Beginning menopause before age 40 has a 35% higher risk of developing dementia later in life, a study has published, CNN reported.
Premature menopause occurs when a woman’s so-called ovaries stop producing hormones and the menstrual cycle ends by the age of 40. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health, this is 12 years earlier than the typical onset of menopause at age 52.
Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association, said: “This study looked at a moderate association between early menopause and the associated risk of dementia.” He did not participate in the study.
Why do women experience early menopause? “Unless women have had surgery to remove the ovaries and uterus,” said Lloyd-Jones, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, “it is associated with a faster rate of biological aging of body tissues, including their function and premature aging of organs. “He said.
“This is a multi-stage risk signal as women go through early menopause, indicating that there may be an underlying genetic, environmental or health-behavioral problem that we really need to focus on.”
Although unpublished, the study, which will be presented at the American Heart Association’s 2022 conference this week, is a study of more than 153,000 people who participated in the UK Biobank for an ongoing genetic and health information survey of 500,000 people living in the UK. We looked at data on women.
“The scope and breadth of the data is important and impressive, but it doesn’t provide the details we need to understand the full implications of this study,” said Professor Lloyd-Jones.
After adjusting for age, race, weight, education and income level, tobacco and alcohol use, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and physical activity, the study found that women who had menopause before age 45 were more likely to be diagnosed with early dementia by age 65 The media reported that it was found to be 1.3 times higher.
Also, although premature menopause occurring between the ages of 40 and 45 is classified separately from premature menopause before the age of 40, both have a family history, autoimmune disorders including chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV and AIDS, chemotherapy for cancer, or pelvic It has been pointed out that it can be caused by many of the same factors, such as radiation therapy, surgery to remove the ovaries and uterus, and smoking.
“Functional menopause due to surgery has a lower risk than early biological menopause,” said Professor Lloyd-Jones. should be built,” he said.
Dr. Wenting Hao, a PhD candidate at Shandong University in Jinan, China, said, “As women enter menopause, estrogen levels drop sharply, which may be one reason for the findings of this study. “We know that it can increase brain aging and lead to cognitive impairment.”
Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defenses cannot keep up with the excess of radicals, or unstable atoms, that can damage cells. Free radicals occur naturally in the body as a by-product of cellular metabolism, but levels can be elevated by exposure to smoking, environmental toxins, pesticides, dyes, and air pollution.
“I think early menopause is a more important signal than it is for estrogen,” Lloyd-Jones said. “We’re on a faster path,” he said.
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“Let’s control everything we have over her diet, physical activity, weight and smoking,” he added.
Dr. Hao said there are several ways women going through menopause can reduce the risk of cognitive decline. “This includes getting regular exercise, participating in leisure and educational activities, quitting smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight,” he said. It can help to collaborate with