In 2019 news came out that there was a new procedure being developed that would delay menopause for up to 20 years. The procedure is headed by Doctor Simon Fishel, founder of the Care Fertility Group and CEO of ProFam, who is renowned for his contribution in reproductive medicine.
The procedure, costing between 7,000 and 11,000 pounds, involved removing a small piece of ovarian tissue from a woman and preserving it in cryo as is normally done when one’s eggs are extracted for future use. The idea was that when the woman was about to enter menopause the frozen tissue would be thawed and grafted back into the body. It would then restore the hormones that naturally start to fall when one goes through menopause.
It is important to note that this procedure is not nearly as science fiction as it sounds. Transplantation of ovarian tissue is a procedure mainly used in women suffering from ovarian cancer and want to preserve their chances of becoming pregnant post cancer. During it’s research phase, at least 36 babies were born following transplantation of the ovarian tissue in women who had fought cancer.
Doctor Simon Fishel predicted that the delay in menopause would depend on what age the tissue was taken from a patient; a 41-year-old may only be able to delay menopause for four years whilst a 20-year-old may be able to delay menopause for 25 years.
His research was not without criticism, Doctor Melanie Davies, who chairs Fertility Preservation in the United Kingdom held that while it is now known that it is possible to restore fertility in a proportion of women that have suffered cancer, there is no evidence pointing to the fact that the preserved tissue can last more than 10 years. Remember that with cancer patients the tissue is only preserved for as long as the cancer treatment lasts which is not usually more than 5 years.
There has been very little update from Doctor Simon Fishel and because the procedure is still in its research stage it is likely that results will not be available for the next 10 years.
Having said the above, menopause is inevitable. It is a natural progression of life that can no more be stopped than breathing or growing can. While genes are the largest factor in deciding when menopause begins for women, there are, however, lifestyle changes as well as medicines that can delay it which will be discussed below.
Breastfeeding and Pregnancy History
A study analysing a history of over 100,000 pregnancies in women aged between 25 and 42 discovered that women who breastfed their babies for about 6 to 12 months lowered their chances of starting menopause before 45.
The research also discovered that a full-term pregnancy lowers the risk of early menopause by up to 8 percent. Multiply that over a number of pregnancies and that lowers the risk of early menopause even more.
A High Fruit, Protein and Calorie Diet
It is not surprising that a healthy diet that contributes to one’s overall health has also been found to delay menopause. A study found that having a diet that has a fewer portion of carbohydrates and more legumes and fish can postpone menopause for as much as 2 years.
Another study found that you can decrease the risk of early menopause by 17 percent by having a lot more dairy products as well as vitamin D. Having a lot of fruits and protein is also said to help. Because diets may differ from person to person you may benefit from consulting a dietician or medical doctor to discuss how best to change your diet.
Oral Contraceptives
Birth control has been found to delay menopause especially in Black women. It is not understood how birth control delays menopause. Some researchers theorize that birth control prevents the release of eggs it will unintentionally also delay menopause because menopause only starts once all the eggs in the ovaries are finished.
Eliminating or Reducing Alcohol Consumption and Smoking
About 11 in 100 women in America are regular smokers. A study, which followed close to 300 women for a period of 10 years, discovered that environmental toxins such as cigarette smoking can vary genes linked to the metabolism of estrogen. This change accounts for the increased impact of menopausal symptoms in women who smoke especially when it comes to sever hot flushes. Second hand smoking was also found to increase the chances of experiencing severe symptoms.
The data surrounding alcohol consumption and its effects on menopause is mixed. Some studies find that there is no effect at all, and others found that alcohol consumption might delay menopause. One study found that women who had zero to low alcohol intake were reported to have later onset menopause than women who were moderate to high drinkers.
Although it is very hard to change one’s environment given socio-economic factors to consider, living in a clean environment that has reduced pollutants along with a clean healthy diet can make a huge difference in not just the age in which your menopause starts but the severity of your symptoms.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) commonly plays a major role in managing symptoms when one is going through menopause. This is done by replacing the hormones that the body can no longer produce sufficiently.
However, there is no sufficient evidence to prove that HRT can also delay menopause. Logic dictates that it might be able to help but until there is sufficient research surrounding the topic medical practitioners are less inclined to offer HRT for the purposes of delaying menopause.
Conclusion
Menopause is no easy walk and women have been made to go through it alone with little kind of support. When all you have heard about menopause is scary it is hard not imagine why you would not want to delay menopause. However it does not always have to be scary, menopause can be good, it can be the start of a new chapter in your life when you have the right kind of support both medically and in your personal life.
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