The start of the menstrual cycle before the age of 13 linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes in middle age and stroke before the age of 65 years. Research published in the open access journal “BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health” confirms the above.

As the researchers note, diabetes and its complications are increasing among young and middle-aged women in the U.S., while the age at which women start menstruating is declining worldwide. The researchers wanted to determine if there is a relationship between these two phenomena and studied women’s responses to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during the period 1999-2018.

The study involved approximately 17,377 women aged 20-65 who identified the age at which they had their first period. Of the total, 10% reported having a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and 11.5% of those reported some type of cardiovascular disease.

Onset of period before age 13 was associated with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetesafter taking into account a number of factors, including age, race/ethnicity, education, motherhood, menopause, family history of diabetes, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and body mass index.

Among women with diabetes, young age at first menstrual cycle was also associated with with an increased risk of stroke. Very early age (ten years or younger) was associated with a more than doubling of stroke risk among women younger than 65 with diabetes.

The researchers point out that “young age at first menstrual cycle may be one of the early life markers for the course of cardiometabolic disease in women. A possible explanation may be that they are exposed to estrogen for longer periods of time, and earlier menstruation has been associated with higher estrogen levels.”