Women over the age of 35 are being warned that they should take fertility checks more seriously if they want to have children after that age. One important test for fertility – and health in general – is the Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) blood test and Australian fertility expert Professor William Ledger is speaking up about it.
We have all heard the expression about how the “biological clock” is ticking. This applies more to women than to men as women have more of a time limit when it comes to fertility.
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And women have a number of internal organs that men do not have which leave them more susceptible to a variety of diseases, such as cancer.
An Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) blood test is a simple blood test that measures the level of anti-Müllerian hormone in your blood. AMH is a hormone produced by small follicles in the ovaries, and its levels can give an indication of your ovarian reserve, which is the number of eggs you have left.
The AMH test is most commonly used to assess a woman’s ovarian reserve.
AMH levels can help predict how well a woman may respond to fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Lower AMH levels may indicate a lower ovarian reserve and a potentially lower chance of success with fertility treatments.
The levels can be elevated in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and can also be used to monitor the growth of ovarian cysts and AMH levels naturally decline with age, so the test can be used to get an idea of how quickly a woman’s ovaries are aging.
The Cleveland Clinic explains that an AMH test measures levels of anti-mullerian hormone, which corresponds to a person’s egg count. A doctor might also use an AMH test to help diagnose an ovarian mass. Although it’s connected to a woman’s egg count, it doesn’t predict her fertility. An AMH test is a simple blood test.
“As you do when you get to 30 and you get your blood pressure checked, it’s just having a sense of looking after your own biology and not relying on nature,” Prof Ledger, the Royal Hospital of Women’s director of reproductive medicine, told Australia’s News.com.
“If you have a vision of two children, which I think most people do, maybe couples should start trying at age 35, or 36, and you deliver baby number one by the time you’re 37,” he added, saying that couples should not have children after the age of 40.
“That gives you the option, if you have a normal biology of having a second child without too much of a problem. If you’re happy with one child, then maybe you could leave it a bit later.”
