A number of genetic signals have been identified that influence the time women reach menopause. This could open the door to fertility treatments that can extend women's natural reproductive life expectancy.Researchers looked at the genetics of over 200,000 women to determine if there were any genetic signals that could be used to predict the likelihood of early menopause.Scientists from Cambridge, Exeter, and Copenhagen led the study. It is still in its early stages and found that two genes called CHEK1 or CHEK2 were crucial to understanding the differences between these women.Their offspring lived longer lives after CHEK2 was blocked in mice.Similarly, CHEK1 overexpression in mice increased the reproductive lifespan of offspring by increasing the number of eggs in fetal development.The data showed that women with low CHEK2 protein levels experienced menopause three years earlier than women with normal levels.Researchers also looked at the health effects of menopauses that occurred earlier or later.Genetically, they found that type 2 diabetes was more common in women who had gone before menopause. This was also linked to lower bone health and higher risk of fractures.They also discovered that earlier menopause reduced the risk of certain types of cancer such as breast and ovarian cancer.Dr Katherine Ruth, University of Exeter co-author of the study, said that it was causally linked with lower rates of hormone-sensitive cancers.This could be due to a lower lifetime exposure to high levels sex hormones (which is higher while a woman is still having menstruation)Ruth said: We hope that our work will provide new opportunities for women to plan for the future.We have discovered many other genetic causes that can affect the timing of menopause. This has allowed us to show that we can predict which women will experience earlier menopause and may be unable to get pregnant naturally.We could also offer advice for young women because of our genetic differences.Professor Eva Hoffmann from the University of Copenhagen was also a coauthor of the study. She said that their findings could provide new directions for therapeutic approaches to infertility treatment, especially in IVF.She said: There are a lot of safety and scientific concerns that must be addressed before it is ever attempted on humans.Our studies suggest that some women may respond better to IVF treatment if they are targeted in their short-term inhibition.Female reproductive life expectancy begins at puberty and ends at menopause. However, the timing of menopause can vary greatly between women. Most women experience menopause between 40 and 60. Only 1% of women experience menopause earlier than 40. This timing is similar to almost every health condition. It is determined by genetics and lifestyle factors.Although these environmental factors such as smoking and BMI are well-studied, the genetic basis for menopause is still not clear. This is because, although the women's egg supply is established in the womb before birth and continues throughout her life, some eggs are lost as a result of cell death caused by DNA damage.According to Dr John Perry, a University of Cambridge study author, we found five times more genetic factors than previously known. It is a significant leap forward in terms of the genetics associated with menopause.The study's main goal was to predict a woman's natural fertility window. Perry said that although there are tests that can detect low hormone levels in women, it doesn't mean that the decline is imminent.He said that further research could identify women at higher risk than others.He said that the ultimate goal was to create a predictive test that could analyze someone's DNA and then attempt to determine their natural fertility window so women can make better reproductive decisions.The researchers created a risk score based on the genetic variants identified. This was to determine if it was possible for women to go into menopause earlier.Perry noted that Perry compared our genetic risk's predictive power to the best non-genetic predictor we could find, smoking.Our genetic risk score is not yet clinically useful, but it's a better predictor of smoking than smoking.
