For women, fertility has a shelf life, and time is the biggest enemy of female fertility.
From the perspective of physiological laws, female fertility is strongest at the age of 23-30, slowly declines after the age of 30, and declines rapidly after the age of 35. By the age of 35, fertility will drop by nearly half, and by the age of 40, it will only reach the age of 25. By the age of 44, about 87% of women will be completely incapable of conceiving.
It is not only fertility that declines with age, but also women's overall health declines to varying degrees.
Due to estrogen deficiency, women have a significantly increased risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease; At the same time, women's muscle mass will also decline with the end of reproductive age, ** thickness, elasticity and moisture decrease, wrinkles increase; In addition, unstable hormone levels in women before and after menopause may also cause vasomotor symptoms (such as hot flashes and sweating), sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, migraines, and changes in cognitive function and other central nervous system-related symptoms.
Therefore, whether it is for the sake of delaying the childbearing age or hoping to maintain their overall health, it is particularly important for women to preserve their fertility and save "regret medicine" for themselves, so that they will have more independent choices in the future.
So, what indicators are used to judge fertility? How to protect a woman's fertility?
Female fertility is closely related to sex hormones and the intrauterine environment. For adults with fertility needs, fertility-related examinations can be added to the physical examination to have a basic understanding of their fertility.
Among the female fertility tests, there is an AMH test (anti-Mullerian hormone test), the value of which can be tested at any time, regardless of whether the stomach is fasting or not, whether it is in the menstrual period. The AMH value represents the ovarian reserve of a woman in the last six months to one year, when the index is 1At 3, it indicates that its ovarian reserve capacity has begun to decline, which needs to be paid close attention to.
Ultrasound can accurately detect the number of follicles in the ovaries, and it can also be used as a routine physical examination for female fertility.
In addition, the age of 35 is a critical time point for women, after which their fertility will decline "off a cliff". Some women will find their menstrual cycle progressively shorter, from 28 days to 25 days, or even 23 days, which is also a sign that their fertility may be "going downhill".
At present, the main technologies for female fertility preservation include embryo freezing, egg freezing, and ovarian tissue freezing. In addition, cutting-edge technologies such as artificial ovarian technology, in vitro follicle culture, and stem cell technology have also opened up new methods and ways for fertility preservation.
For groups with good fertility at present but may face rapid fertility decline in the future, cryopreservation of oocytes and ovarian tissue is the most important means of fertility preservation.
For women whose fertility is already very low, stem cell technology has brought hope for fundamentally saving female fertility and is expected to become the primary method of fertility preservation in the future.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can improve the microenvironment and restore tissue function by simultaneously stimulating multiple pathways (nutritional, paracrine, immunomodulatory).
As the most widely available and unethically controversial adult stem cells, MSCS has great potential for female fertility preservation. MSCs extracted from various tissues and organs such as umbilical cord, placenta, bone marrow, fat, and endometrium improve oocyte quality and promote follicle development and ovulation.
MSCS has been shown in several clinical trials to restore ovarian function and provide efficacy** for female infertility. Up to now, a total of 26 cases of early-onset ovarian insufficiency (POI) have been filed in 7 countries, including China, Egypt, and the United States.
In 2016, Edessy et al. from Al-Azhar University in Egypt underwent autologous bone marrow MSC transplantation, *10 patients with POI, including a 30-year-old female patient, 13-year-old menarche, 18-year-old premature ovarian failure, 12 years of amenorrhea, and 11 months of stem cells** After 11 months, they became pregnant and gave birth to a full-term healthy baby girl "Zeinab", which is the world's first case of a stem cell**POI patient successfully giving birth to a baby.
Stem cell baby girl "zeinab", 33 kg.
It can be seen that in contemporary medicine, stem cell transplantation can improve the hormone level of patients from ovarian failure to normal ovarian function, and regain fertility.