First Response Gives Women Pregnancy Results Sooner Than Ever Before

FIRST RESPONSE Early Results Pregnancy Test now has patent pending technology that can detect the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), up to six days before the day of a woman’s missed period with unsurpassed accuracy -- one day before any other at-home pregnancy test available on the market.

“A pregnancy test with results this early sets the stage for a healthy baby and a healthy mother. This latest advancement means pregnant women can initiate a healthier lifestyle even sooner in the critical first stages of a baby’s development,” said Mary Jane Minkin*, MD, board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist in private practice in New Haven, Connecticut, and a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine. “Women who want results quickly will undoubtedly have less anxiety when taking this at-home test.”

FIRST RESPONSE pregnancy kits work by detecting the presence of the pregnancy hormone (hCG) in a woman’s urine. HCG begins to appear in a pregnant woman 8-10 days after fertilization. The amount of hCG doubles every 36-48 hours as the pregnancy progresses. And now with patent pending Polymeric Amplification Technology (PAT) that only FIRST RESPONSE has, FIRST RESPONSE can detect the pregnancy hormone at lower levels than ever before.

Source

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Pregnancy test... novelty of the year!

Sorry, I couldn't resist - I got this in my email, and I found it so funny for a pregnancy test to become the novelty item of the year! LOL

Since they have offered to send me samples of their new pregnancy test, I sent off my address.

I'm not sure how many they will send, but since I have no more need for one, I can't test them - so I am turning to my over 40y old readers to test them for me and let me know how well these new tests work.

In the comments section, leave your name & email address (so I can contact you for your mailing address), your age & how long you have been TTCing. I will send one test to each response willing to report back with her results.

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HCG administration associated with high pregnancy rates

Photo by woodsy
Human chorionic gonadotropin administration is associated with high pregnancy rates during ovarian stimulation and timed intercourse or intrauterine insemination

Background
There are different factors that influence treatment outcome after ovarian stimulation and timed-intercourse or intrauterine insemination (IUI). After patient age, it has been suggested that timing of insemination in relation to ovulation is probably the most important variable affecting the success of treatment. The objective of this study is to study the value of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and occurrence of luteinizing hormone (LH) surge in timing insemination on the treatment outcome after follicular monitoring with timed-intercourse or intrauterine insemination, with or without ovarian stimulation.

Methods
Retrospective analysis of 2000 consecutive completed treatment cycles (637 timed-intercourse and 1363 intrauterine insemination cycles). Stimulation protocols included clomiphene alone or with FSH injection, letrozole (an aromatase inhibitor) alone or with FSH, and FSH alone. LH-surge was defined as an increase in LH level ≥200% over mean of preceding two days. When given, hCG was administered at a dose of 10,000 IU. The main outcome was clinical pregnancy rate per cycle.

Results
Higher pregnancy rates occurred in cycles in which hCG was given. Occurrence of an LH-surge was associated with a higher pregnancy rate with clomiphene treatment, but a lower pregnancy rate with FSH treatment.

Conclusions
hCG administration is associated with a favorable outcome during ovarian stimulation. Awaiting occurrence of LH-surge is associated with a better outcome with CC but not with FSH treatment.

Full study: http://www.rbej.com/content/2/1/55

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The more you weigh the lower your HCG?

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Found this on FertilityFriend today:

Jennifer asked: A thought occurred to me last night while I was trying to go to sleep about beta numbers.

I am 5' 10" and a size 16.... My best friend is 5' 0" and a size "zero". Considering that a smaller person like my friend has a lower total blood volume than someone larger like myself wouldn't the concentration of hcg be different even if we happened to be the same dpo [days past ovulation] and pregnant? Wouldn't the concentration be stronger (higher beta #'s) in a smaller person than in a bigger person, since the concentration would be different because of the different amounts of total blood volume in our bodies?

Catherine posted the following research study:

Defining the rise of serum HCG in viable pregnancies achieved through use of IVF

In the final sample, there were 224 singletons, 135 twins, and 32 triplets. Baseline HCG concentrations were significantly higher for twins and triplets compared to singletons (P greater than 0.0001) and for triplets compared to twins (P greater than 0.0001). The patients were predominantly Caucasian and nulliparous, and had an average of 3.01 ± 0.86 (range 1–6) embryos replaced at the time of transfer. Linear regression analysis of the initial values of log (HCG) were significantly influenced by the number of gestational sacs (P greater than 0.0001) and maternal body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.01).

HCG levels were higher among twins and triplets compared to singletons, and lower among women with greater BMI. In the multivariable regression, there was no independent effect of number of embryos transferred, use of ICSI [intracytoplasmic sperm injection], or use of AH [Assisted hatching] on initial log (HCG) values. Infertility centre was also analysed as an independent variable and was found to have no significant effect.

