The age at which a female begins menstruating may affect her risk of heart disease and stroke later in life, a new study suggests.

According to the findings, females who begin menstruating at the age of 10 or younger, or at the age of 17 or older, appear to have an increased risk of developing heart disease, suffering a stroke or suffering complications related to high blood pressure.

UK researchers looked at 1.3 million women aged between 50 and 64. The women were observed for over 10 years and the study found that after that time, those who started menstruating at the age of 13 had the lowest risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

In fact women who were 10 or younger or 17 or older when they started menstruating recorded 27% more heart disease-related hospital admissions or deaths, 20% more hospital admissions or deaths due to the complications of high blood pressure, and 16% more hospital admissions or deaths from stroke, compared to those who were 13 when they started menstruating.

According to the study's main author, Dr Dexter Canoy, of the University of Oxford, childhood obesity has been linked to the early onset of menstruation.

"Public health strategies to tackle childhood obesity may possibly prevent the lowering of the average age of first menstrual cycle, which may in turn reduce their risk of developing heart disease over the long term," he noted.
Dr Canoy added that the sheer size of this study, the range of ages considered and the diseases being examined make this research ‘unique and informative'.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Circulation.

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