Tag: fertility clock

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Infertility In Your 20s: Getting Diagnosed When You Should Be In Your ‘Fertility Peak’

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Olivia Tullo was 28 when she and her husband decided to start a family. They’d bought a house; they had a puppy. They were ready.

“We started trying, and several months went by. I just had a feeling,” Tullo said. “I just knew something wasn’t right.”

Her OB-GYN recommended a fertility specialist, who eventually recommended surgery for what was determined to be endometriosis. After that, there was more trying, more tests and the discovery that she had premature ovarian failure.

“My ovaries were shutting down,” Tullo said. “And I was only 29.”

Age is one of the main factors that can drive up a woman’s risk of infertility, which affects approximately 10 percent of women between the ages of 15 to 44. By 40, a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant drop from 90 to 67 percent; at 45, a woman has just a 15 percent shot.

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Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

I’m in my 40s and I want off the Pill. How likely am I to get pregnant?

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The question

At what age is it reasonable for a woman to think that she’s no longer at risk of becoming pregnant? I’m in my mid-40s and am thinking it’s about time to stop using my birth control pills. Is it safe now or should I wait?

The answer

In general, your child-bearing years usually end approximately 10 years before the onset of menopause. This is the time in a woman’s life when hormonal changes cause her periods to stop and the body is no longer able to get pregnant. The age of menopause varies from woman to woman, but the average age in Canada is 51, according to the society of obstetricians and gynecologists of Canada .

It is only reasonable for a woman to think she is no longer at any risk of becoming pregnant when she reaches menopause. While the risk of pregnancy decreases significantly after 40 (when cycles become irregular and ovulation is unpredictable), there is still a chance of getting pregnant until menopause is reached.

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Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Early Menopause May Raise Risk for Brain Aneurysm

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(HealthDay News) — Early menopause may be associated with an increased risk of brain aneurysm, new research suggests.

The study by researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago included 76 postmenopausal women who had a brain aneurysm, or an abnormal bulging of an artery in the brain. Aneurysms are serious. If the bulge leaks or ruptures, it can lead to stroke or death.

About 26 percent of the women who had an aneurysm experienced menopause by age 40, compared with about 19 percent in a comparison group of women who didn’t have an aneurysm.

Every four-year increase in the age at which a woman went through menopause was associated with a 21 percent decreased risk of aneurysm.

The study was published online June 11 in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

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Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Menopausal Age May Affect Rheumatoid Arthritis Severity

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Women who experience early menopause have a reduced risk of developing a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis, a new study suggests.

Researchers looked at 134 women with rheumatoid arthritis and found that those who had early menopause (before age 45) were only half as likely to develop severe arthritis as those who had normal/late menopause (16 percent versus 35 percent), and were more likely to develop mild/moderate arthritis (58 percent versus 20 percent).

The use of birth control pills or a history of breast-feeding were not associated with major differences in severity of rheumatoid arthritis, the study authors noted.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that’s more common in women than in men. The disorder attacks joint tissues and sometimes organs, causing swelling, inflammation, fever and fatigue. It usually develops between the ages of 30 and 60 but can occur at other ages, according to the Arthritis Foundation.

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Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Egg freezing technique could be ‘game changer’ for would-be parents

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Commerce Township — Soon after Julie and Bill VanDerworp got married in 1993, they started trying to have a baby. Although she was 27 and he was 30, the young couple was unable to conceive a child.

Eventually they tried fertility drugs and procedures. Still, no baby.

As the years passed, they tried conceiving with an egg donor. But it wasn’t until they turned to a donor whose eggs had been frozen with new technology that she finally got pregnant. Late last year, after spending nearly $200,000 and trying for more than a decade, the VanDerworps gave birth to a son they named Kent.

“It’s been such a long journey, such a long road,” Julie VanDerworp said. “But I still can’t believe my luck. (Having Kent) is everything I thought it would be. It’s so rewarding.”

The VanDerworps got the frozen egg from a donor in Michigan’s first “egg bank” — made possible by a reproductive technology that allows women to freeze their eggs so they can bear children later in life or after a cancer treatment, which typically leaves women infertile. The egg bank also can be used by women who are either infertile, like VanDerworp, or struggle with genetic issues they don’t want their children to inherit by using an egg that’s been donated by another woman.

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Fertility Clock Blog, My Future Baby Blog

Online Tool Helps Track Menopause Symptoms

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A full 72 percent of women experiencing menopausal symptoms have not received treatment for them, according to a new survey by the Endocrine Society.  The poll, conducted in mid-April, also found that 60 percent of women exhibiting symptoms of menopause have not talked to their primary health providers about possible treatment.

The statistics prompted the Endocrine Society and its Hormone Health Network to develop a so-called Menopause Map — an interactive online quiz that helps women and their doctors discuss what treatment options (hormonal or nonhormonal) might be the most effective for them.

Menopausal women who are about to or have already stopped menstruating may also experience hot flashes, sweating, insomnia, mood swings, fatigue, depression and vaginal dryness, among others. Although the tool does not encourage women to pursue one avenue of treatment over another, it prompts women to consider a range of options to alleviate menopausal symptoms, including hormone therapy.

Read the full article.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Male Equivalent of Menopause: MANopause

ASRM News and Research

The official term for manopause is andropause. Men with this condition suffer from lower-than-normal levels of testosterone.  According to various studies, this condition affects 20 to 30 percent of all men.  Unlike menopause, which usually runs its course in a few years, andropause can last for decades.

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

Menopause Symptoms Left Untreated for Many Women

ASRM News and Research

Fewer than one third of women with menopause symptoms are receiving treatment for those symptoms, according to a nationally representative survey of 810 women aged 45 to 60 years. Lake Research Partners in Washington, DC, conducted the survey for the Endocrine Society and its Hormone Health Network from April 13 through April 17, 2012. The Endocrine Society released the results of the survey on May 1.