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Is laughter the best medicine? Perhaps not always - but it may help women who are trying to become pregnant through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), an Israeli study found.

In a study of 219 women undergoing IVF published in Fertility and Sterility, an Israeli team led by Shevach Friedler found that the odds of success were greater among women who were entertained by a professional "medical clown" just after the embryos were transferred to their wombs.

Overall, 36 percent became pregnant, as compared to 20 percent of women who'd had a comedy-free recovery after the transfer procedure. Friedler said he got the idea for the study after reading about the potential physiological impact of laughter as a "natural anti-stress mechanism".

"Patients suffering from infertility undergoing IVF are incredibly stressed," said Friedler, who is based at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Zrifin, Israel, in an e-mail to Reuters Health. "So I thought that this intervention could be beneficial for them at the crucial moments after embryo transfer."

To test the idea, the research team had a medical clown visit their fertility clinic periodically over one year. Of the 219 women in the study, half underwent embryo transfer on a day the clown was at the clinic.

During recovery from the procedure, each woman had a 15-minute visit from the clown, who performed a specific routine created by Friedler - who has studied movement and mime - and a colleague.

The researchers found that, compared to women who came to the clinic on a "non-clown" day, those who'd had a laugh were more than twice as likely to become pregnant, when other factors such as age, type of infertility and the number of embryos transferred, were taken into account.

Friedler said more studies were needed to see if other stress-reducing techniques might be useful, noting that it wasn't clear if the clown intervention had actually worked to curb stress. Researchers also don't know what role emotional stress might play in IVF success.

So-called clown care has long been used at medical centers in Israel, the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, usually in children's hospitals. Israel's University of Haifa also recently launched a degree program in "medical clowning".

Questions:

1. How many woman were involved in the study?

2. Where did the study take place?

3. What percentage became pregnant?

Answers:

1. 219.

2. Israel.

3. 36 percent.

去聽寫專區(qū)一展身手

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About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.