Earlier Age at Menarche Raises Type 2 Diabetes Risk

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Earlier age at menarche is associated with type 2 diabetes risk among women younger than 65 years, according to a study published online Dec. 5 in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.

Maria P. Santos, from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, and colleagues used data from 17,377 women (aged 20 to 65 years) participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999 to 2018) to examine associations of age at menarche with type 2 diabetes and with cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications among women with diabetes.

The researchers found that 10.2 percent of women reported having type 2 diabetes. When adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, education, parity, menopause status, family history of diabetes, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and body mass index, there was an association seen between earlier age at menarche and type 2 diabetes compared with a median age at menarche of 13 years.  Earlier age at menarche among women with diabetes, was associated with stroke, but not with total CVD, in an adjusted analysis. Similarly, extremely early age at menarche (10 years and younger) was significantly associated with stroke (adjusted odds ratio, 2.66).

"These findings support the possibility that age at menarche may be incorporated into early-life strategies for preventing diabetes and progression of diabetes complications," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text