Two menopausal and infertile women became PREGNANT after having their ovaries rejuvenated
TWO women who were thought to be infertile have become pregnant using a technique that rejuvenates the ovaries and reproductive organs.
It is the first time a treatment has allowed a menopausal woman to conceive using her own egg.
The women, aged 40 and 39, were given blood plasma injections into their ovaries and womb,
The treatment is based on the apparent healing properties of blood.
If successful, it could allow women to remain fertile for longer, giving new hope to women who delay having children or go through the menopause early.
One of the women is now six months pregnant but the other miscarried in the first trimester.
The treatment, available at the Genesis Athens Clinic in Greece, involves taking a sample of the mother's blood.
It is then broken down to isolate the plasma - the part of the blood involved in clotting and healing.
It is then injected into the ovaries and uterus in a bid to repair the woman's reproductive organs.
MOST READ IN HEALTH
Dr Kostantinos Sfakianoudis leads the team carrying out this experimental research, which has so far been given to more than 180 women.
Most of those women sought the treatment because they had a condition that causes the lining of the uterus to become damaged.
The team have used the treatment to rejuvenate the reproductive organs 27 menopausal women between the ages of 34 and 51.
Dr Sfakianoudis told New Scientist: "While most want to get pregnant, some of these women just wanted to stop the symptoms of menopause, which can include hot flushes, night sweats and thinning hair.
"Some people might not meet their partners until later in life.
"If there is a treatment that will help them, then why not use it?"
After the treatment, the women went back to their own countries where they were told to try IVF.
One of the women, a 40-year-old from Germany, had been trying to get pregnant to have a second child for more than six years.
She had been through six rounds of unsuccessful IVF treatment but, after having treatment at the clinic, was able to release three eggs and become pregnant.
Two of the eggs were fertilised and an embryo was implanted in her uterus via IVF and she is now six months pregnant.
She said: "After the sixth IVF, the doctor said we should stop there, and consider egg donation."
WHAT IS MENOPAUSE?
A woman is considered to be in menopause when she has no longer had a period for 12 consecutive months – meaning she is coming to the end of her reproductive years.
Symptoms usually start a few months or even years before periods stop, known as the perimenopause, and can persist for some time afterwards.
On average, most symptoms last around four years from your last period.
However, around 1 in every 10 women experience them for up to 12 years, according to the NHS.
Symptoms:
- hot flushes
- night sweats
- difficulty sleeping
- reduced sex drive
- vaginal dryness
- headaches
- mood changes and anxiety
- palpitations
- joint stiffness
- reduced muscle mass
- recurrent urinary tract infections
Treatment:
Not all women want treatment to help manage their symptoms.
But for those who do, they can use hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
There are two types of HRT:
- combined HRT (oestrogen and progestogen) – for women with menopausal symptoms who still have their womb
- oestrogen-only HRT – for women who have had their womb removed in a hysterectomy
HRT is available as tablets, skin patches, a gel to rub into the skin or implants.
Source: NHS Choices
The technique also worked for a 39-year-old woman from the Netherlands who had not had a period for four years.
A month after receiving the treatment in December last year she began having her periods again.
After a few months of treatment she underwent IVF in the Netherlands and became pregnant but miscarried within the first trimester.
Dr Sfakianoudis explained that women between the ages of 35 and 39 are thought to have a one in five chance of miscarriage during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Infertility is when a couple cannot get pregnant despite having regular, unprotected sex.
Around one in seven couples may have difficulty conceiving, equating to about 3.5 million people in the UK.
About 84 per cent of couples will conceive naturally within one year if they have regular unprotected sex, according to the NHS.
Medics say the results are so far promising, thought the team isn't sure how the treatment is working.
One theory is that the plasma wakes up the stem cells in the ovary, which could encourage it to produce more eggs.
John Randolph from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor said: "Anything that might help ovaries regain function would be fabulous.
"A lot of people have high hopes of doing something like this."
While Claus Yiding Anderson at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark said that just sticking a needle into an ovary might have a stimulating effect.
But he said pregnancy in older women is riskier, adding: "I do think it’s questionable whether we should allow women in their 60s and 70s to get pregnant."
Dr Sfakianoudis plans to trial his treatment in Greece and the US, but will continue offering it at his clinic in the meantime.
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