Study finds new way of predicting reproductive age

29 Apr 2008

A new study from the US may have uncovered a more accurate method of predicting when a woman will start the menopause, reports reveal.

Research conducted at the University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, the Netherlands, found that measurement of anti-Mullerian hormone (AHM) levels in the blood can be used to indicate the onset of menopause and a woman's reproductive age.

Dr Jeroen van Disseldorp and Dr Frank Broekmans, who led the study, said: "Couples often postpone childbearing until after age thirty, even though variation in menopausal age and corresponding variation in natural fertility means that some women are sterile as early as their thirties.

"Knowing when menopause may occur could greatly impact childbearing decisions and our findings show that such knowledge may now be available from AMH levels."

The BBC reported in January that a 40-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl seven hours after being misdiagnosed with symptoms of early menopause.

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