Welcome to the Journal of Restorative Reproductive Medicine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63264/0j97jd75Keywords:
restorative reproductive medicineAbstract
Welcome to the Journal of Restorative Reproductive Medicine, the official journal of the International Institute for Restorative Reproductive Medicine! JRRM is a peer-reviewed, open-access medical journal for clinicians, scientists, professionals, and patients. Our vision is that JRRM will disseminate and promote evidence-based information to support and restore human fertility and reproductive health.
Restorative reproductive medicine can be defined as approaches to systematically identify and treat underlying health conditions contributing to reproductive dysfunction and suboptimal reproductive health.1,2 In the case of subfertility, the aim is to restore the ability to have a healthy live birth, starting with natural intercourse in the fertile window.3 Consistent with this, JRRM approaches subfertility and recurrent miscarriage as related chronic conditions with many possible underlying contributors, including medical conditions, lifestyle, and environmental factors. The same framework applies to other conditions affected by or affecting human reproductive health, which is intertwined with somatic health.4-6
JRRM is particularly interested in articles from clinical medicine, physiology, epidemiology, data science, social sciences, and public health. Relevant clinical domains include, but are not limited to gynecology, andrology, endocrinology, infertility, midwifery, primary care, fertility cycle tracking. Occasionally, basic science or animal studies might be considered for publication, if they directly relate to the vision of JRRM. Articles not considered relevant to this journal include those focusing on the humanities or medical ethics, or research that does not focus on a restorative approach to human fertility and reproductive health.
JRRM builds on a long history of tracking ovulation and the fertile window with fertility biomarkers, originally with the aim of natural regulation of fertility.7-10 In the past few decades, clinicians and investigators have explored the power and potential of applying these tools to medical evaluation and treatment.11-13 JRRM seeks to highlight and accelerate the development of scientific evidence linking fertility biomarkers and health.
There are a growing number of high-quality journals related to human reproduction. JRRM focuses uniquely on restorative approaches to investigation and treatment, which often get less attention. There is a wide variety of motivations for the interest and engagement of patients and professionals in restorative reproductive medicine: preferences for less invasive natural approaches, commitments to patient empowerment, seeking answers for what is wrong, concerns about access and quality, reducing costs, and ethical and religious commitments.14-16 We all can benefit from a diversity of perspectives in the service of patients.17 All motivations are welcome at JRRM, as we focus together on a restorative approach to fertility and reproductive health
References
1. Boyle PC, de Groot T, Andralojc KM, Parnell TA. Healthy Singleton Pregnancies From Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) After Failed IVF. Front Med (Lausanne) 2018;5:210. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2018.00210.
2. Stanford JB, Parnell T, Kantor K, et al. International Natural Procreative Technology Evaluation and Surveillance of Treatment for Subfertility (iNEST): enrollment and methods. Hum Reprod Open 2022;2022(3):hoac033. DOI: 10.1093/hropen/hoac033.
3. Bouchard TP, Fehring RJ, Schneider MM. Achieving Pregnancy Using Primary Care Interventions to Identify the Fertile Window. Front Med (Lausanne) 2017;4:250. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2017.00250.
4. Murugappan G, Leonard SA, Farland LV, et al. Association of infertility with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among postmenopausal participants in the Women's Health Initiative. Fertil Steril 2022;117(5):1038-1046. DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.02.005.
5. Nedelcu S, Vitthala S, Maheshwari A. Lab-based semen parameters as predictors of long-term health in men—a systematic review. Hum Reprod Open 2024;2024(4). DOI: 10.1093/hropen/hoae066.
6. Duane M, Stanford JB, Porucznik CA, Vigil P. Fertility Awareness-Based Methods for Women's Health and Family Planning. Front Med 2022;9. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.858977.
7. Knaus HH. Eine neue methode zur bestimmung des ovulationsdenstermins. Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie 1929;53:2193.
8. Ogino K. Ovulationstermin and Konceptionstermin. Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie 1930;54:464.
9. Brennan JJ, Klaus H. Terminology and core curricula in natural family planning. Fertil Steril 1982;38(1):117-118.
10. Klaus H. Natural family planning: a review. Obstet Gynecol Surv 1982;37(2):128-150.
11. Hilgers TW. The medical and surgical practice of NaProTechnology. Omaha, Nebraska: Pope Paul VI Institute Press, 2004.
12. Brown JB. Types of ovarian activity in women and their significance: the continuum (a reinterpretation of early findings). Hum Reprod Update 2011;17(2):141-158. DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmq040.
13. Vigil P. Ovulation. A sign of health. Physiology and pathophysiology of the menstrual cycle. Reproductive Health Research Institute, 2020.
14. Turner JV, McLindon LA. Bioethical and Moral Perspectives in Human Reproductive Medicine. Linacre Q 2018;85(4):385-398. DOI: 10.1177/0024363918816697.
15. Simmons RG, Jennings V. Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol 2020;66:68-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2019.12.003.
16. Urrutia RP, Polis CB. Fertility awareness-based methods for pregnancy prevention. BMJ 2019;366:l4245. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.l4245.
17. Stanford JB. Population, reproductive, and sexual health: data are essential where disciplines meet and ideologies conflict. Front Public Health 2016;4:27. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2016.00027.
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