Early onset of menopause, diabetes reduce life expectancy

According to a new study published in the journal Menopause ,Early onset of menopause and diabetes shortens life expectancy.

Women experiencing early menopause have a shorter life span and spend fewer years without diabetes compared to women experiencing normal or late menopause.

It is a well-accepted fact in the medical community that both diabetes and early onset of natural menopause may be associated with early death. Emerging evidence shows an association between age at menopause and diabetes, with studies reporting almost a two-fold increased risk of type 2 diabetes with early onset of menopause. To date, however, there are no other known studies that have quantified (calculated the number of years lived with and without diabetes) the combined association of early menopause and type 2 diabetes with life expectancy.

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Eralda Asllanaj, Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and colleagues conducted the study to quantify the combined association of early menopause and diabetes on life expectancy and the number of years lived with and without diabetes.

The study involved 3,650 postmenopausal women, aged 45+ years from the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based cohort study. The difference in life expectancy was compared in women experiencing early, normal, and late menopause, as well as in those with and without diabetes. Age at menopause categories were defined as follows: early (≤44 y old), normal (45-54 y old), and late (≥55 y old).

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Key Findings:

• Compared with late menopause, the difference in life expectancy for women who experienced early menopause was −3.5 (95% CI, −6.6 to −0.8) years overall and −4.6 (95% CI, −8.9 to −0.9) years without diabetes.


• Compared with age at normal menopause, the difference in life expectancy for women who experienced early menopause was −3.1 (95% CI, −5.1 to −1.1) years overall and −3.3 (95% CI, −6.0 to −0.6) years without diabetes.

The authors suggest the need for future research to examine the mechanisms behind this association to help tailor prevention and treatment strategies that improve women's health across all age categories of menopause.

"Early age at natural menopause may be linked to earlier mortality," says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, NAMS executive director. "Women with early natural menopause were found to have a shorter lifespan, were more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, and lived fewer years without diabetes than those with menopause occurring after age 45 or even after age 55."