A genetic test to predict the start of menopause is likely to be available within five years, allowing women to make more informed decisions about their health and fertility, a leading expert says.
Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecology at University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, Bart Fauser, said given menopause could begin at very different ages, including before 40 years for about one in 100 women, a test to more precisely predict the timing would be extremely useful, especially for women wanting children.
''The mean age of menopause is 51 but the normal range is between 40 and 60, which is quite considerable … 20 years from minimum to maximum means that for some women, ovarian function lasts 50 per cent longer than for others,'' he said.
''Women often postpone having children until their career is well established, but many find it difficult to become pregnant because of declining fertility after the age of 30. Therefore, it would be very useful for women to know well in advance the age gap in which they can expect to remain fertile. This will allow them to try to conceive naturally or to consider … egg freezing or IVF treatment at a later date.''
Professor Fauser said a meta-analysis of 22 genetic studies involving almost 39,000 European women found 13 gene variants associated with the age of natural menopause that could be used in testing. The research, published in Nature Genetics in 2012, followed the discovery of four other gene variants that seem to be common among women who experience early or late menopause.
Professor Fauser, who presented his research at the Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction in Brisbane on Friday, said previous studies had also found that mothers and daughters often experienced menopause at a similar age. While research will continue into the genetics of menopause, he believed a genetic test would be available for women of all ages within five years.
At the moment, women wanting to know more about their fertility can have an ''egg timer'' blood test to measure their levels of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH), a hormone secreted by cells in developing eggs, which are also known as follicles.
Some IVF clinics say the level of AMH in a woman's blood is generally a good indicator of how many fertile years she has left, but some specialists say the test is unreliable.