There is a lot of misinformation about in vitro fertilization – from The Myth That Causes Cancer Attempts by Anti -Abortion Activists Connecting the Auxiliary Method of Reproduction Their Movement.
The last scene from “Kardashians” caused more confusion and discussion about IVF, this time about how it relates to menopause. In the second installment of the new Hulu show, Courtney Kardashian spoke with mother Chris Jenner about the difficult experience of this process as she was trying to conceive a baby with her partner Travis Barker.
“The medicine they give me is for menopause,” she said at one point. “Literally towards menopause”.
But is it possible? HuffPost spoke with several experts to find out.
No, in vitro fertilization does not cause menopause
“There are no proven studies to support the claim that drugs used in IVF treatment cause premature menopause,” Drs. Luis Murray, a specialist in reproductive genetics and fertility at Dreams Fertility in Palm Springs, California.
The IVF process involves taking medications to stimulate the ovaries to produce as many mature follicles (sacs that contain eggs) as possible. After the eggs are obtained, they are fertilized with sperm to form an embryo. Then one or more embryos are transferred to the uterus.
“A woman is born with all the eggs she will have,” explains Dr. Joel Batsofin, co-founder and medical director of Dreams Fertility. “After puberty, the pockets of follicles“ come out ”every month.
From this group emerges a dominant follicle which releases an egg that has ovulated and the remaining follicles die. By interfering with IVF drugs, other follicles survive and also release eggs that have been removed.
“The hormones and drugs used in IVF only cause the growth and development of follicles, which they intend to disappear in that month, regardless of whether IVF is performed,” Batsofin said. In other words, as a female gets older, the follicle / egg cohort disappears from the remaining eggs each month. This will continue until the entire cohort is depleted, which is menopause. “Drugs used in in vitro fertilization do not accelerate this fatigue.”
But the side effects of the drug can be similar to the symptoms of menopause
“Whatever I was thinking [Kardashian] “Perhaps these are some of the drugs that people with IVF use to control their menstrual cycle to prepare eggs for ovulation,” Drs. Mary Jane Minkin, a gynecologist at Yale University and founder of the Information website Madame Ovaie.
“Some of the medications that can be used are similar to lupron, which actually pushes you into a temporary menopause, before taking the medication. It’s not permanent and disappears when you stop taking the medication, but you can feel the temporary menopause. “
She noted that menopause -like side effects include hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia. Some may experience mood swings, headaches, swelling, dryness, and fatigue.
So while you can Feeling For you to menopause in the IVF process, it is really not menopause and these side effects stop when you finish taking the medication.
Menopause can happen earlier than expected
“Now another possibility that some people are experiencing is that menopause could happen very soon,” Minkin said. “In these women, fertility starts to drop before menopause.”
She noted that the average age of menopause in the United States is 51, although some women can experience it from the age of 35.
“Suppose a person is having difficulty conceiving and it turns out that they went through menopause at a young age,” Minkin added. “She may have some of what we call perimenopause symptoms when treated for infertility.”
Perimenopause is an unexplained period in which your body begins to go through menopause. Although it is more common to notice these changes by age 40, some women experience perimenopause by age 30. When it comes to fertility, it is still possible to get pregnant at this stage, but if in doubt, consult your doctor.
Regardless of the age and context in which menopausal symptoms appear, just know that your IVF treatment is unlikely to discourage you.
“Anything physical is possible, but Courtney Kardashian’s claim is unlikely to happen,” Batsofin said. “There are no studies showing that IVF drugs cause premature menopause.”
Source: Huffpost
