Menarche before age 11 and childbirth before 21 significantly accelerated the risk of age-related diseases, almost doubling the risk for diabetes and heart failure, and quadrupling obesity risk.
Observational (n=200,000)
Does later age of menarche or first childbirth reduce the risk of aging-related outcomes and age-related diseases in women?
Early menarche and early childbirth are genetically and observationally associated with accelerated aging and increased risk of age-related diseases, including heart failure and diabetes, partially mediated by higher BMI.
Abstract Aging can be understood as a consequence of the declining force of natural selection with age. Consistent with this, the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging proposes that aging arises from trade-offs that favor early growth and reproduction. However, evidence supporting antagonistic pleiotropy in humans remains limited. Using Mendelian Randomization (MR), we demonstrated that later ages of menarche or first childbirth were genetically associated with longer parental lifespan, decreased frailty index, slower epigenetic aging, later menopause, and reduced facial aging. Moreover, later menarche or first childbirth were also genetically associated with a lower risk of several age-related diseases, including late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), type 2 diabetes, heart disease, essential hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We validated the associations between the age of menarche, childbirth, and the number of childbirths with several age-related outcomes in the UK Biobank by conducting regression analysis of nearly 200,000 subjects. Our results demonstrated that menarche before the age 11 and childbirth before 21 significantly accelerated the risk of several diseases, and almost doubled the risk for diabetes, heart failure, and quadrupled the risk of obesity, supporting the antagonistic pleiotropy theory. We identified 126 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that influenced age-related outcomes, some of which were involved in known longevity pathways, including IGF1, growth hormone, AMPK, and mTOR signaling. Our study also identified higher BMI as a mediating factor in causing the increased risk of certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and heart failure, in women with early menarche or early pregnancy, emphasizing the importance of the thrifty gene hypothesis in explaining in part the mechanisms behind antagonistic pleiotropy. Our study highlights the complex relationship between genetic legacies and modern diseases, emphasizing the need for gender-sensitive healthcare strategies that consider the unique connections between female reproductive health and aging.
Xiang et al. (Fri,) conducted a observational in Age-related diseases (n=200,000). Early menarche (<11 years) and early childbirth (<21 years) vs. Later menarche or first childbirth was evaluated on Risk of age-related diseases (including diabetes, heart failure, and obesity). Menarche before age 11 and childbirth before 21 significantly accelerated the risk of age-related diseases, almost doubling the risk for diabetes and heart failure, and quadrupling obesity risk.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: