means of reversing menopause in most
women, restoring their fertility. The
process involves injecting platelet-rich
plasma (PRP), a kind of enriched blood
normally used to help damaged tissue
recover, into women’s ovaries. In an
ongoing trial, 30 women who had not had
a period for at least five months were
injected with PRP. Two-thirds have since
started ovulating and having periods,
including one who underwent the
menopause five years ago, at the age of 40.
According to Konstantinos Sfakianoudis, a
gynaecologist at the Genesis Athens
fertility clinic, the technique offers
menopausal women the hope of still being
able to get pregnant “using their own
genetic material” – something that could
be of particular value to the 1% of women
who experience early menopause, before
the age of 40. However, the study is small,
and has not been peer reviewed; the
technique would in any case need more
testing; and some scientists have expressed
concern that if it did prove successful, it
would raise difficult questions about what
the upper age limit for mothers should be.
