Low fertility and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women

Clara C. Elbers; N. Charlotte Onland-Moret; Marinus J. C. Eijkemans; Cisca Wijmenga; Diederick E. Grobbee; Yvonne T. van der Schouw

doi:10.1093/humrep/der332

Low fertility and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women

Clara C. Elbers, N. Charlotte Onland-Moret, Marinus J. C. Eijkemans, Cisca Wijmenga, Diederick E. Grobbee, Yvonne T. van der Schouw^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Groningen Institute for Gastro Intestinal Genetics and Immunology (3GI)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Fertility problems are frequently followed by early menopause, and early menopause has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus far, it is unknown whether low fertility is independently associated with future T2D risk.

METHODS: We assessed the association between measures of low fertility and T2D in the Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort of 17 357 Dutch women, aged 49-70 years at baseline using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for various confounders. To investigate whether BMI and waist circumference influence the observed associations, analyses were additionally adjusted for these variables.

RESULTS: At baseline, 332 women had T2D. During a mean follow-up of 9.1 +/- 3.6 years, 535 T2D cases occurred. Out of 15 707 Prospect-EPIC women who wanted to get pregnant, 1940 consulted a physician for fertility problems and 700 remained childless. No relation was found between consulting a physician for fertility problems or nulliparity and T2D risk. Of all women who wanted to get pregnant, 3946 (25.1%) had one or more miscarriages, with an average of 1.4 (+/- 0.9) miscarriages and a maximum of 10 miscarriages. Women who had one or more miscarriage showed the same risk for T2D as women who had no miscarriage. Also, none of the other measures of low fertility were associated with increased risk for T2D.

CONCLUSIONS: Generally, measures of low fertility were not independently associated with a risk of T2D in a cohort of 17 357 Dutch women.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3472-3478
Number of pages	7
Journal	Human Reproduction
Volume	26
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/der332
Publication status	Published - Dec-2011

Keywords

type 2 diabetes
low fertility
infertility
miscarriages
irregular menstrual cycle
POLYCYSTIC-OVARY-SYNDROME
IMPAIRED GLUCOSE-TOLERANCE
PIMA INDIAN WOMEN
MENSTRUAL IRREGULARITY
CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE
METABOLIC SYNDROME
PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY
EPIC-NL
COHORT
PREVALENCE

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@article{aff2427d6a574913a20420bed54f9d2c,

title = "Low fertility and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Fertility problems are frequently followed by early menopause, and early menopause has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus far, it is unknown whether low fertility is independently associated with future T2D risk.METHODS: We assessed the association between measures of low fertility and T2D in the Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort of 17 357 Dutch women, aged 49-70 years at baseline using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for various confounders. To investigate whether BMI and waist circumference influence the observed associations, analyses were additionally adjusted for these variables.RESULTS: At baseline, 332 women had T2D. During a mean follow-up of 9.1 +/- 3.6 years, 535 T2D cases occurred. Out of 15 707 Prospect-EPIC women who wanted to get pregnant, 1940 consulted a physician for fertility problems and 700 remained childless. No relation was found between consulting a physician for fertility problems or nulliparity and T2D risk. Of all women who wanted to get pregnant, 3946 (25.1%) had one or more miscarriages, with an average of 1.4 (+/- 0.9) miscarriages and a maximum of 10 miscarriages. Women who had one or more miscarriage showed the same risk for T2D as women who had no miscarriage. Also, none of the other measures of low fertility were associated with increased risk for T2D.CONCLUSIONS: Generally, measures of low fertility were not independently associated with a risk of T2D in a cohort of 17 357 Dutch women.",

keywords = "type 2 diabetes, low fertility, infertility, miscarriages, irregular menstrual cycle, POLYCYSTIC-OVARY-SYNDROME, IMPAIRED GLUCOSE-TOLERANCE, PIMA INDIAN WOMEN, MENSTRUAL IRREGULARITY, CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE, METABOLIC SYNDROME, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, EPIC-NL, COHORT, PREVALENCE",

author = "Elbers, {Clara C.} and Onland-Moret, {N. Charlotte} and Eijkemans, {Marinus J. C.} and Cisca Wijmenga and Grobbee, {Diederick E.} and {van der Schouw}, {Yvonne T.}",

year = "2011",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1093/humrep/der332",

language = "English",

volume = "26",

pages = "3472--3478",

journal = "Human Reproduction",

issn = "0268-1161",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "12",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Low fertility and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women

AU - Elbers, Clara C.

