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Egg Quality Info - Hope it helps
In four years no one ever explained it this way. But your eggs are as old as you are. You cannot change them. And the problem occurs when the egg divides it's chromosomes so it can share 23 with the sperm. The egg is not the problem, the mechanism of choosing the chromosomes is at fault.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11164078
Clue found to why egg flaws seen in older women
By Caroline Parkinson
Health reporter, BBC News
The protein is a key factor in the ovulation process
Scientists say they are closer to knowing why older women are more likely to produce abnormal eggs.
The Newcastle University team saw a fall in levels of proteins called cohesins, essential for chromosomes to divide properly for fertilisation.
Writing in Current Biology, they said understanding this process could help develop ways to prevent cohesin loss.
Abnormal eggs are linked to infertility, miscarriage and conditions including Down's Syndrome.
Professor Adam Balen,
British Fertility Society
It was already known that pregnancy problems in older women can be linked to eggs containing the wrong number of chromosomes, but not why this occurred.
Messy division
All the cells in the body, except for sperm and eggs, contain two copies of each chromosome.
Sperm and eggs must lose one copy in readiness for fertilisation, a complex process. Cohesins bind chromosomes together by entrapping them in a ring. This is essential for them to divide properly.
If there is too little cohesin, the structure can be too "floppy" for division to happen equally.
In eggs, the problem is compounded by the fact that the physical attachments which hold chromosomes together are established before birth and must be maintained by cohesins until the egg divides just before ovulation - which can be decades later.
The researchers looked at eggs from young and old mice - and found cohesin levels declined with age.
By tracking chromosomes during division in the egg, the Newcastle team found that the reduced cohesin in eggs from older females resulted in some chromosomes becoming trapped and unable to divide properly.
Lead researcher Dr Mary Herbert, of the Centre for Life at Newcastle University, said: "Reproductive fitness in women declines dramatically from the mid-thirties onwards. Our findings point to cohesin being a major culprit in this.
"The aged mice we used are equivalent to a woman in her early forties.
"Cohesin levels were very much reduced in eggs from older mice and the chromosomes underwent a very messy division resulting in the wrong number of chromosomes being retained in the egg."
Mismatches
She said the next step was to look at human egg development, and work out why cohesin is lost with age.
"If we can understand this, we will be in a better position to know if there is any possibility of developing interventions to help reduce cohesin loss."
Adam Balen, professor of reproductive medicine and surgery at the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said the study was scientifically very interesting.
"This is a neat explanation as to why we see mismatches in chromosomes as women get older."
But Professor Balen, who is also chair of the British Fertility Society's practice and policy committee, added it was "far too early to say" if the finding would have any bearing on clinical care for older women with fertility problems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11164078
Clue found to why egg flaws seen in older women
By Caroline Parkinson
Health reporter, BBC News
The protein is a key factor in the ovulation process
Scientists say they are closer to knowing why older women are more likely to produce abnormal eggs.
The Newcastle University team saw a fall in levels of proteins called cohesins, essential for chromosomes to divide properly for fertilisation.
Writing in Current Biology, they said understanding this process could help develop ways to prevent cohesin loss.
Abnormal eggs are linked to infertility, miscarriage and conditions including Down's Syndrome.
Professor Adam Balen,
British Fertility Society
It was already known that pregnancy problems in older women can be linked to eggs containing the wrong number of chromosomes, but not why this occurred.
Messy division
All the cells in the body, except for sperm and eggs, contain two copies of each chromosome.
Sperm and eggs must lose one copy in readiness for fertilisation, a complex process. Cohesins bind chromosomes together by entrapping them in a ring. This is essential for them to divide properly.
If there is too little cohesin, the structure can be too "floppy" for division to happen equally.
In eggs, the problem is compounded by the fact that the physical attachments which hold chromosomes together are established before birth and must be maintained by cohesins until the egg divides just before ovulation - which can be decades later.
The researchers looked at eggs from young and old mice - and found cohesin levels declined with age.
By tracking chromosomes during division in the egg, the Newcastle team found that the reduced cohesin in eggs from older females resulted in some chromosomes becoming trapped and unable to divide properly.
Lead researcher Dr Mary Herbert, of the Centre for Life at Newcastle University, said: "Reproductive fitness in women declines dramatically from the mid-thirties onwards. Our findings point to cohesin being a major culprit in this.
"The aged mice we used are equivalent to a woman in her early forties.
"Cohesin levels were very much reduced in eggs from older mice and the chromosomes underwent a very messy division resulting in the wrong number of chromosomes being retained in the egg."
Mismatches
She said the next step was to look at human egg development, and work out why cohesin is lost with age.
"If we can understand this, we will be in a better position to know if there is any possibility of developing interventions to help reduce cohesin loss."
Adam Balen, professor of reproductive medicine and surgery at the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said the study was scientifically very interesting.
"This is a neat explanation as to why we see mismatches in chromosomes as women get older."
But Professor Balen, who is also chair of the British Fertility Society's practice and policy committee, added it was "far too early to say" if the finding would have any bearing on clinical care for older women with fertility problems.
Interesting reading, I am 41 and trying for a sibbling for our son who I had at 38 years -second time we tried ivf failed 3 times so now just hope we can conceive and carry like we did with Alfie naturallyx
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