Age of Menopause Is Also Tied To Longevity: Research

Beyond pregnancy, fertility has a lot to do with women's health. Young and healthy ovaries can help control reproductive choices. Do you know that ovaries in a woman's body age faster than all other tissues?

More the ovaries age, the impacts on fertility and long-term health is higher. Slower the ovary aging longer the life. It means - A slow rate of biological clock ticking can extend women's life.

Jennifer Garrison, an assistant professor at California's Buck Institute for Research on Ageing, at an event organised by Life Itself and CNN, spoke extensively about the science of ageing. Garrison said, "Ovaries are very strange in terms of the rest of the human body. We can think about them as an accelerated model for human ageing. When a woman is in her late 20s or early 30s, all the tissues are functioning at peak performance, except the ovaries. They are already showing overt signs of ageing."

Buck Institute for Research on Aging is the world's first biomedical research institution that exclusively conducts research related to the science of ageing.

Periods Benefit To Increase Women Life Span

First, Garrison explains the correlation between fertility and life longevity. Garrison draws an interesting inference - what if science could learn to slow the rate of ageing in ovaries? "This means women would have reproductive choices and have control over their lives. The age-related diseases could be delayed and hopefully extend life", as Garrison remarked. 

Garrison pointed out that the Geriatric nature of ovaries is understood by women when they want to start a family. Further, discussing menopause. Garrison said, "Aged ovaries not only affect fertility but also impact menopause (Period stop). Early menopause means ovaries have grown faster, late menopause denotes slow aging of the ovary."

Early menopause can cause numerous adverse health outcomes including cognitive impairment, dementia, parkinsonism, glaucoma, CHD, osteoporosis, mood disorders, sexual dysfunction, and increased overall mortality, as per the research authored by Stephanie S. Faubion and team.   

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Garrison on menopause added, "Studies indicate that women with a late stop in 50 to 54 age tend to live longer and have an enhanced ability to repair their DNA, whereas women with natural menopause before the age of 40 are likely to die early." 

On being asked during their 30s, why do humans develop senile ovaries? Why there is a decline in egg quality and quantity with age? Why does a woman's reproductive span correlate with her overall life span? Garrison answered, "reasons are unknown, a lot of scientific reproductive research is to be done. Women's issues and the need for them have long been sidelined.' Further added, 'Although, today that is changing. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health issued an amendment to its policies on enrolling women and minorities in clinical trials."