The Change Mariner

Scientists Defy Menopause

Telegraph (UK):

Scientists have discovered a new way to defy the menopause which could change women's lives, they announce today. Their research raises the prospect of extending childbearing years and offers a more natural alternative to HRT to offset ageing and maintain youthful vigour. The discovery that women may make eggs after birth, rather than be born with all the eggs they would ever have, could provide profound insights into the timing of the menopause.

It is also likely to help to improve the success of grafts of ovary tissue to restore fertility in women after chemotherapy for cancer.

The study overturns a theory of female fertility that has persisted for more than half a century and discloses that ovaries may have hidden reserves, a find with "significant clinical implications".

The work, published in the journal Nature, was carried out at Massachusetts general hospital, Boston.