The research revealed that women under the age of 65 with diabetes who experienced menstruation before the age of 10 were associated with more than a twofold increase in the risk of stroke. Initiating menstruation prior to reaching the age of 13 is associated with an increased likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes in mid-life, according to a study conducted in the United States and published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Nutrition Prevention & Health.
Moreover, researchers discovered that experiencing early menstruation, particularly before the age of 10, is correlated with a heightened risk of suffering a stroke before the age of 65 among individuals with diabetes. This conclusion was drawn from the analysis of data encompassing over 17,000 women aged between 20 and 65. The scientists from Tulane University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States emphasized that, being an observational study, they were unable to determine the underlying causes of these connections.
In their research, they proposed, “An earlier age at the first menstrual cycle may serve as an early life indicator of the cardiometabolic disease trajectory in women. “The study participants were sourced from the nationally representative cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2018, where the women had provided information about the age at which they experienced their initial menstrual cycle.
Out of the women included in the study, approximately 10 percent, or 1773 individuals, reported being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, the researchers observed that 11.5 percent of this group, equivalent to 203 individuals, had some form of cardiovascular disease. The researchers quantified the elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes associated with an early onset of menstruation as follows: 32 percent for those who experienced their first period at age 10 or earlier, 14 percent at age 11, and 29 percent at age 12.
Furthermore, the study revealed that menstruating before the age of 10 was connected to more than a twofold increase in the risk of stroke among women under the age of 65 with diabetes. The calculated risks were 81 percent for those with their first period at age 11, 32 percent at age 12, and 15 percent at age 14. “The potential explanation for this phenomenon could be that women experiencing early menstruation may be exposed to estrogen for extended periods, and early menstruation has been linked to elevated estrogen levels,” explained the researchers.
They also highlighted weight as another significant factor influencing the results. When the data were adjusted for weight, the observed connections between the age at the first menstrual cycle and stroke complications slightly weakened, although they remained statistically significant. The researchers suggested that these findings support the idea that the age of onset of the first period could be considered in early-life strategies aimed at preventing diabetes and its complications. “These findings introduce an additional aspect to the potentially less understood factors contributing to cardiometabolic risk, especially in women who have been relatively underrepresented in this research area,” stated Sumantra Ray, the Executive Director of the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition & Health, which co-owns BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.
“And they offer a distinct direction emphasizing the necessity to create interventional studies focusing on preventing cardiometabolic disease in culturally diverse cohorts of women who commence menstruation at an early age,” he stated.
