UniFee Blog

Podcast: Fertilitätserhalt

Frau Prof Dr med Katharina Hancke hat in einem Podcast über mögliche Optionen für den Fertilitätserhalt bei Frauen mit Tumorerkrankungen und dem Schwerpunkt auf Sarkomerkrankungen beraten und Fragen beantwortet. Hören Sie hier rein: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4OlQZk123VsvDgf6MPYunz?si=IqxE3kwpTP68vbZdfQGMIQ. Wenn Sie Fragen zum Fertilitätserhalt haben, schreiben Sie uns eine Email an unifee.frauenklinik@uniklinik-ulm.de Dann können wir Ihnen einen Termin zur Beratung anbieten. Wenn Sie mehr über unser interdisziplinäres Nachwuchsforscherzentrum (Förderung durch das BMBF) mit den Forschungsprojekten wissen möchten, hören Sie mal rein.

Federal government strengthens junior research centre for fertility protection at Ulm University Hospital with 800,000 euros

The interdisciplinary junior research centre for fertility protection (FePro-Ulm) at Ulm University Hospital (UKU) is being supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with an additional 800,000 euros. The funding will be used for scientific projects focussing on fertility protection, which primarily affects young people suffering from cancer, and is intended to significantly advance research in this area with the help of new technologies.

Reproductive health plays a central role in our society. In addition to the unfulfilled desire to have children, reproductive health also deals with issues relating to human reproduction, which has an impact on the physical, mental and social well-being of each individual. In order to intensify and further develop reproductive medical research in Germany in the future, the BMBF has been supporting the establishment of five interdisciplinary centres for reproductive health (CERES: CEnters for REproductive Sciences) for around a year. In addition to the centres in Münster, Hamburg, Leipzig and Jena, FePro was founded in Ulm, which focuses on fertility protection.

Under the overall coordination of Prof. Dr Katharina Hancke, Deputy Director of the Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the UKU and Head of the UniFee Fertility Centre, and PD Dr Dr Karin Bundschu, specialist and Head of the Research Laboratory for Fertility Medicine, the FePro-Ulm was significantly advanced in interdisciplinary collaboration with various clinics and specialities at the UKU (Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Clinic for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Section for Gynaecological Oncology, Institute for Human Genetics, Haemato-Oncology, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Institute for History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine) and is now receiving additional funding of 800.000 euros to further strengthen research in the field of reproductive health. "The financial support is an important milestone and we are very pleased," explains Prof Dr Katharina Hancke. "It will provide additional support for scientific projects at Ulm University Hospital focussing on fertility protection - which primarily affects young people and those suffering from cancer."

With the help of new technologies for the spatial visualisation of biomarkers, tissue engineering and single-cell sequencing, the experimental projects are to be innovatively and significantly further developed. "The intensive work at the Ulm centre over the past few months has paid off. The Ministry's support also highlights the relevance of further research in the field of reproductive health and fertility protection," said PD Dr Dr Karin Bundschu.

The BMBF is thus funding the establishment and research projects of the FePro-Ulm Centre with a total of almost 3 million euros in the first funding period until October 2026.
FePro-Ulm is part of the CERES network together with the four other centres founded and also funded by the BMBF in Jena, Hamburg, Münster and Leipzig. CERES is establishing a joint network for reproductive health research in Germany with various thematic focuses on women's health and pregnancy, male fertility, fertility preservation and sexual and reproductive health.

Prof. Dr Katharina Hancke in conversation with two other experts on the subject of "40 years of artificial insemination": Listen for yourself!

Link: Audio podcast SWR 2 (ARD Mediathek)

Cost coverage for fertility preservation before oncological therapy finally possible?

In Germany, around 15,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer every year. The good news is that around 80% of those diagnosed are cured. The bad news is that the use of chemotherapy or radiotherapy can disrupt fertility. Unfortunately, preventive measures to preserve fertility are not yet covered by health insurance and can be very expensive.

The German Society for Haematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO), together with the German Foundation for Young Adults with Cancer, is therefore addressing politicians with a petition (for the cost of fertility-preserving measures to be covered by health insurance companies). The aim is to amend § 27 SGB V and define fertility preservation as part of health treatment. This would finally give insured persons the right to have the costs of fertility preservation covered by health insurance. An initial press release from Jens Spahn has been issued. The UniFee team can only support the initiative and is pleased that fertility preservation is politically supported!

Further information:
https://www.aerzteblatt.de/nachrichten/95858/Krankenkassen-sollen-fuer-Erhalt-der-Fruchtbarkeit-bei-Krebserkrankungen-aufkommen

A diet rich in fast food before pregnancy is associated with a longer time to pregnancy onset

Various studies on lifestyle factors such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, drugs and obesity have shown a detrimental effect on fertility.

A retrospective study published in the renowned journal Human Reproduction in May 2018 has now investigated the length of time it takes to become pregnant depending on eating behaviour. This showed that pregnancy occurred more quickly with a diet rich in fruit compared to a diet rich in fast food (Pre-pregnancy fast food and fruit intake is associated with time to pregnancy. Grieger et al, Human Reproduction, Volume 33, Issue 6, 1 June 2018, Pages 1063-1070).

Further prospective studies will be necessary to substantiate this, but with a healthy diet you are certainly always on the right side!

Since April 2018, we have been offering an evening consultation until 7.30 pm for our couples wishing to have children!
The desire to have children usually affects not only the individual, but also the couple. As we know how difficult it can sometimes be to reconcile work and private life, we want to give you the opportunity to find out about fertility treatment together after work.

We look forward to seeing you!
Your UniFee team

On Monday, 23 April 2018, we successfully held our information evening for interested couples who wish to have children and the interest was great! We were able to present our new fertility centre and inform the couples about how fertility treatment works here. Afterwards, our experts were of course also available to answer individual questions in one-to-one discussions.

Further information evenings will take place on 16 July 2018 and 15 October 2018 (registration possible by email to unifee.frauenklinik@uniklinik-ulm.de or via the online registration form ). We are happy to receive suggestions for topics related to the desire to have children! Come along, we look forward to seeing you!