We also observed that HCG concentrations were significantly lower among obese women (BMI greater than 30 kg/m2) compared to normal-weight women, but rates of increase were similar. Physiological mechanisms underlying this finding are speculative, but may be related to the fat tissue’s capacity to act as a steroid hormone reservoir and site of hormone metabolism (Deslypere et al., 1985).

Source: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/21/3/823

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The Best Pregnancy Tests

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(CBS) "Is it possible that I'm pregnant?" can be one of the most nerve-wracking questions for a woman to deal with. But with so many pregnancy tests on the market today, how can you tell which is relaiable?

Consumer Reports senior editor Nancy Metcalf talks about the best pregnancy tests available. Get the recommendations on Tuesday’s The Early Show.

Method:
All home pregnancy test kits use monoclonal antibodies to detect a hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is produced by the developing placenta beginning on the day on which the embryo implants in the uterine wall. Concentrations of this pregnancy hormone vary widely from woman to woman, but the more sensitive tests can measure lower levels of hCG.

All 18 brands tested by "Consumer Reports" (CR) employ similar technology - most use sticks with absorbent wicks that are held directly in the urine stream, and most allow women to collect urine in a cup and then dip the stick. Regardless of collection method, reading the results is the same for every kit: if a line appears in the window after a specified number of minutes, the test is positive.

Working with an independent laboratory that specializes in hCG studies, CR spiked hCG-free urine with varying concentrations of the hormone "to mimic the range found in normal early pregnancies."

They tested each product at increasing levels of hCG concentration until a positive result was attained.

"We conducted the tests as instructed on each product's package insert," CR says. "Technicians read the results after the specified minimum wait - anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes, depending on the product - and then again at the maximum time allowed (10 minutes in all the products we tested)." Kits were rated on efficacy, ease of use, and ease of result readings.

Performance:
One kit, the First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test, emerged as the most reliable and sensitive test. "It detected hCG at concentrations as low as 6.5 mIU/ml (thousandths of an International Unit per milliliter) - that's almost sensitive enough to detect any pregnancy soon after implantation," CR wrote. "Most other kits were far less sensitive - the five least sensitive tests couldn't detect hCG below concentrations of about 100 MIU/ml at their specified reading times. However, when we waited a full 10 minutes before reading the results, seven of the test kits performed much better than they did at the manufacturer's suggested waiting time."

Although all the kits were "easy to use," First Response and two other tests (Answer Quick & Simple and ClearBlue Easy) produced result lines that were more intense than others at lower concentrations of hCG, making them easiest to read.

In the end, First Response's Early Result Pregnancy test ($18.09/2 tests) came out on top, with an "Excellent" rating (winning an "excellent" score in hCG sensitivity, "good" in ease of reading, and "excellent" in 10-minute hCG sensitivity, with an overall recommendation of "best combination of sensitivity and reliability). Confirm's Pregnancy Test ($11.19/2 tests) scored lowest, with a final score of "Poor" ("fair," hCG sensitivity; "poor," ease of reading; and "fair," 10-minute hCG sensitivity, with some samples failing to work properly).

Ratings

First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test
($18.09 for two)
Consumer Reports Rating: Excellent

Confirm Pregnancy Test
($11.19 for two)
Consumer Reports Rating: Poor

Recommendations:
Although CR calls the First Response test "a superior choice," it warns, "Women need to use home pregnancy test kits with a clear understanding of their limitations."

It explains that testing for hCG is not the same in all women. In 10 percent of pregnant women, the embryo does not implant until after the first day of a missed period (and again, hCG is not produced until the embryo implants in the uterine wall).

"Until implantation, it doesn't matter how sensitive the test is," CR says, "You can't detect the pregnancy before it's producing the stuff that you're measuring, which is hCG."

Even pregnancies that have implanted may produce too little hCG for many at-home tests to detect, especially only a day or two after a missed period and when read after the manufacturer suggested waiting period specified in test packaging.

"Some kits improve in detection when read after a wait of 10 minutes, but waiting longer than that may produce a negative result that looks faintly, misleadingly positive," CR reports.

Moreover, about one-third to one-quarter of pregnancies implant for a short time, then fail. "That leads to a transient rise in hCG, which can extend for as long as two days after the day of the missed menstrual period."

Consumer Reports advises, "If you're comfortable waiting, a sensitive test taken a week after your period is overdue will almost certainly give you accurate results. If you elect to take the test as early as the day after you've missed your period, remember that a negative result isn't 100 percent certain. And a positive result may mean either a viable pregnancy or a pregnancy destined to end shortly after it began. With either of those results, you should plan on testing again a week later, just to be sure."

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/27/earlyshow/health/main538075.shtml

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