Shruthi Mahalingaiah: Many Patients Want to Know What Happens to Irregular Cycles Over Time
Shruthi Mahalingaiah, Associate Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Many patients want to know: what happens to irregular cycles over time?
My team and I have been working to close the gap in research and learn more. Recent findings from the Apple Women’s Health Study, which looked at more than 160,000 menstrual cycles from 15,000+ participants, showed that participants with PCOS and irregular cycles tended to have longer, less predictable cycles when they were younger. Over time, though, those cycles often become shorter and more regular, looking more similar to people who had more regular cycles by about age 40.
After age 50, cycles generally lengthened and become more irregular again for everyone, likely due to the menopausal transition.
Knowing what to expect as you grow older is so important. These findings give people with irregular cycles (and their clinicians) clearer expectations about how menstrual patterns may shift with age.
Read the full study in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology to learn more.”
Title: Variability of menstrual cycles by age, polycystic ovary syndrome, and early-life cycle irregularity in the apple Women’s Health Study
Authors: Roisin Mortimer, Gowtham Asokan, Donna D. Baird, Allen J. Wilcox, Kayley Abrams, Christine L. Curry, Jukka-Pekka Onnela, Brent A. Coull, Russ Hauser, Michelle A. Williams, Zifan Wang, Shruthi Mahalingaiah
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