Low egg production may predict early menopause

There is evidence for the quantitative ovarian concept of reproductive aging. Women with a low number of oocytes are more likely to have a premature menopause. A recent study has shown that in women undergoing In vitro fertilization (IVF) those who produce the fewest eggs during the infertility treatment are much more likely to face premature menopause than women who produce more eggs. At birth, the ovaries contain about 1 million to 2 million eggs. By a girl's first menstrual period, she has about 300,000 eggs, on an average. That number drops to about 25,000 by a woman's late 30s. When the eggs are depleted and a woman no longer ovulates, she is in menopause, which typically occurs around the age of 45 to 50 when the ovaries stop making oestrogen and the withdrawal of the hormones results in the end of the monthly menstrual periods. This study was carried out at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam in which the researchers defined premature menopause as the cessation of menstruation at or before age 46. The findings were based on data from 26,428 women treated at IVF clinics in the Netherlands from 1980 to 1995. All had received hormones to stimulate their ovaries to produce eggs. The final analysis included 38 women who experienced early menopause, at an average age of 41, and 190 similarly aged women who had not.Results showed that women who produced three or fewer eggs during their first IVF attempt were 12 times more likely to experience early menopause than women who produced more than three eggs, which is considered a normal amount. These results suggest that women with a low number of oocytes (eggs) are more likely to have premature menopause.