Could this actually work?
White House officials are examining if pushing the pause button on menopause will expand women’s life expectancy.
During menopause, women are also likely to develop conditions such as osteoporosis, dementia, migraines, and mental health issues.
While Wegrzyn labeled the thought process as “wild,” Buck Institute for Research on Aging assistant professor Jennifer Garrison said not thinking about ovarian function during aging is “kind of missing the boat.”
Researchers have proposed numerous ideas to slow menopause. One idea is to slow the process of egg depletion, and another is to introduce a synthetic version of a chemical that correlates to egg release—anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Researchers are also examining whether drugs like immunosuppressant drugs like rapamycin may slow ovary aging.
Pharmaceutical company Oviva Therapeutics has begun the early stages of testing AMH, primarily on cats and mice. Oviva’s co-founder and chief executive, Dr. Daisy Robinton, described AMH as a “cloth that you cover around the ovary.”
AMH levels determine the size of holes in the cloth – big holes mean a low level – while small holes, meaning high levels of AMH, will release fewer eggs. “The idea is that if a woman loses fewer eggs, she can hold on to her ovarian reserves and the ovaries’ functionality for longer,” Dr. Robinton said.
Now, the question is what exactly causes ovaries to fail over other organs. A report from the New York Times revealed factors like smoking, stress, autoimmune diseases, and treatments for cancer can cause early menopause. It was also found that white women tend to go into menopause later on in life over Black and Hispanic women. “Is the ovary just a marker of overall health? Or is it that the ovary is timing out and causing poor health?” Stephanie Faubion, the medical director for the Menopause Society, said.
“I mean, it’s chicken-egg.”
“It is overlooked, it’s underinvested in, and it’s been left behind. And it is about time that our country and everyone really started taking this seriously.”
Source: Black Enterprise
