Women's eggs may be twice as vulnerable to radiotherapy as doctors had thought, warn cancer experts. In a preliminary study the team estimate that two units of radiation (called grays) can wipe out half of a woman's future eggs, compared with previous estimates of four grays. Cancers are typically blasted with 12-30 grays. This implies that even women receiving a fraction of a standard dose of abdominal, pelvic or total-body irradiation could be left infertile or have an earlier menopause, says study leader Hamish Wallace of the University of Edinburgh, UK. "Almost any radiation will knock out their ovaries," he warns. Nature, 1/03 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.