In a national sample of US women in their mid-40s to mid-50s, those with high serum levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were likely to enter menopause 2 years earlier than those with low levels of these chemicals.
That is, the median age of natural menopause was 52.8 years versus 50.8 years in women with high versus low serum levels of these chemicals in an analysis of data from more than 1100 women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Multi-Pollutant Study (MPS), which excluded women with premature menopause (before age 40) or early menopause (before age 45).
"This study suggests that select PFAS serum concentrations are associated with earlier natural menopause, a risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life," Ning Ding, PhD, MPH, University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conclude in their article published online June 3 in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
"Even menopause a few years earlier than usual could have a significant impact on cardiovascular and bone health, quality of life, and overall health in general among women,"added senior author Sung Kyun Park, ScD, MPH, from the same institution, in a statement.
PFAS have been widely used in many consumer and industrial products such as nonstick cookware, stain-repellent carpets, waterproof rain gear, microwave popcorn bags, and firefighting foam, the authors explain.
These have been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they do not degrade. Household water for an estimated 110 million Americans (one in three) may be contaminated with these chemicals, according to an Endocrine Society press release.
"PFAS are everywhere. Once they enter the body, they don't break down and [they] build up over time," said Ding.
"Because of their persistence in humans and potentially detrimental effects on ovarian function, it is important to raise awareness of this issue and reduce exposure to these chemicals," he stressed.
Earlier menopause has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and earlier cardiovascular and overall mortality, and environmental exposure may accelerate ovarian aging, the authors write.
PFAS, especially the most studied types perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are plausible endocrine-disrupting chemicals, but findings so far have been inconsistent.
A study of people in Ohio exposed to contaminated water found that women with earlier natural menopause had higher serum PFOA and PFOS levels (J Clin Endocriniol Metab. 2011;96:1747-53).
But in research based on National Health and Nutrition Survey Examination (NHANES) data, higher PFOA, PFOS, or perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) levels were not linked to earlier menopause, although higher levels of perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) were (Environ Health Perspect. 2014;122:145-50).
There may have been reverse causation, where postmenopausal women had higher PFAS levels because they were not excreting these chemicals in menstrual blood.
In a third study, PFOA exposure was not linked with age at menopause onset, but this was based on recall from 10 years earlier (Environ Res. 2016;146:323-30).
The current analysis examined data from 1120 premenopausal women who were 45 to 56 years old from 1999 to 2000.
The women were seen at five sites (Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Oakland, California; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) and were ethnically diverse (577 white, 235 black, 142 Chinese, and 166 Japanese).
Baseline serum PFAS levels were measured using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
The women were followed up to 2017 and incident menopause (12 consecutive months with no menstruation) was determined from annual interviews.
Of the 1120 women and 5466 person-years of follow-up, 578 women had a known date of natural incident menopause and were included in the analysis.
The remaining 542 women were excluded mainly because their date of final menstruation was unknown due to hormone replacement therapy (451) or they had a hysterectomy, or did not enter menopause during the study.
Compared with women in the lowest tertile of PFOS levels, women in the highest tertile had a significant 26% to 27% greater risk of incident menopause after adjusting for age, body mass index, and prior hormone use, race/ethnicity, study site, education, physical activity, smoking status, and parity.
Higher PFOA and PFNA levels but not higher PFHxS levels were also associated with increased risk.
Compared to women with a low overall PFAS level, those with a high level had a 63% increased risk of incident menopause (hazard ratio, 1.63; 95% CI: 1.08 - 2.45), equivalent to having menopause a median of 2 years earlier.
Although production and use of some types of PFAS in the United States are declining, Ding and colleagues write, exposure continues, along with associated potential hazards to human reproductive health.
"Due to PFAS widespread use and environmental persistence, their potential adverse effects remain a public health concern," they conclude.
