How age affects women's
fertility
When a woman reaches the age of
18, she should become more aware of her personal health and make annual
appointments with aphysician for a health screening.
Especially if a woman wishes to become a mother someday, she should be aware of
how healthy she is and her chances of conceiving during her different life
stages.
The younger a woman is, the better chance she has of conceiving a child. In fact, a woman is born with over 1,000,000 eggs. However, at the time of her first menstruation, the number of eggs is reduced by 90% to only 150,000 until she reaches menopause between the age of 40 and 50. Each month, more eggs are lost, whether the eggs are genetically normal or abnormal.
Between the ages of 20 and 30, a woman will carry only about 30% of normal eggs but this severely decreases by about half each decade. During her late 30s, a woman will have 16% of normal eggs and the number continues to reduce to as few as 2-9% of normal eggs between her late 30s to mid-40s. If a woman is having difficulty conceiving a child, there are many services available to help her find a solution. The younger a woman is, the longer she can wait before seeking help, but by the time she is in her mid-30s to 40s, she should seek help after 3 months. A very popular solution for natural conception, is to use donor eggs to conceive a healthy baby.
Not only should a woman be aware of her health and her chances of conceiving a baby, but she should know the chances of her baby being born healthy as she ages. Especially during her late 30s to mid-40s, she will be carrying fewer eggs with a higher chance of them being genetically abnormal. By carrying more genetically abnormal than normal eggs, there is a higher chance of a miscarriage or conceiving a baby with Down syndrome. To fully understand her chances of conceiving a healthy child at any age before menopause, again, she should seek help from health services to understand and consider her options.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
03.01.2014
New breast cancer
treatment in the offing?
More women are
now undergoing early tests that reveal pre-cancerous breast tissue.
Early diagnosis can save lives but in reality, few of those lesions go on to become tumours - and doctors have no good way of predicting which ones will.
Early diagnosis can save lives but in reality, few of those lesions go on to become tumours - and doctors have no good way of predicting which ones will.
As a result, many women have to undergo surgery who might never develop the disease!
All that may change soon.
Researchers from the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have discovered a new breast-cancer therapy that partially reverses the cancerous state in cultured breast tumour cells and prevents cancer development in mice.
This could pave the way to treat early stages of the disease without resorting to surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, said a new study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
"The findings open up the possibility of someday treating patients who have a genetic propensity for cancer, which could change people's lives and alleviate great anxiety," said Don Ingber, founding director, Wyss Institute.
Amy Brock, a former Wyss Institute post-doctoral fellow, grew healthy mouse or human mammary-gland cells in a nutrient-rich, tissue-friendly gel. Healthy cells ensconced in the gel formed hollow spheres of cells akin to a normal milk duct. But cancerous cells, in contrast, packed together into solid, tumour-like spheres.
Brock treated these cancerous cells with a short piece of RNA called a small interfering RNA (siRNA) that blocks only the HoxA1 gene, said the study.
The cells reversed their march to malignancy, stopping their runaway growth and forming hollow balls as healthy cells do. What's more, they specialised as if they were growing in healthy tissue. The siRNA treatment also stopped breast cancer in a line of mice genetically engineered to have a gene that causes all of them to develop cancer.
"There was no aha moment. But after enough evidence builds up, you turn to each other and say this is really doing something here," Brock added.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
03.01.2014
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