One of the commonest questions patients ask us is - We read about the following advanced treatment option on google. Does your clinic offer this treatment ?
Now we have been doing IVF for over 25 years, and have seen many fashions and fads come and go. Yes, IVF is a science, but it is afflicted by lots of hype as well, as clinics compete with each other to offer the "newest, latest and best" advance to their patients !
The additional advanced " tests and treatment" patients want depends upon their educational sophistication, and varies from:
- ERA - endometrial receptivity assay
- CAT - cumulus aided transfer
- PGD - preimplantation genetic diagnosis
- Endometrial scratching
- PRP - platelet enriched plasma
- Stem cells
Patients need to retain their sanity and their perspective.
Remember that not all new treatments are better - many of them are still unproven, and best used in a research setting, because their clinical utility has not been established by controlled clinical trials.
Also, doctors fall in love with "shiny new object syndrome" and love trying out new stuff - not because the patient benefits, but because their bank balance does - after all, you can always charge more for doing more !
Doctors play a oneupmanship game, and it's their patients who suffer !
It's easy for us to offer these "add-ons" as well - after all, we are a fully equipped IVF lab, and can do what any other clinic does - we have the expertise, equipment and the technology to do so . The reason we don't is because we are conservative , and don't want to use our patients as guinea pigs. We don't want to experiment on them, and would rather wait for well done research to provide that an advance was clinical useful, before offering it to our patients. We aren't in a race to be the first for unproven tests and treatments !
Remember that if these advances were really useful, then all clinics all over the world would start offering them routinely, and the reason they don't is because a lot of these unnecessary procedures don't help. In fact, some have been proven to reduce pregnancy rates !
You can read more about this race to do more and the harm it causes patients at http://www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/infertility-testing/wasteful-infertility-tests
Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !
Now we have been doing IVF for over 25 years, and have seen many fashions and fads come and go. Yes, IVF is a science, but it is afflicted by lots of hype as well, as clinics compete with each other to offer the "newest, latest and best" advance to their patients !
The additional advanced " tests and treatment" patients want depends upon their educational sophistication, and varies from:
- ERA - endometrial receptivity assay
- CAT - cumulus aided transfer
- PGD - preimplantation genetic diagnosis
- Endometrial scratching
- PRP - platelet enriched plasma
- Stem cells
Patients need to retain their sanity and their perspective.
Remember that not all new treatments are better - many of them are still unproven, and best used in a research setting, because their clinical utility has not been established by controlled clinical trials.
Also, doctors fall in love with "shiny new object syndrome" and love trying out new stuff - not because the patient benefits, but because their bank balance does - after all, you can always charge more for doing more !
Doctors play a oneupmanship game, and it's their patients who suffer !
It's easy for us to offer these "add-ons" as well - after all, we are a fully equipped IVF lab, and can do what any other clinic does - we have the expertise, equipment and the technology to do so . The reason we don't is because we are conservative , and don't want to use our patients as guinea pigs. We don't want to experiment on them, and would rather wait for well done research to provide that an advance was clinical useful, before offering it to our patients. We aren't in a race to be the first for unproven tests and treatments !
Remember that if these advances were really useful, then all clinics all over the world would start offering them routinely, and the reason they don't is because a lot of these unnecessary procedures don't help. In fact, some have been proven to reduce pregnancy rates !
You can read more about this race to do more and the harm it causes patients at http://www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/infertility-testing/wasteful-infertility-tests
Need help in getting pregnant ? Please send me your medical details by filling in the form at www.drmalpani.com/free-second-opinion so that I can guide you !
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