Ovarian Health & Scarring of the Ovaries
Some women are given an infertility diagnosis related to age or unexplained infertility. But what if you could see that your ovaries were scarred, partially from aging, but perhaps partially from some other cause? Newer studies on infertility may glean some insight in to why women are becoming so infertile in their early to mid life. One study shows that ovarian environment changes with age and likely hurts the quality of eggs. The older the ovaries get, the more scarred and fibrotic they get. And if you add inflammation into the mix, which is a natural part of aging, this too can affect one’s ovaries, stroma (where the eggs develop), eggs and fertility. Certain immune cells (multi macrophage giant cells) in older ovaries may have something to do with these changes too.
What can we do right now to help the ovaries from aging and help them have the best chance of producing healthy eggs? Seeing as inflammation and fibrosis are the culprit, eating an anti-inflammatory diet may help, and doing things like acupuncture which can regulate blood flow and have a positive effect on the ovaries are two options that could be helpful. If a patient has PCOS or any sort of cystic activity with her ovaries, this is important to follow, as ovarian fibrosis is a huge contributor to making cysts and preventing ovulations and pregnancies.
What does this mean for women trying to get pregnant? More and more studies and treatments will come out of this research that will hopefully preserve fertility by delaying the aging of a woman’s ovaries.
Leave a Reply