Being Underweight May Start an Early Menopause
A study of nearly 80,000 women concludes that being underweight poses a chance of having early menopause.
The investigators were led by Dr. Kathleen Szegda -- who, at the time of the study, was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst -- and the findings were published from the journal Human Reproduction.
Dr. Szegda and her team began from the observation that low and high levels of fat have been connected with reproductive function in previous research. They therefore hypothesized that how much a woman weighs can affect when she experiences menopause.
To test this theory, the researchers analyzed information on 78,759 women from the Nurses' Health Study II, and they clinically followed closely between 1989 and 2011. 25 -- 42 decades was aged, and the researchers gathered information on status, weight, and their height using a questionnaire.
This information, together with data on hormone therapy use, has been gathered and updated. Data was gathered on the participants' years.
For the analysis, "early menopause" was defined as occurring before a woman reaches 45. The group employed multiple regression models to assess menopause risk, and 2,804 women in the study reported having experienced it.
Early menopause danger raised by nearly a third
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) consider a burden between 18.5 and 24.9 kilograms per square meter to be normal, while girls who weigh less than that are considered to be underweight.
In the study, women having a body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 kilograms per square meter -- at any age -- were 30 percent more likely to experience premature menopause in comparison to women whose BMI was between 18.5 and 22.4 kilograms per square meter.
The researchers also discovered that women whose BMI was between 25 and 29.9 kilograms each square meter proved up to 30 percent less likely to experience early menopause.
The highest likelihood of getting premature menopause seemed to be among girls who, when they were 18 years old, had a BMI under 18.5 kilograms per square meter and reported with experienced "intense weight biking"
In the end, women who had a BMI lower than 17.5 kilograms per square meter at the age of 18 have been 50 percent more likely to have a premature menopause compared with normal-weight women.
Clinical implications of the findings
Dr. Szegda sums up the findings, saying, "Women that are underweight in ancient or mid-adulthood may be at greater risk for premature menopause."
This is "associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and other health conditions like cognitive decline, osteoporosis, and premature death, so these findings have important implications for women and their doctors," she explains.
Dr. Szegda adds that 10 percent of women experience early menopause, which "underweight women might wish to think about discussing the possible implications of the findings with their physicians."
"Causes of early menopause aren't clearly understood," she continues. However:
"Our findings suggest that being underweight may have an effect on the timing of menopause. More research is required to understand how it increases the risk of early menopause."
