Study Finds Menopause Symptoms Can Be PredictedThe number of eggs left in a woman's ovaries are like the grains of sand in an hourglass, ticking away the hours on her biological clock.Researchers now say they may be able to predict when that clock will wind down. And while doctors can't actually count the number of eggs in an ovary, they can measure ovarian volume. British researchers say there's a direct correlation between the two, and by measuring ovarian volume with transvaginal ultrasound, doctors should be able to predict when menopause will set in and how many fertile years a woman has left. According to the study authors, this information will revolutionize the care of women looking for assisted reproductive technologies, including those who were treated for childhood cancers as well as women who want to put off starting a family for whatever reason. Although information still needs to be validated in clinical studies, its benefit is most likely to start with women who are being treated for cancer and women attending fertility clinics, said Tom Kelsey, co-author of the study appearing June 17 in the journal Human Reproduction. "If women looking for some sort of assisted conception and their physicians know that they've got a long time till menopause, then you could plan for a range of treatments," said Kelsey, who is a senior research fellow at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "If you knew menopause was likely in four to five years, you'd plan a different set of IVF [in vitro fertilization] treatments." Others reiterate, however, that the findings should be treated with caution. "Should a young woman who is 30 years old go for a test to figure out whether she's got three, five or 10 years left on her fertility? Should she make career decisions and life decisions? Are these data good enough to make those determinations?" asked Dr. Alan Copperman, director of reproductive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. "The answer is obviously no to all of those questions. The predictive value of this test is not good enough to go and tell someone to change their life." According to the article, eggs form in a female's ovary while she is still in the womb, peaking at several million about halfway through gestation and then starting a continuous decline. At birth, there are several hundred thousand and, when menstruation begins, about 300,000. At about age 37, a woman has about 25,000 eggs left, and at menopause only about 1,000. The time at which menopause sets in is widely believed to be based on the number of eggs reaching a critically low threshold. The authors of this study measured ovarian volume with transvaginal ultrasound, then looked at the relationship between ovarian volume -- ovaries shrink as a woman ages -- and number of eggs. They then applied mathematical and computer models to predict menopause. The study authors are negotiating with a medical school to set up clinical trials. The idea would be to follow women to see if their predictions were indeed correct. While these authors have come up with a tool to potentially help women plan their lives, a second study in the same issue of Human Reproduction warned that women might not want to leave it too late. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) could not be relied upon to fully compensate for lack of natural fertility after the age of 35, the article stated. The authors used a computer simulation model to determine that the overall success rate of assisted reproductive technology would be 30 percent for those attempting to get pregnant from age 30, 24 percent for those trying from age 35, and 17 percent from age 40. SOURCES: Tom Kelsey, Ph.D., senior research fellow, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland; Alan Copperman, M.D., director, reproductive medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York; June 17, 2004, Human Reproduction |
| menopause ages |
|
Maturitas : Age at natural menopause in Iran - Published by Elsevier Furthermore, women with a natural menopause at age 40â“44 years experienced an increased risk of cancer-related mortality (adjusted RR=2.34, 95% confidence BioMed Central | Full text | Pulse pressure and age at menopause While menopausal age was not associated cross-sectionally with PP, early age at menopause (age<45) was significantly and independently associated with a Age at onset of menopause Of 455 women personally observed by Dr. Kisch, the relative numbers who experienced the menopause at different ages was as follows: ESTIMATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF AGE AT NATURAL MENOPAUSE FROM Another problem with estimating this distribution from a cross-sectional study is the clustering of reported age at natural menopause around ages ending in Menopause, Menopause and Weight Gain, Middle Age Spread Menopause, Menopause and Weight Gain, Middle Age Spread. Age Of Menopause Dictated Largely By Genes The age at which a woman reaches menopause is 85% genetically determined, according to new research published today (Thursday 30 August) in Europe's leading Season Of Birth Influences Age Of Menopause, Say Italian Researchers Research by Italian experts on the menopause has found that that the month and the season in which a woman is born influence the age at which she reaches HEALTH; Researchers Say Age at Menopause Appears to Be a Gauge of Broken down by age at menopause, 34 of the 126 women who underwent menopause before age 40, or 27 percent, died during the study. ScienceDirect - Fertility and Sterility : A model for predicting A model for predicting age at menopause in white women . Age at natural menopause and age at premenopausal hysterectomy were 49.1 ± 4.7 years and 43.3 Menopause - Peel Public Health - Region of Peel The average age for menopause to occur is 51 years, but it can happen anytime between the If it occurs before age 40, it is called premature menopause. Menopause Menopause can occur anytime after the age of 35, but the typical age of onset is in the late 40s. A womanâ™s ovaries, the organs that produce eggs, Study: Age vs. menopause effects on bone health The U-M team studied a group of women ages 20-52, and age-matched women who had and had not gone through menopause for study purposes. What Age Does Menopause Start Article Many women are not sure of the age of menopause and whether or not the plaguing symptoms are indicators of the change of life. Serum Dioxin Concentrations and Age at Menopause For women who met the definition of natural menopause, age (in years) at last menstrual period was assigned as their age at menopause. HDC gene polymorphisms are associated with age at natural Abnormal low age at natural menopause (AANM) correlates with female In addition, the Caucasian women with menopause ages of about 40â“44 years have 4% Managing Menopause - Home Menopause, Between the ages of 45 and 55 years most women experience changes to their body that can be associated with menopause, which is literally the Introduction In the Western world, the majority of women experience a natural menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 --on average at about age 51 --but it can occur as Menopause: What to Expect When Your Body is Changing Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her periods stop and she can't have children anymore. This happens because as a woman ages, her ovaries stop |
| menopause ages |
|
lose menopause weight menopause and adrenal insufficiency breast change menopause blood clots and menopause |