Young women with type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes are apt start menstruating later than young women without diabetes, a study suggests.

The study also suggests a link between increased levels of total glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb), a measure of blood glucose control, and increased age at first menstruation (i.e., menarche). Better control of blood glucose levels in young women with diabetes might bring the age of first menstruation in line with non-diabetic women, they offer.

As lead investigator Dr. Kirstie K. Danielson told, “delay in the onset of menstruation in girls is associated with decreased bone density and changes in the reproductive cycle in women, so there is the potential for future bone and reproductive complications.”

Information on the subject is limited and to further investigate the influence of GHb levels and other factors, Danielson and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, Madison examined data on a large group of young type 1 diabetic women enrolled in a study beginning in the early 1990s.

By 2002, 188 of 288 female participants had reported menarche. The mean age at menarche in this group was 12.78 years, which, researchers point out, is significantly greater than the 12.54-year figure for the general US population of women.

In the 3 years before menarche, age at menarche was delayed by 1.3 months for each 1 percent increase in mean total GHb level.

The researchers think that delayed menarche “could potentially be minimized with improved GHb levels.”

“The delay in menarche,” added Danielson, “may also be a marker for other hormonal abnormalities in young women with type 1 diabetes - with unknown consequences.”

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, December 2005.