The next time you see senior citizens, you might want to thank them for your job.
The Census Bureau records that 10,000 baby boomers retire every day, and one American turns 65 every 13 seconds. By 2030, 70 million people will be seniors. Directly or indirectly, they will influence the creation of 20 million jobs, many in health care and others in the financial industry, real estate, the legal profession, and technology.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that $135 billion is spent every year just on long-term care for seniors. Of the most rapidly growing businesses in the United States, 10 out of 20 are in health care.
Jonathan Tilly told attendees at the North American Menopause Society 22nd Annual Meeting that a woman's ticking biologic clock may not be inevitable. Maybe the ovaries don't “fail”; maybe they just go into a state of suspended animation.
His study took half the ovary tissue from a mouse he had forced into menopause and grafted it into a young wild mouse. The dormant premeiotic germline stem cells became active again when exposed to the young mouse's ovaries. They produced oocytes.
Human oogonial stem cells will spontaneously generate what appear to be immature oocytes in vitro. To determine if this is possible in vivo, the researchers transplanted cells from a menopausal woman into immunodeficient mice. There was clear evidence of positive oocytes in the grafted tissue.
Tilly believes ovarian replacement therapy could improve the life course of women, and not just women who wish to reproduce. Will women be able to function better if the biologic clock is turned back?
Tilly and team compared a menopausal mouse to her nonmenopausal sisters. The sisters did not suffer the ravages of time such as loss of hair, wrinkly skin, or cancer, whereas the menopausal sister looked “ratty.”
As surgeons, it will be your duty and privilege to witness, record, and practice the new knowledge and
incorporate it with what is already known so that you can make a positive difference in the lives of women now living as well as those yet to be born.
CONCLUSION
Advanced technology cannot change the fact that women are emotional creatures by nature. Few
experiences give women more satisfaction than do sexuality and conception. Surgery on or near her reproductive tract is potentially fraught with emotional sequelae. The gynecologic surgeon's responsibility transcends a stunning technical performance in the surgical arena. The accomplished surgeon must considerably manage the patient's return to physical and psychological health. The most important thing a doctor will ever do is learn to listen, even in these, what will someday be known as, the halcyon days of technology.
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