How premature menopause can cause early death: new study

health

by tracy swartz

Women who reach menopause before age 40 are four times more likely to die prematurely from cancer and twice as likely to die prematurely from heart disease. What new Finnish research reveals.

However, researchers say that using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for six months or more can cut the risk of all-cause death and cancer death by about half. They presented their findings on Saturday at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology in Stockholm.

“The various health risks for women with premature ovarian failure are poorly recognized and the use of HRT is often ignored,” said Hila Haapakoski, a PhD student at the University of Oulu who led the study. Ta.

“We hope to improve the health of these women by increasing awareness of the risks among health care workers and women themselves,” she added.

Menopause is when a woman’s ovaries stop releasing eggs, and the production of estrogen and progesterone in her body decreases. It happens when she doesn’t get her period for 12 consecutive months.

Most women menopause naturally between the ages of 45 and 55, but 1% experience premature menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and reach menopause before age 40.

Genetic disorders, autoimmune diseases, chemotherapy, or surgery to remove the ovaries can cause POI, but often the exact cause is not clear.

Researchers from the University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital compared 5,817 Finnish women diagnosed with spontaneous or surgical POI between 1988 and 2017 with 22,859 women without the condition.

They calculated the risks of cancer and heart disease, noting that women with surgical POI had no increased risk of death.

Although other studies have Relationship between early menopause and early deathThe Finnish team believes their study includes the largest sample size and longest span of 30 years.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study conducted on the association between premature ovarian insufficiency and mortality risk,” Professor Harpakowski said.

HRT is the most common treatment for POI, replacing the estrogen and other hormones that the ovaries no longer produce, but researchers found that most women do not follow recommendations for taking these drugs. Says.

The research team will soon investigate whether POI patients are more likely to develop cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses, and whether long-term HRT may affect these symptoms. .