Clinical Pearls:
- Women who had menarche at age 12 or more and experienced menopause at age 50 or beyond have increased odds of living up to age 90 as compared to women who have early menarche and early menopause.
- Those women whose reproductive life span lasted 40 years, were 13% more likely to celebrate 90 birthdays than women who were in reproductive period for 33 years. (odds ratio [OR]= 1.13).
A new study
by researchers at University of California, San Diego found an interesting correlation
between the age at menarche and menopause and longevity. Women who enter the
reproductive period late and also have a late menopause are more likely to live
till age 90.
The research
implicated that women who had menarche at age 12 or more and experienced
menopause at age 50 or beyond have increased odds of living up to age 90.
According to
Dr Aladdin Shadyab, of the University of California, San Diego School of
Medicine "People have always wondered whether the timing of reproductive
events affect longevity, but no study to date has evaluated that relationship."
The study
was published in recent issue of Menopause, the journal of North American
Menopause Society. [1]
The research
team used data for Women’s Health Initiative study (WHI). The Women's Health
Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study that recruited women from
1993 to 1998 and followed them until 2014 focusing on strategies for preventing
chronic health diseases in postmenopausal women. This multi-million dollar, ground-breaking
study has far reaching implications and have provided the health care providers
with practical information to prevent and treat some of the major diseases
impacting postmenopausal women. [2]
The study
participants included 16,251 women from diverse racial and ethnic background
all born before August, 1924. Multivariable logistic regression models were used
to determine the association, adjustments were made of demographics,
reproductive history and lifestyle of the women.
The average
age of the study participants was 74. 7 years and 8,892 (55%)
of the women lived through age 90.
As compared
to those women who had an early menarche before age 12, those women who were
at-least 12 or older at menarche have a 9% increased chances of living upto age
90. (odds ratio [OR]= 1.09).
Similarly,
women who were at least 50 at the time of last period are 20% more likely to
live till 90, as compared to women who stopped menstruating before age 50. The
same was true for women who underwent surgical menopause. (odds ratio [OR]= 1.19).
Longevity
was also tied to a longer reproductive life span. Those women whose
reproductive life span lasted 40 years, were 13% more likely to celebrate 90 birthdays
than women who were in reproductive period for 33 years. (odds ratio [OR]= 1.13).
The authors
of the study cannot pinpoint a single reason behind this association, but multiple
factors come into play.
Early
menarche is often associated with obesity, Diabetes and CVD while early
menopause is also linked to increased risk of CVD. These associated
co-morbidities in women experiencing early menopause may be responsible for shorter
life span.
Genome-wide
association study of age at natural menopause identified genetic variants
involved in DNA replication and repair pathways which is crucial in aging. Thus
genetics is also an important factor.
The study
has limitations of not knowing the longevity of the parents and other family
members of the participants along with the work history and stress, which plays
an important role in deciding longevity.
One other study
published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Biological
Psychiatry, has shown that women with early menopause suffer from insomnia which
accelerates aging and shortening the life span.[3]
The last
decade has seen rapid improvement in life expectancy of older women adding
average of 7 years to their life expectancy as compared to men[4]
with a current total population of 1.3million women over the age of 90+. Women surviving into their 90s outnumber men
by a ratio of almost three to one.[5]
The authors
conclude "With secular trends showing decreasing age at menarche,
increasing age at menopause, and a concurrent rise in longevity, additional
studies in younger birth cohorts will be needed in the future to precisely
define the relationship between the timing of reproductive events and a woman's
length of life."
[1]http://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/Abstract/publishahead/Ages_at_menarche_and_menopause_and_reproductive.97952.aspx
[2] https://www.whi.org/about/SitePages/About%20WHI.aspx
[3] http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/menopause-sleepless-nights-may-make-women-age-faster
[4] http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-17.pdf
[5] https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/aging_population/cb11-194.html
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