TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of age at menarche, reproductive years, and menopause on metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular diseases
AU - Feng, Yan
AU - Hong, Xiumei
AU - Wilker, Elissa
AU - Li, Zhiping
AU - Zhang, Wenbin
AU - Jin, Delai
AU - Liu, Xue
AU - Zang, Tonghua
AU - Xu, Xiping
AU - Xu, Xin
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the local Bureaus of Health of Dongzhi and Wangjiang in Anhui province of China for their support. This study was supported by NIH grants R01 HL073882 and R01 AR45651. Elissa Wilker was supported by a training grant T32 ES 07069.
PY - 2008/2
Y1 - 2008/2
N2 - Background: Early menarche is associated with increased adult body fatness, however, this association has been studied primarily in young women. The impact of changes in some metabolic risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after menopause remains controversial and ageing is an important confounder. Objectives: To investigate the effect of age at menarche, reproductive years, and years post-menopause on body composition and metabolic risk factors for CVD independent of the normal ageing process in a large sample size of Chinese women. Design: Nine thousand ninety seven women aged 25-64 were recruited from Anhui, China in 2004-2005. Anthropometric measurement, body composition, blood pressure, plasma lipids, fasting glucose and insulin, as well as a questionnaire-based interview on menstruation and lifestyle information were obtained from each participant. Results: After adjusting for age and other covariates, age at menarche was inversely associated with body fatness, HOMA-IR, triacylglycerol and the total number of metabolic syndrome components, and was positively associated with HDL-C (p < 0.05). The number of reproductive years was associated with increased body fatness, decreased total cholesterol and HDL-C (p < 0.05). Post-menopausal women had significantly lower BMI but higher abdominal fat percentage, increased plasma levels of triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL-C, and LDL-C, and lower systolic blood pressure than pre-menopausal women (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Age at menarche, reproductive years, and menopause status were significantly associated with body composition, insulin sensitivity and blood lipid levels.
AB - Background: Early menarche is associated with increased adult body fatness, however, this association has been studied primarily in young women. The impact of changes in some metabolic risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after menopause remains controversial and ageing is an important confounder. Objectives: To investigate the effect of age at menarche, reproductive years, and years post-menopause on body composition and metabolic risk factors for CVD independent of the normal ageing process in a large sample size of Chinese women. Design: Nine thousand ninety seven women aged 25-64 were recruited from Anhui, China in 2004-2005. Anthropometric measurement, body composition, blood pressure, plasma lipids, fasting glucose and insulin, as well as a questionnaire-based interview on menstruation and lifestyle information were obtained from each participant. Results: After adjusting for age and other covariates, age at menarche was inversely associated with body fatness, HOMA-IR, triacylglycerol and the total number of metabolic syndrome components, and was positively associated with HDL-C (p < 0.05). The number of reproductive years was associated with increased body fatness, decreased total cholesterol and HDL-C (p < 0.05). Post-menopausal women had significantly lower BMI but higher abdominal fat percentage, increased plasma levels of triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, HDL-C, and LDL-C, and lower systolic blood pressure than pre-menopausal women (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Age at menarche, reproductive years, and menopause status were significantly associated with body composition, insulin sensitivity and blood lipid levels.
KW - Age at menarche
KW - Chinese women
KW - Menopause
KW - Metabolic syndrome
KW - Reproductive years
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U2 - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2007.06.016
DO - 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2007.06.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 17675039
AN - SCOPUS:38349123310
SN - 0021-9150
VL - 196
SP - 590
EP - 597
JO - Atherosclerosis
JF - Atherosclerosis
IS - 2
ER -