Early sexual maturity indicates diabetes risk

Early sexual maturity in girls signals diabetes risk

12/25/2011

A new indication for increased diabetes risk could be early-onset menstrual bleeding. This is the result of a research team of the Helmholtz Zentrum München. „In the course of life, sufferers could become ill with precursors of diabetes or type 2 diabetes“, so the summary of the data evaluation.

The sooner the menstruation started, the higher was the risk of the subjects getting diabetes type 2 during their lifetime. Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum München came to that conclusion. During the study, data from 1503 women aged 32 to 81 years were studied. On average, the first period was at the age of 13 for the participants. One study participant showed a first-time menstrual period of nine years. The earlier the time of the first menstrual bleeding was before the age of 13, the higher the risk for diabetes, so study director Dr. med. Doris Stöckl.

The most important risks for the development of type II diabetes include overweight and obesity. However, the study showed that even normal-weight women have a higher preference for Type II diabetes when the first menstrual bleeding occurred before the age of 13 years. The menstruation factor only plays a minor role in direct comparison to the risk of overweight, says Stöckl. „Lack of exercise and unhealthy diet are the biggest risk factors.“ (...) "Through a better lifestyle, such as a balanced diet and exercise, diabetes type 2 can be prevented in many cases," advises the physician Stöckl.

The context remains unclear: Stöckl and research colleagues now want to take a closer look at the connection between an early rule and the development of the metabolic disease. Conceivable would be genetic factors. The results were published in the diabetes journal "Diabetologia". In Germany, around six million people currently suffer from the widespread disease diabetes. Although there are many therapeutic approaches, a cure could not be achieved so far. (Sb)

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