A new treatment has been developed that allows women to delay menopause for up to 20 years! It is being offered by fertility expert Simon Fishel, who helped conceive the first test-tube baby through IVF. It’s simple but effective and perhaps best of all only takes 30 minutes. Simon and his team say that it could help thousands of women by tricking their biological clocks into thinking they are much younger than they are.
Developed From Procedure For Cancer Patients
Doctors already use a similar technique called ovarian tissue cryopreservation, which preserves fertility in women beginning treatment for cancer. This involves removing some ovarian tissues and freezing it. Then if the woman wants to have children, the tissue is thawed out and reimplanted next to the fallopian tubes. This then picks up the mature eggs that are released by the tissue.
“This is the first project in the world to provide healthy women ovarian tissue cryopreservation purely to delay the menopause,” Yousri Afifi, chief medical officer.
The team has now adapted this surgery to help woman delay the menopause. First, only a small amount of tissue is removed, as opposed to an entire ovary in cancer patients. This tissue is divided into strips and soaked in a formula which is full of nutrients before it is frozen to ensures its longevity. When the woman decides she wants to delay the start of the menopause, the tissue is thawed and implanted into her body in an area which had a strong blood supply like the armpit.
“Women are living longer than at any time in human history,” said Fishel “It’s quite likely that many women will be in the menopause for longer than their fertile period. We are empowering women to take control of their own health by naturally delaying their menopause.”
Helping Women With Severe Menopause Symptoms
Specialists claim that this procedure can help women who suffer from serious medical conditions such as osteoporosis and heart problems, because of menopause. For millions of other women, the thought of delaying menopause would help to reduce both physical symptoms as well as emotional symptoms such as hot flushes, anxiety, memory problems and mood swings. Medical director, Yousri Afifi, said, “Women spend a third of their life post-menopause. The impact on wellbeing is unquestionable.” Another member of the team Christiani Amorim said “It can affect their health and be psychologically devasting. It can impact their relationship, work and their sense of self.”
However, the procedure is only being offered privately and can cost up to £11,000. Even though its costly, doctors believe that the procedure could save the NHS substantial amounts of money by reducing treatment cost for more serious related problems which are caused by menopause (heart conditions and osteoporosis).
Nine British women aged between 22 and 36 have already undergone the procedure. One married mother of one had it because she wanted to avoid having to take the HRT in the future. She said: “I have to say I’ve never felt any pain, and it seems quite miraculous that its something so straightforward.” One woman who had the procedure because of her painful symptoms of endometriosis said that “being able to delay the menopause had been life-changing” she said.
Even though the procedure can be life-changing for some women, there are concerns that the procedure is being used for the wrong reasons. Obviously, if women start conceiving babies at 70, the body wouldn’t be designed to have a baby at that age. However, he insists that these concerns are misplaced and such risks can be avoided by transplanting the tissue outside the woman’s reproductive system like it is being done in the procedure now.
