Seasons May Be Involved
in Timing of Menopause

Seasonal changes could impact the timing of menopause, adding to factors such as a woman's dwindling supply of eggs, Hungarian fertility experts said.

They found that the spring and autumn equinoxes played a role in when women experience menopause.

"We found that there was a high peak after the spring equinox and another, lower one, after the autumn equinox," said Dr. Janos Garai, of the Baranya County Teaching Hospital in Pecs, Hungary.

He and his team questioned 102 women about when they had their last monthly period. Thirty recalled only the season of the year but 72 remembered the exact month.

March, April and June were cited most often, and August and December the least.

"The seasonality we found seems to support the influence of environmental factors on female human reproductive functions even when they are declining," Garai, who reported his finding in the journal Human Reproduction, added in a statement.

He and his colleagues called for more research into factors that could influence the onset of menopause, including the role of the hormone melatonin, which is linked to body rhythms such as the 24-hour body clock.

Menopause usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 60 but it can happen earlier or if the ovaries are removed or stop functioning.

"What we already know, coupled with our new findings, means it is plausible that this process is not just due to the ovaries no longer being able to produce developing egg follicles that provide an adequate hormone supply," Garai said.

He suggests internal and external factors affected by conditions such as the length of day, temperature and humidity could have an impact on the ovaries.

"Length of day is likely to be only one of several factors operating and melatonin might not be the only agent involved so we need to research this further," he added.

Reference Source 89

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