"A dream that may become a reality" A cheap drug may increase women's fertility period!

Scientists have revealed that a drug called rapamycin can extend women's fertility by an additional five years, helping them live longer and healthier.

Scientists from Columbia University said the early results of their drug trials were a "dream come true".

The study tested whether the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin could help slow ovarian aging, thereby delaying menopause and increasing fertility.

The team also sought to measure whether the drug could reduce the risk of age-related diseases.

Currently, 34 women over the age of 35 are participating in the study, called the “Verification of Rapamycin Benefits in Reproductive Aging (VIBRANT) Study.”

The study is expected to eventually include more than 1,000 women, with more women joining every day.

The study was co-led by Yusin Suh, professor of reproductive sciences, genetics and development at Columbia University, and Zev Williams, associate professor of women's health and chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Suh said preliminary results suggest that rapamycin can slow ovarian aging by 20 percent without causing the 44 side effects (caused by rapamycin), ranging from mild nausea and headache to high blood pressure and inflammation.

She added that participants in the randomized study, which was compared to a placebo, reported subjective improvements in their health, memory, energy levels, and skin and hair quality: health improvements that are consistent with other studies on rapamycin, which have suggested that the drug can extend life expectancy by 9-14%, while boosting the immune system and organs that deteriorate with age.

“The results of this study, the first in human history, are very exciting,” Suh explained. “It means that those with age-related fertility problems now have hope, where they did not have it before. These early results mean that we now have a clear opportunity to achieve our ultimate goal: using rapamycin to extend the lifespan of the ovaries and thus delay menopause, while extending women’s lives and improving their health and quality of life.”

Suh said the team of at least 12 scientists working on the study, which will cost more than $1 million in total, has "great confidence that the results will be equally exciting when the study is expanded."

She described the results as "a dream come true."

This is the first study to look at the core of ovarian aging and try to slow the rate at which it happens, as previous research on menopause has only targeted symptoms.

“Ovarian aging is the primary driver of aging in women,” Suh said. “HRT is a band-aid for aging that has already occurred, but if women take rapamycin in their 30s, when their ovaries are starting to decline but there are no symptoms yet, they can actually slow down the entire aging process.”

The ovaries release eggs continuously, so a woman loses about 50 eggs each month, with only one reaching ovulation. A small weekly dose of rapamycin slows down the ovaries, so they release only 15 eggs a month. Suh and her colleague Williams estimate that this reduces organ aging by 20 percent.

All women participating in the study continued to menstruate as usual.

"We know it works in animals, and now we know it's safe for humans," Williams explained. "Now we just need a larger study to put the two parts together."

He said that because rapamycin is a cheap and already widely used drug, once the evidence is proven, progress will be rapid.

But it is not yet known whether eggs produced by ovaries with a longer lifespan are more likely to contain genetic abnormalities.