SWAN was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health & Human Servicesthrough the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), and the SWAN repository. The current article was supported by the National Center for Research Resources and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The authors have reported no relevant financial relationships.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published online June 3, 2020. Abstract
For more diabetes and endocrinology news, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Continued here:
High Serum Levels of 'Forever Chemicals' Tied to Earlier Menopause - Medscape
- Bio Identical Hormone replacement therapy "alternative medicine" OMT - June 1st, 2010 [June 1st, 2010]
- Healthbeat - Hormone Replacement Therapy - August 5th, 2010 [August 5th, 2010]
- Does Hormone Replacement Therapy increase breast cancer risks? - August 11th, 2010 [August 11th, 2010]
- Hormone replacement therapy increases risk of cancer - October 20th, 2010 [October 20th, 2010]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy Risky For Women - October 20th, 2010 [October 20th, 2010]
- Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Lead To Breast Cancer? - January 31st, 2011 [January 31st, 2011]
- Women Turning To Holistic Hormone Replacement Therapy - February 18th, 2011 [February 18th, 2011]
- Is Hormone Replacement Therapy Dangerous? - March 17th, 2011 [March 17th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy Complications - May 8th, 2011 [May 8th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 10th, 2011 [May 10th, 2011]
- The New Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy - John Crisler, DO - May 13th, 2011 [May 13th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 2 of 6 - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Symptoms of Menopause (Menopause #2) - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- How to Relieve Menopause Symptoms : Hormonal Replacement Therapy for Menopause - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- What is hormone replacement therapy? - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Natural Treatments Instead of Hormone Replacement Therapy - May 20th, 2011 [May 20th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 1 of 6 - May 23rd, 2011 [May 23rd, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy for post-menopausal women - June 19th, 2011 [June 19th, 2011]
- Joe Rogan talking about hormone replacement therapy 6-14-2011 - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Weight - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- HRC Hormone Replacement Therapy - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- Study Hormone Replacement Therapy Increases Breast Cancer Risk - kdka.com - June 25th, 2011 [June 25th, 2011]
- 020 - Neo Hormones - July 1st, 2011 [July 1st, 2011]
- Making Sense of Hormone Replacement Therapy - July 28th, 2011 [July 28th, 2011]
- HRT MTF Transition Report Week 10 - July 29th, 2011 [July 29th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement - Part 2 - July 30th, 2011 [July 30th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement - Part 1 - July 30th, 2011 [July 30th, 2011]
- Goldie Lookin Chain - HRT - August 9th, 2011 [August 9th, 2011]
- Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy - September 23rd, 2011 [September 23rd, 2011]
- Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT): Optimizing Clinical Outcomes - Michael Aziz, MD - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Thyroid Replacement Therapy - Ronald Rothenberg, MD - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Ralph Turner discusses Hormone Replacement Therapy. - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- 1 year on HRT - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- The Wiley Protocol - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- My Journal with Low Testosterone TRT Replacement Therapy - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- 12 years of HRT: My Transition in photos - September 24th, 2011 [September 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Steven Jepson talks about Bio-identical Hormone Replacment Therapy - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Estradiol Valerate Injection HRT (Part 3)of(3) - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Study: Post-Menopausal Hormone Therapy Increases Cancer Risk - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- Bio-identical Hormone Replacement (anti-aging) Therapy - Westchase, Tampa, Florida - September 25th, 2011 [September 25th, 2011]
- natural hormone replacement - September 28th, 2011 [September 28th, 2011]
- 6 Month Hormone Effects (before and after) - September 28th, 2011 [September 28th, 2011]
- Jeff Life, MD - Cenegenics, Hormone Replacement Therapy - September 29th, 2011 [September 29th, 2011]
- Huge - September 30th, 2011 [September 30th, 2011]
- Transsexual hormones,Intramuscular injection, Progynon Depot,Estradiol - October 2nd, 2011 [October 2nd, 2011]
- Dr Whiting on Menopause and the Dangers of HRT - October 12th, 2011 [October 12th, 2011]
- Ahuviya Harel (ADF-Fuensalida) to Start Hormone Replacement Therapy - October 13th, 2011 [October 13th, 2011]
- Clomid Defined - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy - Dr. Denis Rebic - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - October 14th, 2011 [October 14th, 2011]
- Dr. Pamela Smith - Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement - Video - October 15th, 2011 [October 15th, 2011]
- Jasper Carrott - Traffic - October 22nd, 2011 [October 22nd, 2011]
- VIDEO: Breast Cancer, Hormone Replacement Therapy Connection - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy with Dr. Sulak - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Menopause - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- bio identical hormone replacement therapy raleigh durcham chaepl hill north carolina - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Endocrine Related Hair Loss, Can Hormone Replacement Therapy Help Treat This? Friedman - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Navarro Discusses Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy by the Book - Eldred Taylor, MD - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Sangeeta Pati, MD, FACOG, discusses Hormone Replacement - Video - October 24th, 2011 [October 24th, 2011]
- Active Center's Dr. Gross Discusses Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy on NEWS 12 NJ - Video - October 28th, 2011 [October 28th, 2011]
- DALLAS ANTI-AGING MEDICINE BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONE THERAPY - Video - October 29th, 2011 [October 29th, 2011]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy and Menopause in Women - Video - November 8th, 2011 [November 8th, 2011]
- Amberen - Natural HRT Alternative Commercial - Video - November 9th, 2011 [November 9th, 2011]
- The Dangers of HRT - Video - November 11th, 2011 [November 11th, 2011]
- The Benefits and Risks of Male Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - November 16th, 2011 [November 16th, 2011]
- Natural Menopause Treatment - Herbal HRT Alternative - Video - November 23rd, 2011 [November 23rd, 2011]
- Dr. Ian Thorneycroft - Hormone Replacement Therapy - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Sarah,MTF Transgender 3months HRT - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- 26. ftm 1 month on t - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Dr. Quint Jardine - Hormone Replacement Therapy with Pellets - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- 6 Month Changes MTF HRT - Video - November 24th, 2011 [November 24th, 2011]
- Medical Mondays: Will hormone replacement therapy increase my risk of breast cancer? - Video - December 6th, 2011 [December 6th, 2011]
- HRT EXPERIENCES NOT ALL GOOD - Video - December 8th, 2011 [December 8th, 2011]
- Sarah, MTF transgender 9 months HRT - Video - December 9th, 2011 [December 9th, 2011]
- Full: Effect of Testosterone Replacement Therapy on Prostate Tissue in Men with Late-Onset Hypogonadism (Dramatic Health) - Video - December 10th, 2011 [December 10th, 2011]
- Suzanne Somers on hormone therapy for menopause, part 3 of 6 - Video - December 11th, 2011 [December 11th, 2011]
- 1 Year HRT MTF Transition - Video - December 12th, 2011 [December 12th, 2011]