A safe and inexpensive soya-based treatment can help drastically increase the likelihood of success with in vitro fertilization and lower the risk of miscarriage, finds a UK study.
Intralipid liquid is a fat and calorie-rich protein used to tube-feed extremely sick patients. When given to a healthy woman one week before her IVF treament, it was found to make successful conception up to six times more likely and reduced the risk of miscarriage, reports the Daily Mail.
Researchers conducted trials on women who had already undergone repeated IVF treatments without success. Half of the women treated with Intralipid became pregnant, compared to only nine percent of those who were not given the fatty substance.
Dr. George Ndukwe, the fertility expert behind the study, believes this is because Intralipid helps to curb the reactions of a faulty immune system. Other trials have successfully used arthritis and asthma drugs to similar effect, but Intralipid is much less expensive.
"This infusion is inexpensive, well tolerated and easy to administer," explained Ndukwe.