Early menopause makes women prone to developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and high BP after 60: Study
Women who hit menopause early, before the age of 40, are almost three times more prone to developing two or more long-lasting diseases in their later life, finds a new study.
By the time these women reach the age of 60 or more, they might have to battle multiple diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, when compared to those experiencing menopause at 50-51 years, suggests the study. According to the study, 71% of women with premature menopause had developed multiple diseases by the age of 60 compared with 55% of women who experienced menopause at the age of 50-51.
"These findings imply that health professionals should consider screening women with premature menopause for multiple chronic conditions instead of focusing on just one," Professor Gita Mishra, director of the Centre and senior author of the paper, tells MEA WorldWide (MEAWW).
What is the connection between early menopause and chronic diseases?
Women experiencing menopause show a decline in their estrogen reserves. But an early loss of estrogen may alter the aging processes, making women more susceptible to chronic conditions. Genes also a role to play, say experts.
Besides, both premature menopause and multiple chronic disease share common risk factors. "For example, cigarette smoking is a risk factor for premature menopause and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and asthma," Mishra says. "Women who experienced premature menopause and women who developed multiple diseases shared common reproductive, socioeconomic and health behavioural risk factors," she adds.
What does the study say?
So far, research has suggested that premature menopause is associated with higher risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis. However, Mishra adds, we do not know whether premature menopause was also associated with multiple medical conditions.
In light of the scanty evidence linking premature menopause with multiple diseases, the team followed 5,107 Australian women, from 1996-2016.
The participants had to fill out questionnaires once every three years, helping Mishra and her team track the health status of these women. The participants answered questions on whether they had been diagnosed with or treated for any of 11 health problems in the past three years: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, anxiety or breast cancer.
The study showed that women with premature menopause were twice as likely to develop multiple conditions by the age of 60, and three times as likely to develop multiple conditions from the age of 60 onwards.
The study could not establish that premature menopause causes the development of multiple diseases, but only showed a connection between the two. Another limitation is that the study was carried out solely based on information provided by the women participants.
The team will now investigate whether these women could benefit from improving diet and exercise, giving up smoking, controlling body weight, engaging in mentally stimulating activity and regular screening for cancer and other medical problems related to the reproductive system.
The study has been published in Human Reproduction.