The age of first menstruation is linked to obesity, waist circumference, and greater body mass index (BMI) in adulthood, according to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death among women in the United States. It generally develops as a clinical disease much later in life, in contrast to men. This late development means standard risk predictors are less dependable in women.
This particular study looks for associations between initial life events and later life outcomes, referred to as a life course approach, in order to understand and foreshadow CVD risk in women at their pre-clinical stage.
Caroline S. Fox, MD, MPH, of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and senior author of the study says:
“The purpose of this study was to examine whether female reproductive risk factors including onset of menarche, number of births over a lifetime (called parity), onset of menopause, and menopausal status, are associated with indices of body fat composition. We found that earlier onset of menarche is associated with overall adiposity, whereas parity and menopausal age were not associated with adiposity measures. Post-menopausal women also had higher levels of overall adiposity, though this appeared to be mostly due to age and not menopausal status.”
The study consisted of 1,638 women who took part in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) between 2002 and 2005. The participants were 40 years of age or older, not pregnant, and weighed less than 160 kg.
The women underwent a physical exam as well as laboratory analyses to examine visceral adiposity (VAT), commonly known as belly fat, and subcutaneous adiposity (SAT), fat under the skin. The study exhibited the relationship between VAT, SAT, and female reproductive factors after controlling for the following variables:
- alcohol intake
- physical activity index
- hormone replacement therapy
- menopausal status
- smoking status
- age
Findings of the study suggest that the timing of first menstruation was associated with fat quantities, generalized not regional.
Dr. Subbulaxmi Trikudanathan, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and lead author of the study concludes:
“This research suggests that select female reproductive risk factors, specifically onset of menarche, are associated with overall adiposity, but not with specific indices of body fat distribution. Ultimately, the important question is whether female reproductive risk factors can be used to target lifestyle interventions in high risk women to prevent the metabolic consequences of obesity and cardiovascular disease.”
Greater storage of fat was associated with higher spreading growth factor levels in general. The authors recommend additional studies to verify the significant association between VAT and periaortic fat with hepatocyte growth factor in women and to analyze its possible contribution to the sex-related differences in cardiovascular disease risk.
Previous studies have linked early menstruation with psychosocial and behavioral problems in teens. Later in life, this trait can put women at a greater risk for cardiometabolic diseases and cancer, most specifically breast cancer.
Written by Kelly Fitzgerald