GynoFiles

Having a baby later in life is actually a marker for living longer! In studying Amish women, and women in Utah it is found that if you have a baby in late life (your 40s) you are four times as likely to live to over 100! Although for most pregnancy related complications Advanced Maternal Age is a term we have applied to women over age 35, for this we use the cut off of 40. Just because you wonder, we apply the term Advanced Paternal Age to men over 45. A new study published this year in Monopause by Dr Fagan and colleagues it is shown that there is a genetic marker, that probably relates to the health and fertility of these older moms that is a reason they live longer. There is a genetic sequence at the end of our chromosomes that repeat many times. It is thought to be a protection factor of the chromosome, and it's called the telomere. The telomere length is a marker for health. In older women who have become moms, it's longer. Life is associated with DNA turnover. Chr...

Older moms are wiser moms, in that we all gain wisdom as we age; but older mothers are known to face more physical challenges during pregnancy. We've even asked ho w old is too old to have a baby ? Older fathers do have increased rate of abnormal sperm, but we've not shown any health risk to da d for being older .  Post-delivery there are long term health considerations. We have focused on some of the positives, even an older mom who breastfeeds will lower her risk of breast cancer. And there has been a lot of discussion about post partum health risks and benefits for all moms. Some even say we ‘lose a tooth for each baby’ meaning that without proper calcium, vitamin D and exercise bone health is compromised by being pregnant and breastfeeding. And now there is a new study presented at International Stroke Conference (ISC) 2016 that has shown that women who birth a child at age 40 years or older have a greater risk for hemorrhagic stroke later in life than younger mo...

Our physiology varies, and what lies in our genetics makes some medical advice better than other medical advice. No where has that been more true than with aspirin as a prevention strategy. The risk of stoke goes up with menopause, women have fewer strokes prior to menopause than men, after menopause they have more.   According to the study Risk of stroke in women may come down to a compound the body produces from estrogen known as 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME).  The 2-ME theory shows how that compound preserves the brain after strokes, although over activity of the compound can be an issue too. Furthermore, the compound's therapeutic potential may extend beyond treating stroke in women to healing brain injuries in men, a new study in the American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism reports. Women and men differ in their aspirin benefits, but both could potentially benefit making that hers and his aspirin bottle worth sharing (after personal consultation) ...