Association of age at menarche with metabolic syndrome and its components in rural Bangladeshi women

Abstract

BackgroundEarly age at menarche is associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome in both China and the West. However, little is known about the impact of age at menarche and metabolic syndrome in South Asian women, including those from low-income country, where age at menarche is also falling. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether age at menarche is inversely associated with metabolic syndrome in Bangladeshi women, who are mostly poor and have limited access to and or poor health care facilities.MethodsThis community-based cross-sectional study was performed using 1423 women aged between 15–75 years from rural Bangladesh in 2009 and 2010. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to standard NCEP-ATP III criteria. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between age at menarche and metabolic syndrome, with adjustment of potential confounding variables, including age, education, marital status, tobacco users, use of contraceptives and number of pregnancies.ResultsEarly onset of menarche (<12 years) as compared to late onset (>13 years) was found to be associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (odds ratio=1.55; 95 % confidence interval =1.05-2.30). Age at onset of menarche was also inversely associated with prevalence of high triglycerides (P for trend <0.01) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P for trend = 0.01), but positively associated with prevalence of high fasting blood glucose (P for trend =0.02). However, no significant association was found between age at menarche, high blood pressure and elevated waist circumference.ConclusionEarly onset of menarche might promote or trigger development of metabolic syndrome. Thus, knowledge of the history of age at onset of menarche may be critical in identifying women at risk of developing metabolic syndrome and those likely to benefit the most from early interventions.

Age at Menarche and Cardiometabolic Health: A Sibling Analysis in the Scottish Family Health Study

“…The reference group in all analyses comprised those with an age at menarche of 12 to 13 years. There is some variation across studies in the definition of early menarche (≤10, ≤11, or ≤12 years) and late menarche (≥14, ≥15, or ≥16 years), likely influenced by the size and information available in the specific study, but our categorization is in line with commonly used cutoff values 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16…”

“…Early menarche is associated with reduced insulin sensitivity and higher glucose,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 higher triglycerides and cholesterol levels,2, 6, 10 higher blood pressure,4, 5, 11, 12 and greater waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) 4, 5, 13, 14, 15. In line with these findings, there is some but less consistent evidence of an association between age at menarche and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events 12, 16, 17, 18.…”

Mean Difference of Age at Menarche and Body Mass Index among Government and Private High-School Students of Mekelle City, Northern Ethiopia

“…This trend was statistically significant (Chi-square for trend p ≤ 0.00). There was also a statistically significant difference between the mean BMI of those girls who had attained menarche (mean BMI 17.83) [9,10] and those who had not attained menarche (mean BMI 14.83), p ≤ 0.001) (9,10). Similarly, mean age at menarche in underweight, normal, overweight and obese girls was 12.72 ± 1.18, 12.67 ± 1.37, 12.43 ± 1.55, 11.97 ± 1.68, respectively [11].…”

Factors of Women’s Health From the Perspective of Reproductive Ageing and Risk of Cardiovascular Disorders

“…Аналогичную взаимосвязь выявили и в двух азиатских наблю-дениях [19,20], в то время как в параллельном ис-следовании у китайских женщин эта связь не была определена [21]. Доказано, что при раннем менар-хе (в 8 лет) повышается уровень инсулиноподоб-ного фактора роста-1, андростендиона, дегидро-эпиандростерон-сульфата, лептина и инсулина натощак, снижается уровень глобулина, связыва-ющего половые стероиды [22], возникает высокий риск метаболического синдрома [23,24,25].…”