An AI atlas has mapped how reproductive organs age through menopause, with the ovaries, vagina and uterus changing on different timelines.

To better understand how this process affects health, researchers at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center developed what they describe as the first large-scale atlas of female reproductive system ageing, using artificial intelligence.

The team combined 1,112 tissue images from 659 samples, covering 304 women aged 20 to 70, with gene expression data from thousands of genes.

This allowed them to reconstruct how seven key reproductive organs, including the uterus, ovary, vagina, cervix, breast and fallopian tubes, age over time.

The study used the supercomputing power of MareNostrum 5 together with advanced image-recognition methods to process the data.

Using deep learning techniques, the researchers detected visible tissue changes as well as the underlying molecular processes linked to ageing in each organ.

The result was a detailed, organ-by-organ map of the reproductive system’s ageing process.

The researchers found that not all organs age in the same way or at the same speed. The ovaries and vagina showed a more gradual ageing process that begins even before menopause officially starts.

By contrast, the uterus appeared to undergo more sudden changes around the time of menopause.

Even within a single organ, different tissues aged at different rates. In the uterus, for example, the mucosa, its inner lining, and the muscular layer did not change in sync. These tissues also appeared to be particularly sensitive to the hormonal and biological shifts associated with menopause.

Marta Melé, leader of the transcriptomics and functional genomics group at BSC and director of the study, said: “Our results show that it acts as a turning point that profoundly reorganises other organs and tissues of the reproductive system, and allows us to identify the genes and molecular processes that could be behind these changes.”

Building on the finding that organs age according to different patterns, co-first author Laura Ventura said the research “paves the way for personalised medicine where treatments are tailored to a woman’s specific molecular profile and the specific tissues showing the most age-related distress.”

The study also identified molecular signals linked to reproductive ageing that can be detected in blood samples from more than 21,441 women.

These biomarkers could allow doctors to monitor the condition of reproductive organs in a non-invasive way, potentially helping to anticipate risks such as pelvic floor complications without the need for biopsies.

According to the researchers, this could lead to simpler and more accessible clinical tools for tracking women’s health over time.

Early miscarriage care after a first loss could prevent about 10,000 pregnancy losses a year in the UK, according to a new study.

The study by Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and Birmingham women’s hospital involving 406 women found a 4 per cent reduction in the risk of future miscarriage for women on the graded model of care compared with usual care.

Women in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently become eligible for specialised NHS care for early baby loss only after they have had at least three miscarriages.

Tommy’s has called for women to become eligible after one miscarriage, saying this could reduce the risk of future miscarriages and improve health outcomes for mothers.

Researchers said that would translate to 10,075 fewer miscarriages a year across the UK.

Kath Abrahams, chief executive of Tommy’s, said women were being “left without early access to services that could help prevent future losses and reduce the debilitating feelings of isolation and hopelessness that we know affect so many who experience pregnancy loss”.

She said: “Our pilot study indicates that providing support after a first miscarriage, with escalating care after further losses, is not only effective but achievable without significant additional workload for NHS teams who are already working extremely hard to deliver good care.

“Put simply, it is the right thing to do. We will do all we can to drive that change across the UK so that more women and families are supported after every miscarriage.”

The graded model of miscarriage care proposed by Tommy’s is already available in Scotland, and the charity is calling for it to be introduced across the whole of the UK.

The graded model includes nurse-led support after one miscarriage, with advice on reducing risk factors such as low vitamin D, folic acid intake, alcohol consumption and caffeine use.

Women who received the specialised care were 47 per cent more likely to have a risk factor identified and receive relevant advice to help prevent future miscarriages than women receiving usual care, the study found.

Among women who had experienced two miscarriages and received the specialised care, one in five were found to have thyroid dysfunction or anaemia, both conditions that can affect pregnancy outcomes.

About one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, most often within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The report comes ahead of the long-awaited final findings of the government’s investigation into maternity care in England. Interim findings uncovered a range of failures, including claims that NHS hospitals that caused harm to women and babies during childbirth often resorted to a “cover-up” of their mistakes, falsified medical records and denied bereaved parents answers.

Women’s health minister Gillian Merron said: “Pregnancy and baby loss can have a devastating impact on women and families, who too often feel they have been left without the care and support they need.

“I welcome the findings of this important report, and this will be carefully considered as part of our ongoing work to make sure women get the high-quality, compassionate NHS care they deserve.”

Home blood pressure checks after hypertensive pregnancy could cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and potentially early death, research suggests.

Women who regularly monitored their blood pressure in the weeks after giving birth, and had doctors tailor their medication if needed, had better functioning arteries nine months later than those who received routine care.

When the medication was adjusted to account for blood pressure changes, the women ended up with less stiff arteries, an effect researchers estimated could reduce the future risk of heart attack or stroke by 10 per cent.

Paul Leeson, professor of cardiovascular medicine who led the study, said the findings suggested that the weeks after birth provided a “powerful and often overlooked opportunity” to protect women’s future health.

“By simply monitoring blood pressure at home, new mothers with hypertensive pregnancies can protect their bodies from future damage,” he said.

High blood pressure, in the form of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia, where there are signs of organ damage, affects 5 to 10 per cent of pregnant women.

The condition can damage the mother’s organs and endanger the baby’s life.

Beyond the immediate threat to mother and baby, hypertension in pregnancy can raise the risk of long-term problems, with women three times more likely to develop high blood pressure and twice as likely to have heart disease later in life.

The Oxford team recruited 220 women who developed hypertension in pregnancy. All were on blood pressure medication but were due to reduce their dosage and eventually stop taking the drugs.

In the study, 108 women had standard care in which their medication was reduced based on a few blood pressure checks in the eight weeks after giving birth.

The remaining 112 women used a monitor to check their blood pressure at home each day.

They entered the readings into an app shared with doctors who, if needed, changed their medication day to day, with the aim of giving them better control of their blood pressure.

The new approach led to much better control of the women’s blood pressure, and in tests six to nine months later the women had less stiff arteries.

Stiff arteries are less effective at expanding and contracting, which can drive high blood pressure and ultimately the formation of clots that can block blood vessels and cause heart attacks and strokes.

Trials are now under way to find effective ways of rolling out blood pressure monitoring to women after hypertensive pregnancies. One option is for specialist NHS clinics to deliver the care.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the work, said the results highlighted a crucial window after birth when paying close attention to blood pressure could help protect women’s heart health for years to come.

“We now look forward to seeing results from larger studies with longer follow-up to see how this might save women’s lives,” she said.