Early Menarche & Menopause

There is no relationship between early menarche (the first period occurring when a girl is younger than 8 years of age) and menopause (the date 12 months after a woman has her last period).

• Heredity, not when a woman entered puberty, plays an important role in determinig when a woman will reach menopause.

The Facts

• A 1997 study published in Fertility and Sterility enrolled 3,756 Dutch women born between 1911 and 1925 and found no relationship between age at first menstruation and age at menopause.

  The website 2womenshealth.com reports that the age at which a female has her first period does not serve as a predictor for how old she'll be when she reaches menopause. The site states that early menopause (menopause before age 44) may have a hereditary link but is not associated with age at menarche, marital status, weight, height, number of pregnancies or estrogen use.

Heredity and Menopause

• In a 1995 study of 344 women whose average age at menopause was 42.2 years, 37.5 percent reported having a mother, sister, aunt or grandmother who reached menopause before age 46. The study, "Family History as a Predictor of Early Menopause," also found that women who were at greatest risk for early menopause had a family member who reached menopause before age 40 or who had a sister or multiple family members who experienced early menopause.

Early Menarche

• According to the Mayo Clinic, normal puberty for girls can begin anywhere from ages 8 to 12. Precocious puberty, including early menarche, is defined as puberty that begins before a girl is 8 years old. The average age a girl begins menstruating has declined in the last century, from 13.3 to 12.4 years of age, according to the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Early Menarche Causes

• The causes of early menarche and the reasons girls are having their first periods at an earlier age overall are varied. According to the National Research Center for Women and Families (NRCWF), exposure to pesticides and other estrogen-like chemicals is believed to be a cause. Chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system, which regulates sex hormone secretion, are thought to be another factor.

  The NRCWF says at least one reason for early menarche is obesity because fat cells manufacture leptin, a hormone believed to help trigger puberty. If girls are getting bigger, faster, their bodies may be manufacturing leptin earlier, prompting menstruation at a younger age.

Early Menarche Consequences

• Although there is no correlation between early menarche and menopause, the NRCWF states, "It has already been demonstrated that girls who begin menstruating at a very young age have an increased risk of developing breast cancer."

  Along with a greater chance of developing breast cancer, girls who start menstruating early are more likely to be depressed, aggressive and socially withdrawn. They are also more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as sexual activity, smoking and alcohol and drug use.