Measurement of the number of ovules in women through blood tests

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There are several tests to detect the number of eggs a woman has at the time she wants to become pregnant. However, the detection of hormones related to fertility is a non-invasive test that is performed with a simple blood draw, and provides reliable information on the reproductive status of women.

Below you have an index with all the points that we will discuss in this article.

Index

Measurement of the number of ovules in women through blood tests

How does the ovarian reserve evolve?

The woman is born with an established number of ovules, known as ovarian or follicular reserve, and this does not increase with age. On the contrary, this number decreases throughout their reproductive life. That is why it is necessary to find out how the ovarian reserve is at the moment in which the woman wants to become pregnant, since it gives us information about the possibilities of getting a pregnancy naturally or if she will need help of assisted reproduction.

Number of ovules at birth

Since the eggs begin to form in the fetus, until the child reaches reproductive age, the number of primordial follicles decreases drastically until the ovarian reserve is constituted.

Week 20 of fetal development during pregnancy The female fetus has about 6 million immature ovules produced in oogenesis, contained within primordial follicles. This will be the maximum number of primordial follicles that you will have throughout your life. Baby birth The number of primordial follicles has already decreased to 1-2 million. First menstruation or menarchea number of primordial follicles has dropped to 500,000. At this time begins what is known as follicular recruitment. Amount of primordial follicles in the woman before birth and until puberty

Follicular recruitment

In each menstrual cycle 1,000 follicles begin to mature, of which only 20 of them will mature into antral follicles. In response to gonadotropins, one will become a preovulatory follicle, and will expel the egg from its interior into the fallopian tubes, where it can be fertilized by a sperm. The rest follicles that do not reach the preovulatory stage are lost, a process known as atresia.

The gonadotropins are LH and FSH, which are secreted by the pituitary gland and intervene in the maturation of the ovules.

The ovarian reserve decreases with age

With each menstrual cycle, about 1,000 follicles are lost from the woman's ovarian reserve, as a consequence of a subtle process of biologically controlled ovarian deterioration. That is why age is a determining factor for achieving pregnancy.

When a woman begins the process of looking for a pregnancy, she does not know the status of her ovaries and her ovarian reserve, because it does not have to be the same in women of the same age. There are young women with decreased ovarian reserve compared to other older women.

With the analysis of certain sex hormones in blood, it is easy to respond to these women and check their reproductive status. In addition, this analysis is also useful for specialists in assisted reproduction to decide which is the most appropriate treatment for each woman.

Assisted Reproduction ORG has agreements with Spanish clinics so that you get the best price in the right treatment for you. You can go to a first free visit to learn everything by downloading the coupon you have below: See discounts on female fertility studies.

Hormones that are detected in blood

The hormones that regulate a woman's menstrual cycle are markers of the ovarian reserve. The most important ones for measuring the number of ovules are listed below.

Analysis of hormones in blood to know the ovarian reserve

Antimüllerian hormone

The hormone antimülleriana or AMH is considered the most important to measure the ovarian reserve, because unlike the rest, this hormone does not vary throughout the menstrual cycle, so the blood test can be done at any time.

AMH is expressed in granulosa cells in the ovaries throughout a woman's reproductive life, from puberty to menopause. Specifically, what this hormone indicates is the quantity of antral and preantral follicles, which when ripe will give fertilizable ovules. Therefore, an indirect analysis of the ovarian reserve is considered.

With age, the values ??of the AMH are decreasing, which indicates that the number of ovules in the woman is running out.

AMH levels between 0.7 and 3.5 ng / ml are considered normal. Levels below 0.7 ng / ml are associated with a decreased ovarian reserve.

If you want to continue reading about the antimülleriana hormone, you can consult the following link: Antimülleriana hormone (AMH): utility to study the fertility.

FSH

The follicle stimulating hormone or FSH, is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that acts on the ovary and intervenes in the development and maturation of the follicles where the ovules are located. As the age of the woman increases, more FSH is necessary for the maturation of the ovules, reason why high values ??of FSH indicate low ovarian reserve.

Levels of FSH above 10 mIU / ml indicate a low ovarian reserve.

Unlike in the AMH, the analysis of FSH must be performed between days 3 and 5 of the menstrual cycle, so it is a baseline analysis.

If you want to continue reading about FSH, you can consult the following link: What is FSH?

Inhibin B

The inhibin B concentration is inversely proportional to the FSH values. Its serum determination is a good indicator of the functioning of the follicles and the ovarian reserve.

A value of inhibin B less than 35-40 pg / ml reveals alterations in the ovarian reserve.

Estradiol

Estradiol is a hormone secreted by the preovulatory follicle in the ovary. Therefore, at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, the value of estradiol should be low, since the follicle has not yet begun to mature. High values ??of estradiol at the beginning of the menstrual cycle are related to a low ovarian reserve, although it is not one of the best markers to measure the number of ovules.

The values ??of estradiol at the beginning of the cycle greater than 40 pg / ml are related to low ovarian reserve.

Questions from users

Can the ovarian reserve be measured with a home method?

No, the only way to know the number of ovules available to women reliably is through the blood analysis discussed in this article, or with the observation of antral follicles by ultrasound.

There is a home test for measuring the basal temperature, but it only helps to know if ovulation is occurring. You can see what this method consists of in the following link: Basal temperature and pregnancy

What are the causes of decreased ovarian reserve?

The main cause is age. There is an inversely proportional relationship between age and the number of eggs available to mature.

However, there are other factors that can negatively affect the ovarian reserve, such as medical treatments, drugs, obesity, endometriosis, etc. You can obtain more information about the causes that reduce the ovarian reserve in the following link: Causes of the reduction of the ovarian reserve

How many eggs does a woman produce in adulthood?

Women are not able to produce eggs in adulthood, but are born with a number of eggs already established for the rest of their reproductive life. In men, just the opposite occurs, since they are capable of producing de novo sperm in the process known as spermatogenesis.

Is it possible to achieve pregnancy with a reduced ovarian reserve?

The probability of getting a pregnancy naturally decreases as the ovarian reserve does. With assisted reproduction this obstacle can be overcome, especially with techniques of ovarian stimulation and in vitro fertilization.

For the most severe cases, where the ovarian reserve is very compromised, the donation of ovules could be valued as a possible solution when having a child. You can learn more about the egg donation by consulting this link: www.invitra.es

Recommended reading

We have talked about the blood test as a tool to know the number of ovules available to a woman. There are other methods to know the status of the ovarian reserve that you can find here: Ovarian reserve test: What are the normal values?

Apart from those discussed in this article, there are other hormones related to female fertility. You can know what they are and their normal values ??here: Hormonal analysis in women: what are the normal levels?

To expand the information on the ovarian reserve I invite you to consult the following article: What is the ovarian reserve and how does it affect fertility?


vitrification of eggs in Barcelona(Spain)

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