A New Measure in Fertility Testing
(sz) Doctors Say Hormone Gauge Gives an Accurate Egg Count; Still Awaiting FDA Clearance
At 36 and single, Monica Taneja is a New York anesthesiologist who is increasingly anxious about the ticking of her biological clock. So she recently underwent tests to gauge her egg count, one key indicator of fertility. The results brought welcome news: a healthy supply of eggs. “I feel like I have a window,” Dr. Taneja says.
When it comes to a woman’s biological clock, it’s all about the eggs: How many does she have, and are they healthy enough for conception? A hormone test gaining wider use in the U.S. may offer women a more precise way to assess their ovarian inventory, compared with the tests in common use for years.
This test — one of several used on Dr. Taneja — measures a chemical produced in the body called anti-mullerian hormone, or AMH, which has been shown to provide an accurate snapshot of a woman’s egg count. Over the past few years, the test, which reads AMH levels from a blood sample, has been routinely available in Europe, where much of the research on AMH as an ovarian-reserve marker has been done.
But the lack of uniform measurement standards has slowed its adoption in the U.S., where such tests come under Food and Drug Administration oversight. AMH-detection systems haven’t yet satisfied FDA criteria for clinical use. Even though it awaits clearance, there has been no move to restrict use of the test in doctors’ offices. more…
From: »The Wallstreet Journal«