title: Early ovarian ageing: a hypothesis. Detection and clinical relevance.
abstract: An important scientific breakthrough of the 20th century, IVF helped open new horizons in medicine, such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and embryonic stem-cell therapy. A further contribution of assisted reproduction technology has been the better understanding of reproductive ageing. Data from IVF cycles suggest that there is a fixed time-interval between accelerated decline of fertility and the menopause. This leads to the hypothesis that a significant proportion of asymptomatic women in the early thirties may be at risk of early onset of subfertility. IVF provides a model for the development of ovarian reserve tests, some of which appear promising as potential screening tools for early ovarian ageing in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Aberdeen, UK. dnikolaou@talk21.com
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nikolaou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Templeton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D006080:Ovarian Follicle; D010053:Ovary / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016649:Primary Ovarian Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors