Reproductive risk factors across the female lifecourse and later metabolic health.

Jan 29, 2024

Experts: Amy R Nichols,Jorge E Chavarro,Emily Oken

Metabolic health is characterized by optimal blood glucose, lipids, cholesterol, blood pressure, and adiposity. Alterations in these characteristics may lead to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus or dyslipidemia. Recent evidence suggests that female reproductive characteristics may be overlooked as risk factors that contribute to later metabolic dysfunction. These reproductive traits include the age at menarche, menstrual irregularity, the development of polycystic ovary syndrome, gestational weight change, gestational dysglycemia and dyslipidemia, and the severity and timing of menopausal symptoms. These risk factors may themselves be markers of future dysfunction or may be explained by shared underlying etiologies that promote long-term disease development. Disentangling underlying relationships and identifying potentially modifiable characteristics have an important bearing on therapeutic lifestyle modifications that could ease long-term metabolic burden. Further research that better characterizes associations between reproductive characteristics and metabolic health, clarifies underlying etiologies, and identifies indicators for clinical application is warranted in the prevention and management of metabolic dysfunction.
Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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ABOUT THE EXPERTS

Amy R Nichols,Jorge E Chavarro,Emily Oken

Amy R Nichols

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: anichols@hsph.harvard.edu.

Jorge E Chavarro

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Emily Oken

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA.