Women who go through menopause before the age of 45 are more likely to experience an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
However, a new large-scale analysis shows that neither the age at which menopause begins nor the type of menopause - natural or surgical - alone increases the risk of diabetes. The study is published in the journal Menopause.
It was previously thought that early (40-45 years) or premature (before age 40) menopause could contribute to the development of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. This hypothesis is based on the fact that postmenopausal women are more likely to experience increased body fat and insulin resistance, known risk factors for carbohydrate metabolism disorders.
To test this hypothesis, scientists analyzed data from nearly 147,000 women. The average follow-up period was 14.5 years, and the average age of the participants was approximately 60 years, with 60% of them being overweight or obese. During the study, diabetes was diagnosed in approximately 4.5% of women.
At first glance, diabetes was indeed more common in those who experienced menopause earlier: 5.2% versus 4.2%. After accounting for other factors - age, weight, lifestyle and medication use - this difference was no longer statistically significant. In multivariate analysis, neither age at menopause nor type of menopause were independently associated with the risk of developing diabetes.
However, a clear association with other factors was found. Diabetes is significantly more common in women who smoke, are obese, have low vegetable intake, take cholesterol-lowering medications and consume high amounts of salt.
“Although women have an increased risk of diabetes after menopause, it appears that it is not determined by age at menopause but by cardiovascular and behavioral factors,“ explained Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the Menopause Society. She noted that this is an encouraging finding because lifestyle and cardiovascular risk factors are modifiable, while age at menopause is not.