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Fertility pump

By Ian Sample

18 May 2002

A TINY pump implanted under the skin could one day help people with a type of hormonal deficiency boost their chances of having children, without the need for a bulky pump strapped to their body or courses of drugs lasting many years.

The disorder occurs when production of a substance called gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) goes awry. In men the hormone should normally be released around once every two hours from a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. In women, its release is more complex, changing frequency during the menstrual cycle from once an hour to once every four…

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