Paper discussion

Kim Lab journal club

2020-03-12

menarche

noun

the first occurrence of menstruation

timing of menarche

noun

age at first occurrence of menstruation

Existing literature on the cause of decline in timing of menarche

  • industrialized country
    • adequate nutrition (height) and socioeconomic
      • but not explain fully variation
    • varies by country
      • genetic and/or environmental causes
    • obesity?
    • BMI?

climate change

noun

any changes in the climate that have occurred (focusing on past 100 years)

Systematic review

  • Databases: PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Cochrane
  • Query: timing of menarche, relevance to climate change
  • Manually reviewed
  • Filter out:
    • non-human
    • simply descriptive
    • used as proxy for puberty but irrelevant
    • mathematical modeling
    • irrelevant
  • Results: 112 articles
    • disease causes/consequences
    • social causes/consequences

Breakdown of 117 articles on timing of menarche

Mental health and psychological conditions were categorized as either diseases or social factors depending on the specific finding and research article.

1
 Advanced issue found
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Climate change → weather events  increase toxins in environment  crop availability, food intake, timing of menarche  increase disease burden: bone health, cardiovascular disease, mental health, and fertility-related conditions.

Late

Early

Causes menarche
age perturbations

Results from menarche age perturbations

Mental health

Depression
Thoughts of self-harm
Fear
Distress
Externalizing disorders
Behavioral problems
Short stature
Elevated BMI
Increased Antral follicle count (~ increased fertility)
Premature menopause
Hysterectomy
Breast Cancer

Fertility-related conditions

Myelomingocele (a type of spina bifida)
Fat mass
Inverse association with BMI (i.e., heavier BMI - earlier menarche)
Metabolic syndrome
Insulin resistance

Cardio vascular diseases

Carotid artery intima-media thickness

Type 1 diabetes
Anorexia
Scoliosis
Turner syndrome (one X chromosome)
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Crohn’s disease

Fertility-related conditions

 Breast Cancer
 Fetal loss
 Longer time to first baby
 Hirsutism (excessive body hair growth)

Bone health

 Osteoporosis

Other factors

Genetics

  • Sex-hormone binding globulin SHBG
  • Leptin receptor LEPR
  • Paternally inherited DLK1 and MKRN3

Gene-environment interactions?

Thanks!

Climate change on women's health

By Trang Le

Climate change on women's health

Presentation on 2020-03-12 for the journal club, Kim Lab.

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