These Scientists Just Learned How To Reverse The Cycle Of Menopause

Women in Greece are experiencing reverse menopause. Yes, that now exists.

A new treatment with platelet-rich plasma, which is mix of substances in the blood that can help cells grow, could restart women's menstrual cycles. Scientists and researchers say the technique will help older women conceive.

One woman even began menstruating after five years of not having a period by using this treatment.

To give you a quick refresher, most women are born with over two million eggs. However, each month, they lose as much as 1,500 of those eggs.

By the time they reach the age of 30, women only have 70,000 eggs. When they turn 35, that number drops to 30,000, and by the time they are 37, there are only 25,000 eggs left.

And while most women reach menopause in their 40s or 50s, some get it even earlier. Yeah, time is just not on our side.

Greek gynecologist Konstantinos Sfakianoudis, who works at a fertility clinic called Genesis Athens, said,

[The treatment] offers a window of hope that menopausal women will be able to get pregnant using their own genetic material.

Women who are post-menopausal can have the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injected into their ovaries. Dr. Sfakianoudis and his team did this to a woman and found within six months, she got her first period since entering menopause.

The technique also seems to have positive effects on women who have suffered miscarriages. The team found that after injecting PRP into six women who had multiple miscarriages and failed IVF attempts, half of the women ended up becoming pregnant through IVF.

Still, some experts have their reservations about the new technique. Roger Sturmey from the Hull York Medical School says,

It is potentially quite exciting [...] But it also opens up ethical questions over what the upper age limit of mothers should be.

This looks like good news for women who are older and single or never had children, but want to.

Citations: Scientists 'REVERSE' the menopause: Women who'd not had a period in five years are now menstruating again after their ovaries were rejuvenated (Daily Mail)