New medical procedure can delay the menopause by up to 20 years. What do you make of this? And how massive an impact do you think this’ll have?

In the UK, Professor Simon Fishel, the same doctor who developed IVF treatment, has announced yet another medical breakthrough, and developed a new medical procedure which can delay the menopause for up to 20 years. The revolutionary procedure, which is the first of its kind in the world, takes only 30 minutes, and is designed to ‘trick the biological clocks of women, into thinking they are much younger than they are’.

The procedure, involves removing a piece from an ovary (when the subject’s in her reproductive prime) and freezing the tissue at -150C. The ovarian tissue is then held in an ice bank until women approach the menopause, before being thawed and transplanted back into them, where it will ‘kickstart their natural hormones, delaying the menopause’. And hypothetically, by placing multiple pieces in cryogenic storage, this could be repeated over and over again, effectively delaying the menopause indefinitely (albeit with the risk of maternal age-related birth defects continuing to rise exponentially). The procedure costs between £3,000 and £7,000, and the surgery is on offer at a Birmingham based company called ProFaM, co-funded by four world-renowned experts in reproductive medicine.

Professor Simon Fishel, chief executive and co-founder of the company, said “Women are living longer than at any time in human history. It’s quite likely that many women will be in the menopause for longer than their fertile period. We are empowering women to take control of their own health by naturally delaying their menopause. We are at a fascinating point in the evolution of our species, but particularly in relation to medical care where remarkable things are happening. Now we can start to offer something to a younger generation of women that’s never been available before.”

So, what do you make of this groundbreaking development? And how big an impact do you think this’ll have upon people’s lives, gender relations, and social dynamics?

I can understand it from a hormonal point of view, particularly as women are working until later in life (well, everyone is as we’re living so much longer) it’s less of an impact during years they’re quite busy. However; if this is for a fertility boost to give women more time I disagree with the notion.
We have a biological clock for a reason, even though people are living longer most of us are still aging at a normal rate. Tricking the body into being able to have a child at 50 doesn’t mean they’re physically able to keep up with the kid – even the pregnancy!
My in laws are mid and late 50’s and they seriously struggle to keep up with my baby even though my husband or I are there to do most of the work. They have step grandkids who are 7 and 9 and when they’ve left after an afternoon at Nan and Pops my in laws need a nap.
Our bodies decline at the natural rate for a reason… our living longer has opened the gate for so many age related diseases such as dementia which wasn’t nearly as common 50 years ago

For me if this would work it would be a blessing. My life literally fell off a cliff before and after I finished menopause. I went from a clear headed relatively bright person who can’t remember things half the time. That and other painful things like joint pain and digestive problems. I’m 58 and I see other people my age doing just fine running around and having fun. I know that even thought I’m 58 it isn’t supposed to be this much of a struggle.

I had my child 19 years ago so I don’t have any grand children yet.

@sejla hormonally it’s such a minefield! I can absolutely see the positives in that regard, it’s so unfortunate that you just have no idea what you’re in for until it’s happening and your treatment options are so varied with their own risks and side effects 😕 I do hope yours get better!
My aunt is 76 and has been on HRT since she went through menopause at 53 – despite the proven risk she has taken with her long term health she felt better about those than how horrible she felt post menopausal. That enough tells me it’s got to be horrific

I’d still be on it if I could only take estrogen. The progesterone wasn’t making me feel good. I still have an uterus so I can’t do just estrogen plus when I tried just for a little bit my fibroid tumor started growing in my uterus. My mom was estrogen for a long time but she didn’t have an uterus. She lost it to an softball size uterus. I think when she went off estrogen is when things kind of went down hill for her. I’ve been off at least 4 months and just going really slow now. I don’t want my daughter to go through this like my mom and me. We all three had bad periods so unfortunately she might take after us. She’s on birth control now she doesn’t have horrible pain, mood swings and throw up every period.

One word: Cancer. Delaying the natural process can further shorten a woman’s life span. That’s not empowering. That’s playing God. People wants to know why the world is getting dangerous and worse, thank people like that. Many sorry and naive women and girls will for pray to this by the billions and while docs and scientist will make $$$ and then next thing you know in 20 years: “ATTENTION!!! if you have gotten delayed menopause procedures and you or a loved one have suffered from stroke, heart attacked, fibroids, cancers…”

No such thing as evolution dumb doctors! YOUR creating evolution and were stupid enough to play Russian roulette with our genetics. No thanks! God is in control over my body.

It sounds both good and bad.

I feel like if you mess with your body too much, you will end up with long lasting health issues.

Granted this development is astoundingly great, I still feel like this may result in a bad outcome, but who knows, right?

I may just be paranoid, so we won’t know till people try it 🙂

It’s not so much the risk to the women themselves, as the risk to any children they might give birth to. Like I pointed out, the risk of chromosomal abnormalities with maternal age would still continue to increase regardless; the menopause exists for a reason. The risk for a child born to a 50yo woman, on the verge of the menopause, is already higher than the risk for a child born to a 18yo half-sibling incestuous couple. And even if the menopause were delayed for another 20 years, those eggs’ll in her ovaries’ll still be getting older, and progressively more defective. So sure, there’d be a terrible outcome for the babies. But why would the people who’d get this treatment care about that?

I don’t know but postmenopause has a been kind of hell for me. If there is a list of 100 things that could go wrong after menopause I”d have 99 of them. Hot flashes never had them but cold all the time, digestive issues, infections, aching joints, pre arthritis, insomnia, foggy brain, etc. etc. etc.

Did HRT for a while but after awhile stopped working. Going on 10 years of this. Supposedly no thyroid problems but have thyroid nodules and my mom had thyroid problems.

And that is why if they could bump it back 20 years safely I”d be all in. I want my life back.

I could see people using it as a fertility treatment, although at that point I would be more likely to recommend adoption due to the risk of miscarriage and birth defects. I can’t see this being used for health reasons. I don’t see how that would have any health benefits. Our bodies change the way they do for a reason.

It’s too early to be really reliable. I see possible diseases happening. That seems too good to be true

Not a woman, but I remember my mum being super happy when she hit the menopause. She said: “Finally, no more periods ever again!” Apart from that, if women want to postpone their menopause by a few decennia, it is their choice.

Just drink coffee (estrogenic) and eat some soy (estrogenic) every day if you never want your period to stop.

Its probably gonna have a lot of side effects like female hormonal contraceptive pills.

That’d be awesome. I’d no longer have to put up with the fans being on in the winter at work.

Great. 20 more years of periods 😑

Very interesting. Didn’t know this 😊💜👍

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