The Time of Your First Period Determines Your Life Span

As a new study has now found out, the time of the first menstruation and the beginning of the menopause are related to life span. But how can this be?

A U.S. study by the University of California Medical School has now found that the age at which women get their first menstruation has a decisive influence on the expected lifespan. According to the study, women who were over 12 years old when their first menstrual period began have an increased chance of reaching 90. In addition to the time of the first period, however, the time of menopause also plays a significant role.

Are menopause and lifespan related?

For their study, the experts around Dr. Aladdin Shadyab examined the data of more than 16,000 women who had already passed the menopause. The average age of the women at the beginning of the study in 1993 was 74.7 years. By 2014, the women were followed for a full 21 years, and 55 percent reached 90 years of age.

The result of the long-term study: “We have found that a higher age at the onset of menopause and a longer reproductive phase are associated with a greater chance of longevity”. The probability of a very long life was 13 percent higher in women who were fertile for 40 years instead of 33. In concrete terms: those who are fertile for longer and enter the menopause later die later.

What role does smoking play?

The researchers also found that women who experienced menopause and menstruation later in life were statistically less affected by diabetes – and smoked less. In fact, the causality chain can also be looked at the other way round, as Shadyab emphasises: “Smoking can damage the cardiovascular system and the ovaries, which can lead to earlier onset of menopause”.