Women Who Got First Period Early Or Late Have Higher Cardiovascular Risks

The results of a new study show that, perhaps, women should take more notice of their ages when they got their first period as it can evidently affect their heart attack, heart failure, and stroke risk. Unfortunately, it’s not only the patients who are unaware of this risk but so are many doctors.

For their study now published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers evaluated a total of 648 women who did not undergo surgical menopause at baseline, and then followed them for six years to asses their major adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes.

All of the participants reported their age when they first got their periods. Interestingly, the results revealed that the women who had their period at 10 years old or younger had four times higher risk for major adverse cardiac events such as heart attack, heart failure and premature death compared to women who had their first periods at 12 years old. Meanwhile, the women who had their first periods at ages 11,13, 14 and 15 or even older had at least twice the risk.

Although correlation has previously been made between more estrogen exposure due to earlier periods and breast cancer, the researchers did not find the estrogen link to cardiovascular risks, especially since the increased risks were found in the women with early and late period onset.

Instead, the researchers found a strong correlation between the inflammatory biomarkers in the women who had their periods before or after 12 years old and the adverse outcomes they had in later life. Simply put, it is possible that the inflammatory biomarkers cause changes in women's bodies that cause them to have increased adverse CVD events.

“Women who experience earlier and later menarche may differ in fundamental ways from women whose menarche occurred on time,” researchers said. “Future studies should focus on female‐specific risk factors that include menarche and mechanisms by which inflammatory biomarkers increase risk of CVD events in women.”

As for women, perhaps, the results of the study would encourage them to take their age when they first had their period as a significant part of their health history, and share the information with their doctors. It would also be wise to become extra vigilant with heart symptoms and to adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent heart conditions.