Coming to Term or Its Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth about Miscarriage

Author: Jon Cohen

After his wife lost four pregnancies, Jon Cohen set out to gather the most comprehensive and accurate information on miscarriage – a topic shrouded in myth, hype, and uncertainty. The result of his mission is a uniquely revealing and inspirational book for every woman who has lost at least one pregnancy – and for her partner, family, and close friends.

Approaching the topic from a reporter's perspective, Cohen takes us on a surprising journey into the laboratories and clinics of researchers at the front, weaving together their cutting-edge findings with intimate portraits of a dozen families who have had difficulty bringing a baby to term.
Couples who seek medical help for miscarriage often encounter conflicting information about the causes of pregnancy loss and ways to prevent it. Cohen's investigation synthesizes the latest scientific findings and unearths some surprising facts. We learn, for example, that nearly seven out of ten women who have had three or more miscarriages can still carry a child to term without medical intervention. Cohen also scrutinizes the full array of treatments, showing readers how to distinguish promising new options from the useless or even dangerous ones.
Coming to Term is the first book to turn a journalistic spotlight on a subject that has remained largely in the shadows. With an unrelenting eye and the compassion that comes from personal experience, Jon Cohen offers a message that is both enlightening and surprisingly hopeful.

Publishers Weekly

Frustrated by wildly differing explanations for his wife's four lost pregnancies, award-winning science writer Cohen (Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine) set out to understand miscarriage, a subject fraught with misunderstanding, controversy and emotional pain. Writing in an impressively sensitive and balanced tone, Cohen describes the dynamics of human female egg production, the signs of an impaired fetus, the impact of odd numbers of chromosomes, the relevance of a woman's age and the efficacy of a range of medical interventions designed to help women carry a baby to term. Integrated into this highly readable narrative are the moving stories of numerous couples whose hopes for a child have been repeatedly thwarted by miscarriage. Cohen also gets candid scientific opinions from leading researchers in the field and provides intelligently skeptical and illuminating guidance on some of the more controversial treatments, from lymphocyte immune therapy to the use of progesterone to treat luteal phase deficiency. Looking back, he draws cautionary lessons from the popular miscarriage treatment of the 1950s, diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen now known to cause cancer in female offspring. This enlightening and comprehensive study is a must read for any woman battling the emotional roller coaster of miscarriage and for all those interested in an underexplored area of pregnancy and women's health. Agent, Gail Ross. (Jan 11) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

After his wife suffered four miscarriages before achieving a successful birth, award-winning science writer Cohen (Shots in the Dark) decided to delve into the mysterious causes of this reproductive problem. Relying on clinical data, medical interviews, research papers, and case studies of couples who had endured numerous miscarriages, he found little evidence available to pinpoint the exact cause of this disorder. Numbers show that almost seven out of ten women with three or more miscarriages still manage to carry a baby to term without medical intervention. Besides evaluating the science of miscarriage, Cohen also deeply probes its human element, revealing how this reproductive failure affects the emotions, decisions, and lives of typical couples. While some of the research reports are fairly technical for the average reader, Cohen's chronicle will interest couples who have suffered the anguish of miscarriage, if only to learn that this malady is more common than thought and that remedies are almost nonexistent. Suitable for public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/04.]-Rita Hoots, Woodland Coll. Lib., CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A deft melding of what researchers are learning about miscarriage, persistent misconceptions about it, and deeply personal stories of women who have repeatedly miscarried. Science writer Cohen (Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, 2001) began delving into the subject of miscarriages after his wife had four in a row. Besides exploring the scientific literature, he interviewed and observed doctors working with their patients at clinics (in Boston, Vancouver, and London) that specialize in recurrent miscarriage; he also interviewed nearly one hundred women and their partners about the experience of miscarrying. In "Mother Nature," Cohen looks at the biology of the female reproductive system, focusing on the mechanisms of miscarriage. Abnormal chromosomes, he reports, are the cause half the time or more, and, as women age, the frequency of abnormalities in their eggs increases. As for other causes, science has few clear-cut answers. In "Mysteries," Cohen examines and rejects various ideas about causes, including a woman's faulty immune system and contaminants in the environment. Fetuses, he says, are more rugged than we think, and the environment provided by the female body is remarkably protective. He also offers a warning tale about abortion interventions: the drug diethylstilbestrol, known as DES, once given to women to prevent miscarriage, turned out to cause grievous harm to pregnant women and their daughters. In "Hope," Cohen tells the stories of couples seeking help in carrying babies to term and provides a close-up look at clinicians who are trying to help them. The success stories of women who carried to term after repeated failures puts a human face on astatistic Cohen uncovered early in his research: those who have had three or more consecutive miscarriages and become pregnant again will, with no treatment, carry to term 70 percent of the time. While revealing a disconcerting dearth of scientific knowledge about its causes, Cohen's work on miscarriage is a worthwhile addition to the literature and his reassuring message welcome. Author tour. Agent: Gail Ross/Gail Ross Literary Agency

Table of Contents:

contents

Foreword by Sandra Ann Carson, M.D. ix

part one: mother nature
1: Not Viable 3
2: Through a Glass, Clearly 18
3: Scrambled Eggs 35

part two: mysteries
4: Rejection 57
5: Black Swans 83
6: The Cycle of Life 97
7: Really? 116
8: Anatomically Incorrect 130


part three: hope
9: The Sky Isn't Falling 149
10: Expert Care 175
11: Miracle Babies 201

Acknowledgments 227
Notes 231
Glossary 263
Index 267

Look this: Multinationals and Global Capitalism or Fundamentals of Private Pensions

It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!: RSI Theory and Therapy for Computer Professionals

Author: Suparna Damany

This guide offers computer users who suffer from repetitive strain injury an effective program for self-care. It explains the symptoms, prevention, and treatment of RSIs and also addresses the often-overlooked root causes of RSIs. This holistic program treats the entire upper body with ergonomics, exercise, and hands-on therapy, increasing the likelihood that surgery and drugs may be avoided.