Menstrual Patterns And Risk Of Adult-Onset Diabetes Mellitus - Brief Article

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Feb, 2001

Several studies have reported a later age at menarche and an increased prevalence of amenorrhea and other menstrual disturbances among women with type 1 diabetes. Relatively little is known about menstrual cycle patterns and non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes. This recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology was an analysis of the association between menstrual cycle patterns and the risk of developing diabetes using menstrual diary data from a cohort of women followed through their reproductive and post-menopausal years.

The menstrual cycle data came from the Menstruation and Reproductive History Study that was conducted from 1934 to 1939. In 1990, information necessary for tracing the participants of this study was available for 997 of the original 1134 women. A questionnaire was mailed to 94.6% of the 997 women, and it was completed and returned by 875 respondents. The questionnaire included such information as height, weight at age 30, smoking history, measure of physical activity, and diagnosis of diabetes. The National Death Index was used as part of the tracing procedure, and the immediate and underlying cause of death was examined for 90% of the reported deaths.

After excluding participants with missing information, it was determined that there were 49 diabetes cases among the 668 participants in the analysis. The study participants were all college-educated, white women, and the mean age of the subjects was 73 years at the time of this follow-up. The median age at the diabetes diagnosis was 63 years, and 57% used insulin. The mean age at menarche was 12.4 years. Mean body mass index at age 30 was 21.8 kg/[m.sup.2].

There was little evidence of an association between age at menarche and risk of adult-onset diabetes. There was no association with mean cycle length, number of cycles more than 42 days in length, or cycle variability. Further adjustment for smoking or physical activity had little effect on these risk estimates. Bleeding duration during the mid- and late-reproductive years was somewhat associated with an increased risk of diabetes. Without further studies, the researchers state that it is not possible to offer a mechanism to explain this observed association.

G. Cooper, S. Ephross, D. Sandler. Menstrual patterns and risk of adult-onset diabetes mellitus. J Clin Epidemiol 53:1170-1173 (Dec 2000) [Correspondence: Glinda S. Cooper. Phone: 919-541-0799. E-mail: cooper1@niehs.nih.gov].