Scientists in New York say they have developed a drug that could prevent menopause from ever happening

Campaigners have long called for a wider range of treatments for women suffering the debilitating symptoms of menopause – hot flashes, brain fog and debilitating fatigue.

While replacing lost sex hormones with hormone replacement therapy is effective for some, it does not curb all symptoms.

But what if you could delay the hormonal change altogether – or even prevent it?

A team of scientists from New York say this astonishing reality is possible and are working to make an ‘anti-menopause shot’ available to all American women.

The injection, which can be given once every few months, mimics the action of a hormone called anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), which is involved in ovulation and starts to decline when a woman turns 25.

When women reach menopause, usually between the ages of 45 and 55, they experience a sharp drop in the reproductive hormones necessary for pregnancy, including estrogen, progesterone and AMH.

But researchers at biotechnology company Oviva Theraputics suggest that injecting women with AMH every few months could artificially increase levels of the hormone AMH, which could slow the shift – perhaps indefinitely.

The scientists did not comment on the risks of the injection, but regular HRT has been shown to increase the risk of breast and endometrial cancer.

Dr. Daisy Robinton, a molecular biologist at Oviva Therapeutics behind the development, told DailyMail.com: ‘This drug can not only delay menopause, it can even prevent it.’

Research already shows that women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) or enlarged ovaries – who have AMH levels two to three times higher than normal – enter menopause about two years later than those without the condition.

AMH is produced by the follicles in the ovaries and gradually decreases as the ovaries age.

The rapid decline is thought to be related to the gradual decrease in the number of follicles, which contain developing eggs.

Each cycle, a woman loses about 1,000 follicles – either through ovulation, which releases eggs, or through the natural death of cells.

But scientists have found that when a woman has higher levels of AMH, this loss can be slowed.

This is because the hormone reduces the number of follicles recruited each cycle.

The drug is currently being tested on mice to demonstrate that it is safe to use, with results expected in the coming months.

If this is successful, it could be tried in humans within a few years.

Menopause is a biological change that all women go through. It usually starts sometime in the late 40s and early 50s, when the ovaries stop releasing eggs for fertilization and menstruation stops.

This is caused by the decrease in estrogen and progesterone. AMH also drops significantly.

AMH levels are already tested to predict when a woman will go through menopause and to diagnose PCOS.

But it’s not clear whether a drop in AMH – which is produced in the ovaries – is just a link to menopause or actually causes the change.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that menopause is caused by the loss of ovarian function and a drop in estrogen levels.

Women going through menopause are already offered hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to increase levels of estrogen and progesterone, but this does not slow ovarian dysfunction; it treats the symptoms by increasing hormone levels.

Dr. Robinton presented her discovery to a packed conference room at the Livelong Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, attended by more than a thousand physicians and members of the public, including DailyMail.com.

She told the audience: ‘The ovaries age 2.5 times faster than the rest of the body and from the age of 35 to 50 they deteriorate rapidly.

‘At the age of 52, menopause begins, where the loss of the ovaries causes the rest of the body to deteriorate.

‘AMH hormone regulates the delay time to menopause and essentially acts as a brake in women.

‘We could use AMH to slow the loss of ovarian reserve (the number of eggs in the ovaries) and lengthen the runway to menopause.’

With lag time, Dr. Robinson to the amount of time a woman has before menopause.

Researchers are not sure at this time how much the treatment will cost, but due to the large amounts involved in the research, prices could easily reach six figures initially.

It comes despite a major report calling for menopause to move away from treating menopause pharmacologically and towards treating it more as part of the natural aging process.

The team of researchers wrote in the Lancet that a new approach was needed, based on ‘health empowerment’ – where women are given the knowledge, confidence and self-determination to manage their own health.

“While managing symptoms is important,” the team wrote, “a medicalized view of menopause can disempower women, leading to overtreatment and overlooking potential positive effects, such as better mental health with age.” and the prevention of menstruation, menstrual disorders. and contraception.’

The menopause treatment market is currently valued at $16.9 billion, but is expected to grow at a high rate of five percent every year until 2030, where it will reach $24.4 billion.

Others are also working on technology to delay menopause, including scientists at Columbia University, who are testing whether rapamycin – a compound from soil bacteria on Easter Island famous for claimed anti-aging properties – could delay ovarian aging and, by extension, menopause .

The study involved 50 healthy women, aged between 38 and 45, who have regular menstrual periods but are not interested in becoming pregnant. They take weekly doses of rapamycin or a placebo.

Rapamycin is believed to help inhibit the deterioration of chromosomes, which is associated with aging in cells.

Dr. Zev Williams, head of reproductive endocrinology at Columbia University who is leading the research, said: ‘Many of us think menopause is a given and just a part of life.

“The truth is that in the entire animal kingdom, menopause is by far the very, very rare exception.”