Pride Angel

The age-specific blood levels of the Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) can predict when women will reach menopause. This makes family planning easier, say fertility researchers from the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Their findings were published online May 26 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Generally, women enter menopause between the age of forty and sixty. A woman's fertility, however, ends ten years prior to this and in the most unfavorable circumstances occurs around the age of thirty. With regard to family planning and a career, it is extremely valuable for women to know the expected length of their fertility.

Predicting menopause
The study included 257 healthy women who were monitored for as long as eleven years. The Dutch researchers linked AMH levels to the point when the women entered menopause and based on these data constructed a model to predict the menopausal age. Using age and AMH, the age range in which menopause will occur can be individually predicted.

For example, the predicted median age at menopause of a 30 year old woman with an AMH concentration close to 0.15 ng/ml will be 48.8 years. On the other hand, the predicted median age at menopause of a 30 year old woman with an AMH concentration close to 4.38 ng/ml will be 55.3 years. These findings may only be translated into clinical practice after a thorough assay standardisation.

Postpone having children
The research was conducted under the leadership of gynecologists Professor Frank Broekmans and Professor Bart Fauser. "Women often postpone having children until their career has been well established. However they may find that it is difficult to get pregnant at this time. It could therefore be very useful for women to know beforehand up to which age they remain fertile. As far as we know, we are the first researchers worldwide to succeed in making long term predictions for individual women," the gynecologists say.

This knowledge will enable women who are predicted to become infertile at an early age to choose the option of having their eggs frozen. This means that they will still be able to have children if it turns out that they can no longer get pregnant spontaneously. University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, offers people the possibility of having eggs frozen and stored in a human egg bank.

Article: 29th May 2011 www.sciencedaily.com

Test your fertility with FSH and ovulation tests.

Women may soon be able to plan better how long to wait to start a family thanks to a simple test.

By reading clues hidden in a woman’s genes, it could give her odds of going through an early menopause, scientists say.

Those deemed to be at risk could try for a baby earlier than they otherwise might.

Lead scientist Dr Anna Murray said: ‘It is estimated that a woman’s ability to conceive decreases on average ten years before she starts the menopause.

‘Therefore, those who are destined to have an early menopause and delay childbearing until their 30s are more likely to have problems conceiving.’

They compared the DNA of 2,000 women who suffered it with that of those who had stopped their periods at the normal age.

In the UK, the average age for the menopause – defined as the time when a woman’s periods have stopped for 12 months – is 52.

However, 1 per cent of women go through the menopause before they hit 40. Timing is largely genetic, although weight and the age that periods start have an effect.

The researchers found that there are four genes which all affect early menopause in their own ways, and much more so when they were all present. They added that their findings help explain why some females go into menopause early.

Women who enter the menopause early have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, infertility and osteoporosis, and a lower risk of getting breast cancer.

A womans fertility starts to decline after the age of 30. Rising levels of the hormone FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) tend to be associated with reduced fertility. This test is especially useful for women with irregular periods and for women over the age of 30.

All our insemination kits contain 2 FSH tests. If both tests are positive it is an indicator of reduced fertility. A negative test result is good news but is not a guarantee of fertility. A positive result suggests fertility is reduced and we recommend that you see your doctor to discuss the results and perhaps have further tests.

Read more about fertility tests