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News in brief

Researchers working at the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, have published the results of their longterm follow up study into a possible link between Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) levels and when women reach menopause. The results suggest that the hormone can be used to predict menopausal age. These results could allow women to gauge when they will become infertile and this has consequences for family planning. The age at which women enter menopause varies greatly but it typically occurs between the ages of 40 and 60 years. It is widely hypothesized that a women’s fertility ends approximately 10 years prior to their menopause; therefore, accurately predicting menopausal age provides women with information on when they will become infertile. The Dutch study led by Frank Broekmans and Bart Fauser (both from University Medical Center Utrecht) was designed to investigate the ability of ovarian hormones, in particular AMH, to predict menopausal age. The study involved 257 women, and assessed the women’s AMH levels as well as their antral follicle count, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels were measured at the start of the study and then again approximately 11 years later; the age at which the cohort of women reached menopause was inventoried. From the results, the group were able to assess the accuracy of AMH and the other hormones at predicting menopause. AMH levels were found to be highly predictive for menopause age. The authors conclude that: “Using age and AMH, the age range in which menopause will subsequently occur can be individually calculated”. If these findings can be verified, then the prediction model could be used in family planning. It may prompt women to freeze their eggs and could also be used for the prevention of menopausal-linked conditions such as breast cancer and cardio vascular disease. Frank Broekmans and Bart Fauser comment that: “Women often postpone having children until their career has been well established. However they may find that it is difficult to get pregnant at this time. It could therefore be very useful for women to know beforehand up to which age they remain fertile. As far as we know, we are the first researchers worldwide to succeed in making long term predictions for individual women”.