Premature menopause can be devastating for women who hope to become mothers later in life, but doctors in Greece claim they may have come up with a solution.
According to a report in
New Scientist, a 45-year-old woman who hadn't had a period in five years is now menstruating again after her ovaries were injected with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which is commonly used to treat athletes.
The therapy, which has been tested successfully on 30 women who hope to become pregnant, all aged between 46 and 49, enables the body to heal itself using its own natural growth factors.
Here's the science bit: The treatment involves the separation of a blood sample, consisting of red cells, white cells and platelet cells (all transported around the body in fluid called plasma) in a centrifuge to concentrate the molecules responsible for muscle and bone repair.
According to results presented by gynaecologist Konstantinos Sfakianoudis and his team at the Greek fertility clinic Genesis Athens, injecting test patients with PRP triggered the return of their periods, which allowed doctors to collect their eggs.
“I had a patient whose menopause had established five years ago, at the age of 40,” Sfakianoudis
told the journal. Six months after doctors treated her with PRP, she experienced her first period and has now had two of her eggs fertilised using her husband's sperm. Once the team have a third embryo on ice, they will be implanting them in her uterus.
“It seems to work in about two-thirds of cases,” the doctor continued. "We see changes in biochemical patterns, a restoration of menses, and egg recruitment and fertilisation.”
While the findings are unpublished as of yet, Sfakianoudis and his team have also had success in using the treatment in women who have suffered multiple miscarriages and failed IVF attempts. It may also be used in the future to delay the menopause and reduce its symptoms in women who aren't hoping to conceive.
