New Blood Test Can Predict Women's Last Ever 'Time Of The Month'

The last menstrual period marks the end of a woman’s reproductive cycle and the beginning of menopause. Most women reach menopause by the age of 45-55. In some cases, it occurs as early as 30-40 years old and, in rare cases, it doesn't until a woman is in her 60s.

New research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggested that blood tests can be used to find out when a woman is nearing her menopause.

According to the researchers at the University of Colorado Medical School, measuring the levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AHM) can predict a woman’s last menstrual period. AHM can indicate the number of eggs a woman’s ovaries have. Women are born with their lifetime supply of eggs which keeps decreasing until menopause.

“Establishing a way to measure time to the final menstrual period has long been the holy grail of menopause research,” Newswise quoted the study’s co-lead author Nanette Santoro, M.D. “Using bleeding patterns or previously available tests to predict the time to menopause can only help us narrow the window to a four-year period, which is not clinically useful. Women can make better medical decisions with the more complete information offered by new, more sensitive anti-Müllerian hormone measurements,” she added.

The study included 1,537 women in the age group 42-63, who were monitored as they went through the menopausal transition. Their blood samples were tested for AMH levels and levels of two other hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and another reproductive hormone. They used a more sensitive test to measure the AMH levels and they were able to accurately predict the final menstrual period within 12-24 months in women who were in their late 40s and early 50s.

Although it was believed that AMH could predict menopause, older tests haven’t been sensitive enough to detect extremely low levels of the hormone found in women who are nearing their final menstrual period.

This test can be highly beneficial for women who are trying to decide whether or not to have surgery to manage fibroids or whether it is safe to stop using birth control. AMH levels can provide such additional information pertaining to the timing of menopause. If a woman older than 48 years has a low AMH level, it indicates that her menopause is approaching.