ventilated area, even if you're working indoors.

Water, water, water. Too much sugar and caffeine is not good, especially if you're outdoors.

Avoid alcohol – a cool beer or mixed drink might sound good but it only dehydrates you more and impairs your ability to know that you're getting into trouble.

Use a buddy system so that you can keep an eye on each other.

(8-11-09)

Zucchini may not be a nutritional powerhouse, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't find its way onto your plate from time to time. Lona Sandon, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says that while many popular summer vegetables such as summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers seem nutritionally insignificant, they're actually quite important.

"These vegetables may not be packed with a lot of the major nutrients touted on charts and labels, but they're good sources of other nutrients, including zinc, potassium and folic acid," Sandon says. "They're also high in water and fiber and are low-fat, meaning they can help you lose weight."

(8-11-09)

Fertility Centers of Illinois (FCI) is one of the first centers in the United States to offer a new and more advanced method of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a technique that can detect and eliminate abnormalities and genetic disorders in children such as Down syndrome, Turners syndrome, Kleinfelters syndrome and more. The new technology, called Microarray, is far more thorough and accurate than previous methods of testing.

Used in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF), PGD is a cutting-edge technique that screens embryos for chromosomal abnormalities and genetic disorders prior to implantation. Such genetic conditions can interfere with embryoImplantation, result in pregnancy loss, or the birth of a child with physical problems, developmental delay or mental retardation.

This new technology screens all 24 chromosomes and provides rapid results, eliminating the need to freeze embryos that can sometimes harm viability. Previous methods of PGD could only test a maximum of 9 to 12 chromosomes, leaving 12 or more untested. This caused 1 in 4 cases of aneuploidy – a chromosome abnormality – to be missed and if transferred, embryos that were unlikely to create healthy pregnancies.

Dr. Angeline Beltsos, reproductive endocrinologist with Fertility Centers of Illinois, explains that this new PGD technology will provide better information to help select the best embryos for transfer during IVF. "The ability to test all 24 chromosomes and more accurately identify abnormal embryos may drastically improve pregnancy outcomes for 'at risk' couples, as well as significantly increase their odds of a healthy pregnancy and baby," she adds.

Candidates for PGD testing include those experiencing recurrent miscarriage, previous unsuccessful IVF cycles, unexplained infertility, male factor infertility or women of advanced maternal age.

For more information, visit www.fcionline.com.

(7-21-09)