AU - Onland-Moret, N. Charlotte

AU - Eijkemans, Marinus J. C.

AU - Wijmenga, Cisca

AU - Grobbee, Diederick E.

AU - van der Schouw, Yvonne T.

PY - 2011/12

Y1 - 2011/12

N2 - BACKGROUND: Fertility problems are frequently followed by early menopause, and early menopause has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus far, it is unknown whether low fertility is independently associated with future T2D risk.METHODS: We assessed the association between measures of low fertility and T2D in the Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort of 17 357 Dutch women, aged 49-70 years at baseline using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for various confounders. To investigate whether BMI and waist circumference influence the observed associations, analyses were additionally adjusted for these variables.RESULTS: At baseline, 332 women had T2D. During a mean follow-up of 9.1 +/- 3.6 years, 535 T2D cases occurred. Out of 15 707 Prospect-EPIC women who wanted to get pregnant, 1940 consulted a physician for fertility problems and 700 remained childless. No relation was found between consulting a physician for fertility problems or nulliparity and T2D risk. Of all women who wanted to get pregnant, 3946 (25.1%) had one or more miscarriages, with an average of 1.4 (+/- 0.9) miscarriages and a maximum of 10 miscarriages. Women who had one or more miscarriage showed the same risk for T2D as women who had no miscarriage. Also, none of the other measures of low fertility were associated with increased risk for T2D.CONCLUSIONS: Generally, measures of low fertility were not independently associated with a risk of T2D in a cohort of 17 357 Dutch women.

AB - BACKGROUND: Fertility problems are frequently followed by early menopause, and early menopause has been associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus far, it is unknown whether low fertility is independently associated with future T2D risk.METHODS: We assessed the association between measures of low fertility and T2D in the Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort of 17 357 Dutch women, aged 49-70 years at baseline using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for various confounders. To investigate whether BMI and waist circumference influence the observed associations, analyses were additionally adjusted for these variables.RESULTS: At baseline, 332 women had T2D. During a mean follow-up of 9.1 +/- 3.6 years, 535 T2D cases occurred. Out of 15 707 Prospect-EPIC women who wanted to get pregnant, 1940 consulted a physician for fertility problems and 700 remained childless. No relation was found between consulting a physician for fertility problems or nulliparity and T2D risk. Of all women who wanted to get pregnant, 3946 (25.1%) had one or more miscarriages, with an average of 1.4 (+/- 0.9) miscarriages and a maximum of 10 miscarriages. Women who had one or more miscarriage showed the same risk for T2D as women who had no miscarriage. Also, none of the other measures of low fertility were associated with increased risk for T2D.CONCLUSIONS: Generally, measures of low fertility were not independently associated with a risk of T2D in a cohort of 17 357 Dutch women.

KW - type 2 diabetes

KW - low fertility

KW - infertility

KW - miscarriages

KW - irregular menstrual cycle

KW - POLYCYSTIC-OVARY-SYNDROME

KW - IMPAIRED GLUCOSE-TOLERANCE

KW - PIMA INDIAN WOMEN

KW - MENSTRUAL IRREGULARITY

KW - CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASE

KW - METABOLIC SYNDROME

KW - PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

KW - EPIC-NL

KW - COHORT

KW - PREVALENCE

U2 - 10.1093/humrep/der332

DO - 10.1093/humrep/der332

M3 - Article

SN - 0268-1161

VL - 26

SP - 3472

EP - 3478

JO - Human Reproduction

JF - Human Reproduction

IS - 12

ER -

Low fertility and the risk of type 2 diabetes in women

Abstract

Keywords

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