There was this piece of news yesterday from AFP that was so incredible that i reproduce it here.

A man who emerged from what doctors thought was a vegetative state says he was fully conscious for 23 years but could not respond because he was paralyzed, his mother said Monday.
Rom Houben, 46, had a car crash in 1983 and doctors thought he had sunk into a coma. His family continued to believe their son was conscious and sought further medical advice.
Professor Steven Laureys of Belgium’s Coma Science Group realized that the diagnosis was wrong and taught Houben how to communicate through a special keyboard, said Dr. Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, who is on Laureys’ team.
Rom used the device to tell a reporter for the German magazine Der Spiegel that: “I screamed but there was nothing to hear.”
Belgian doctors who treated him early on said that Rom had gone from a coma into a vegetative condition.
Coma is a state of unconsciousness in which the eyes are closed and the patient can’t be roused, as if simply asleep. A vegetative state is a condition in which the eyes are open and can move, and the patient has periods of sleep and periods of wakefulness, but remains unconscious and unaware of him or herself or others. The patient can’t think, reason, respond, do anything on purpose, chew or swallow.
But Rom’s parents would not accept that he was comatose or vegetative.
His mother, Fina Houben, said in a telephone interview that they took him five times to the United States for tests.
More searching finally got her in touch with Laureys, who put Houben through a PET scan that indicated he was conscious. The family and doctors then began trying to establish communication.
A breakthrough came when he was able to indicate yes or no by slightly moving his foot to push a computer device placed there by Laureys’ team.
Then came the spelling of words using his finger and a touch-screen attached to his wheelchair.
“You have to imagine yourself lying in bed wanting to speak and move but unable to do so — while in your head you are OK,” Vanhaudenhuyse said. “It was extremely difficult for him and he showed a lot of anger, which is normal since he was very frustrated,” she said.
The case came to light after Laureys published a study in the journal BMC Neurology this year showing that about four out of ten patients with consciousness disorders are wrongly diagnosed as being a vegetative state. Houben, although not specifically mentioned, was part of the study.
Houben has started writing a book on his experiences.

More of us are leaving it later to start a family than ever before. Figures from National Statistics for England and Wales show that, since the 1980s, the rates for women giving birth at age 30 or over have gone up, while the rates for women giving birth aged under 30 have fallen.

There are many factors which make having babies less important or more difficult for young couples than it used to be, including going on to higher education, developing a career, and financial pressures to stay in the job market. Also, many people don’t find a partner they want to have children with until later in life or just don’t feel ready to become parents when they’re younger.

The availability and range of effective contraception has also played a significant part in the trend. This has an impact not only on couples delaying starting a family until they are older, but also on having smaller families.

Age and fertility
Putting off starting a family until your career is established or your debts cleared can have its problems. Fertility falls more sharply for women as they age than for men.

As you can see from the chart below, women are most fertile between the ages of 20 and 24. As women grow older the likelihood of getting pregnant falls steeply while the likelihood of infertility rises sharply. Men can remain fertile for much longer but male fertility still declines with age, albeit less dramatically.

Chart: How Pregnancy rates decline with time

Both of the line graphs are for women who do not have any specific fertility problems.

Source: Management of the Infertile Woman by Helen A. Carcio and The Fertility Sourcebook by M. Sara Rosenthal

Chart: How Pregnancy rates decline with time compared with other body fuctions

How long does it take to conceive?
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, “At 35 you’re half as fertile as when you were at 25; at 40 you’re half as fertile as when you were 35″. This means that it can suddenly take much longer to get pregnant when you hit your late thirties or early forties and you may have problems conceiving at all.

Most couples (92 per cent) will conceive within two years if they do not use contraception and have regular sex. Regular sex means making love every two to three days throughout your cycle; this optimises your chances of conceiving.

That leaves 8 per cent of couples in the general population who do not conceive within two years. If you are over 35 and keep on trying for another year you may still get pregnant but in the next few years your chances of conceiving start to fall rapidly; 6 per cent of women aged 35 years and 23 per cent of those aged 38 years will not have conceived after three years of regular unprotected sex.

This is why it is so important to seek help for infertility treatment sooner rather than later if you are over 35 and finding that positive pregnancy test elusive. It is recommended that most couples try for at least a year before seeking help but if you are over 35 and having problems conceiving you should seek help earlier.

Why does fertility decline so rapidly?
As women get older, there are a number of factors that can make it more difficult to conceive. In addition, as we age, our general health can decline. Existing conditions may worsen or new illnesses may develop, which can impact on fertility too.

Fertility factors that change, as we grow older, include:
• Ovarian reserve – this is the number of functioning follicles left on the ovaries. As you get older you have fewer viable eggs left; in cases of early menopause, the eggs run out much sooner than usual.

• Menstrual cycle – as women approach the menopause their menstrual cycles can become irregular and shorter.

• Lining of the womb – the endometrium may become thinner and less hospitable to a fertilised egg.

• Mucus secretions – vaginal secretions can become less fluid and more hostile to sperm.

• Diseases affecting the reproductive system – some conditions can damage the reproductive organs as time passes, or worsen if not treated properly, including endometriosis, PCOS, and chlamydia.

• Chronic illnesses – some illnesses can have a negative impact on fertility.

• Weight problems – Being overweight or obese can make it more difficult to become pregnant.

In many modern societies people are waiting longer to start their families, often until their early or mid thirties.  Because of this, questions have arisen about how age affects the ability of a woman to get pregnant.

Women typically have a decrease in fertility beginning in their early 30s.  On average, a woman in her mid-30s or older will take longer to conceive than a younger woman.  At age 30 to 35, fertility is 15 to 20 percent below maximum.  From age 35 to 39, the decrease is 25 to 50 percent.  From 40 to 45, the decrease is 50 to 95 percent.

Age-related declines in fertility may be at least partly due to less frequent ovulation or to other problems such as endometriosis.  Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to that lining the uterus attaches to the ovaries or fallopian tubes and interferes with conception.

If you are over 35 and trying to conceive, you should see a physician after trying for around six months.  Some studies have shown that about one-third of women between age 35 and 39 and two-thirds of women over 40 have fertility problems.  When they do get pregnant, women older than 35 may have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and placenta previa. There is also a potentially higher risk of having a baby with low birth weight, and of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

Many cases of infertility can be treated successfully.  While women over age 35 may have more difficulty conceiving, they also have a greater chance of bearing twins. The likelihood of naturally conceived (without fertility treatment) twins peaks between ages 35 and 39.

Eating disorders among men are on the rise, with recent NHS findings showing that as many as a quarter of people who suffer from eating disorders are male.
The NHS Information Centre (NHS IC) research – The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 – published last month, surveyed 7,461 people in England over 16. It found that an alarming 6.4 per cent of adults had a problem with food, a figure much higher than previously thought.
Females are ten times more likely than males to suffer from anorexia or bulimia, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. However, the NHS research suggests that eating disorders are becoming more common in boys and men.
Eating disorders in men can take different forms to those in women, as they “tend to be more focused on body image,” Mary George from eating disorder charity Beat, said. She explained that “visits to the gym become obsessive as does the desire to change body shape – this then becomes accompanied by controlling calorie intake which leads to a full blown eating disorder.”

Common disorders
The most common forms of eating disorder are anorexia nervosa, where individuals starve themselves and excessively exercise to lose weight, and bulimia, in which they binge on food and then purge through vomiting or laxative use. Anorexia accounts for around one in ten cases in adults, according to figures from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), whereas bulimia accounts for a third of all cases, with other disorders such as compulsive eating making up the rest.
The disorders can range in severity and can be a major cause of serious psychological distress. The physical impact of a disorder such as anorexia can be devastating, resulting in drastic weight loss, low mood, a loss of periods in women, and in more acute cases, heart problems and osteoporosis.
In its eating disorder guidelines, NICE states that some studies have identified eating disorders as having the highest mortality rate of all mental disorders, illustrating the potential severity of these disorders.

A taboo subject
“Many men don’t realise that they have an eating disorder and are reluctant to seek help when they do feel they have a problem,” commented Beat’s Mary George on why eating disorders are usually associated with women.
The silence surrounding male anorexia and bulimia has meant the issue has become something of a taboo subject, but it was cast under the spotlight last year when former deputy prime minister, John Prescott, admitted that he had suffered from bulimia in the past.
Following Mr Prescott’s revelation, Ms George said the charity’s helplines “had ten times the normal number of calls for men who hadn’t realised they had an eating disorder until then.”
The authors of the NHS survey concluded that although research into male eating disorders was expanding, “men with eating disorders are a group that have been neglected in research, policy and clinical practice in this area”.

A complex issue – for both sexes
Problems with food can begin when it is used to cope with those times when someone is bored, anxious, angry, lonely, ashamed or sad, or when it is used as a crutch to help relieve painful situations, says Beat.
The recent tragic death of 18 year-old Alice Rae refocuses from beyond the statistics the very real and human cost of anorexia. Alice died in January of this year; found dead in bed by her mother at the family home in Houghton, Hampshire, after battling with anorexia.
The fashion industry has come under recent scrutiny for its promotion of ’size zero’ models and the message this gives out to young women about body image. But specialists, such as the National Centre for Eating Disorders, suggest reasons why someone should develop an eating disorder are complex, and each case is individual. Factors such as low self-esteem, family relationships, problems with friends, dealing with grief, problems at work or university, or sexual or emotional abuse can all play a part.

Help at hand?
Eating disorders are serious mental health issues and can be very distressing for both those with the disorder and their families, as studies show.
According to a report published by Beat in February 2008 entitled Failing Families?, 79 per cent of families surveyed said that an eating disorder had caused lasting damage to their lives. Relationship breakdown; problems at work caused by the need to take time off to provide care and support; damage to friendships and social life and a negative impact on other children in the family were all listed as factors.
Despite NICE guidance advising that “families and carers should be informed of self help and support groups and offered the opportunity to participate in such groups”, Beat’s survey found that only 12 per cent of families felt they had access to the amount of support they needed and 23 per cent had no support at all.
The NHS survey reinforces this need for improved support and treatment of those with eating disorders, finding that four in five adults (81 per cent) who screened positive for an eating disorder were not receiving any counseling, medication or therapy for a mental or emotional problem.
In response to the NHS report findings, Conservative health spokesperson Anne Milton said: “These figures are shocking. We are failing to get across to young people today the dangers they face when they abuse food. At one end of the scale we have some frightening statistics on obesity and on the other end of the scale we have many people suffering from this tragic illness.”