Article: Do immune-system ills cause miscarriages? Theory says that in some cases, woman's body may attack embryo as foreign

Women who have had repeated miscarriages or for whom in-vitro fertilization has failed are often told that nothing can be done to help them. While almost 70% of miscarriages are due to chromosomal defects, at least 50% of recurrent miscarriages have no apparent explanation, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Now a few doctors are looking at one possible cause of unexplained miscarriage: problems in the immune system.

These doctors theorize that when a woman miscarries again and again it may be because her immune system is wrongly attacking her embryo as foreign. If this is the problem, and it can be overcome, they say, the women may be able to carry pregnancies ...

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