Early menopause linked to a woman’s reproductive history

The age at which women get their first period, along with the number of children they have, may influence when they enter menopause, a new study from Australia finds.

Women in the study who got their first period before age 12 and had no children were five times more likely to experience premature menopause, and twice as likely to experience early menopause, than were women who got their first period at age 12 or later, and who had two or more children. Women are considered to have premature menopause if they stop menstruating before age 40; they’re considered to enter early menopause if they stop menstruating between ages 40 and 44.

A woman’s age at her first period and age at menopause are both markers of reproductive health, and while it’s not clear what the link between the two may mean for women’s overall health, a better understanding of the possible link between them “will provide us with the opportunity to monitor and intervene as early as possible,” to prepare women for the possibility of things like ovarian failure or early menopause, said Gita Mishra, the lead author of the paper and an epidemiology professor at The University of Queensland.

Read more from Stephanie Bucklin, Fox News Health,  Early menopause linked to a woman’s reproductive history.