Age of Woman’s First Menstruation May Signal Higher Risk of Heart Disease, UF Health Research Finds

It might seem like an irrelevant question for a cardiologist to ask a female patient, but University of Florida Health researcher Carl J. Pepine, M.D., hopes it will one day become as routine as asking someone if they smoke or have high blood pressure.

Women who experienced their first menstruation at an early or late age have an elevated risk of developing “major adverse cardiac events,” according to recent research co-authored by Pepine with collaborators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. These include heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and death.

Learn more about Age of Woman’s First Menstruation May Signal Higher Risk of Heart Disease, UF Health Research Finds.