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Could we observe long term cognitive impacts of artificial reproductive technologies?

Introduction  There has been a substantial increase in the conception rates for women aged 40 and over in the UK, for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Office of National Statistics in 2019 ( Conceptions in England and Wales - ONS , 2020) . As age is the single most important determinant in a couple’s fertility and pregnancy outcomes, assisted or otherwise (Balasch, 2010) , the increasing maternal and paternal ages in the UK population make the investigations into the outcomes of Assistive Reproductive Technology imperative for the future of humankind. The risks associated with the offspring of infertile couples are not exclusive to the factor of maternal/paternal age, it extends to various factors namely the stress caused by infertility (Rooney & Domar, 2018) . Maternal stress during pregnancy causes an increase in stress hormones such as cortisol (Cao-Lei et al., 2016, 2020; Kovas & Fatos, 2021) which can cause epigenetic changes in offspring . Epigenetics re...
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The Limits of Producers and Individual Consumer behaviour: Evaluating ‘Zero Waste Living’ as a solution to Climate Change.

Introduction   Research on microplastic pollution has found that resulting particles can accumulate in the organs of organisms (Huang et al ., 2020) and affect behaviour (Fackelmann & Sommer, 2019) , immunity ( Jabeen et al ., 2018) , growth (Yin et al. , 2018) , and reproduction ( Jinhui et al., 2019) . In humans, research has suggested endocrine disruptive effects on male, and couple, reproduction as related to the toxicant BPA found in many plastics (Mínguez-Alarcón et al., 2016) . Concerns over health effects of disposable plastic are one of many concerns about the excessive plastic production and ineffective global waste management ( OECD , 2022) . Only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled, according to the OECD ( Ibid. ) , with much of it going to landfill (57% on average for OECD countries) , incineration (29%) , or unmanaged in the environment (6%) . Given the prevalence of plastic in the environment ( I bid. ) , the poor waste management of plastic fro...
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Is " 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding" appropriate and effective advice from the WHO? - a discussion.

  Introduction                The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life, and continuous breastfeeding for the first two years of life (WHO, 2023). This recommendation is based on copious evidence pertaining to the long-term health benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child ( Ibid. ). In discussing how appropriate this advice is, and how effective it is in improving public health, this essay examines a case study by Charlick et al. (2017), as an example of the successful fulfillment of this advice to demonstrate the complexities of the lived experiences of women breastfeeding in Australia.         Charlick et al. (2017) conducted an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) on their interviews with the exceptional case of Violet, first-time breastfeeding (BF) mother in Australia who was successful in breastfeeding exclusively for 6 mont...
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