I was particularly interested to come across some new research from the Netherlands after my last post about ovarian reserve tests. A team from the University Medical Centre in Utrecht have concluded that anti-Mullerian hormone, or AMH, is the best way to test a woman's reproductive age.
AMH is a hormone produced by the follicles in the ovary when they are still at their tiniest stage, and the levels of the hormone seem to be the surest way to predict the ovarian reserve (the number of eggs left in the ovaries) and to see how close an individual may be to the menopause. The research team studied 144 healthy, fertile volunteers, and used their AMH levels to predict their reproductive age. They concluded that AMH levels are able to predict this better than your chronological age, as women will not all reach the menopause at the same point in their lives.
The research is due to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and you can read more about it at http://jcem.endojournals.org
Showing posts with label menopause. Show all posts
Showing posts with label menopause. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Thursday, 10 January 2008
The perimenopause
I am becoming slightly obsessed with the peri-menopause. I suppose it's inevitable once you hit the wrong side of forty, but every time I forget anything I wonder whether it could be a sign of menopausal memory loss. My obsession started when I was writing my last book The Complete Guide to Female Fertility , and became aware that I was on the cusp of a new phase of life which would begin with irregular periods and would mark the end of my fertility with such delights as hot flushes and hair loss... Sometimes, there are things I wish I didn't know...
But seriously, what is the perimenopause and how do you tell if you are entering it? It's the phase leading up to the menopause itself (which is said to occur when you haven't had a period for a year), and can last anything from a matter of months to a worrying ten years. I found a long list of symptoms here , but I'm trying to remind myself that not everyone has all these symptoms, and some women sail through the whole thing without really noticing it.
More worrying than the perimenopause, which will come to us all eventually, is premature menopause, which can occur at any age and affects about one in every hundred women. If you're trying to get pregnant, early hormone tests should reveal this fairly early on, but premature menopause does sometimes go undetected, and if you have irregular periods or other menopausal symptoms, make sure you've had the right hormone tests. It does sometimes run in families, and if your mother had an early menopause, tell your doctors about this. Fortunately, there is an excellent support group for women who have experienced an early menopause, The Daisy Network , who can provide information and advice.
But seriously, what is the perimenopause and how do you tell if you are entering it? It's the phase leading up to the menopause itself (which is said to occur when you haven't had a period for a year), and can last anything from a matter of months to a worrying ten years. I found a long list of symptoms here , but I'm trying to remind myself that not everyone has all these symptoms, and some women sail through the whole thing without really noticing it.
More worrying than the perimenopause, which will come to us all eventually, is premature menopause, which can occur at any age and affects about one in every hundred women. If you're trying to get pregnant, early hormone tests should reveal this fairly early on, but premature menopause does sometimes go undetected, and if you have irregular periods or other menopausal symptoms, make sure you've had the right hormone tests. It does sometimes run in families, and if your mother had an early menopause, tell your doctors about this. Fortunately, there is an excellent support group for women who have experienced an early menopause, The Daisy Network , who can provide information and advice.
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Giving up smoking
When we first started trying to have children, I smoked - a lot. I always knew I'd give up if I got pregnant, but as getting there took longer and longer, it was harder to find the motivation. Occasionally a nurse or doctor would ask whether I smoked, but no one seemed particularly bothered about it. When we started our first IVF attempt, the consultant suggested I should stop, and I did. Until we found out it hadn't worked, when the first thing I did was to dash out for a packet of cigarettes.
I did finally stop, and our treatment did eventually work, but in retrospect I wish I'd been made more aware of the effect smoking can have on fertility. Research suggests that female smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to have fertility problems, and that they also tend to reach the menopause earlier. In fact, one study concluded that smoking can shorten a woman's reproductive life by ten years. Even passive smoking is thought to make a difference, and living with a smoker can mean it will take a woman longer to get pregnant.
The good news for smokers is that the damage seems to be reversible. If you give up, your chances of conceiving are back to normal after just a year. It's not always the easiest time to quit, and adding the pangs of nicotine withdrawal to the emotional turmoil of infertility and treatment is tough - but giving up smoking really can make all the difference to a successful outcome.
I did finally stop, and our treatment did eventually work, but in retrospect I wish I'd been made more aware of the effect smoking can have on fertility. Research suggests that female smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to have fertility problems, and that they also tend to reach the menopause earlier. In fact, one study concluded that smoking can shorten a woman's reproductive life by ten years. Even passive smoking is thought to make a difference, and living with a smoker can mean it will take a woman longer to get pregnant.
The good news for smokers is that the damage seems to be reversible. If you give up, your chances of conceiving are back to normal after just a year. It's not always the easiest time to quit, and adding the pangs of nicotine withdrawal to the emotional turmoil of infertility and treatment is tough - but giving up smoking really can make all the difference to a successful outcome.
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