Correlation between time of menarche and time of menopause?

[you_with_the_face]

Do women who start their menses early in life enter menopause early, too? It seems intuitive that they would, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard this touted as fact.

And also, have any studies shown that taking the pill for a long period of time effects the onset of menopause?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Bearing in mind that we’re tlaking about “averages” here…from here.

The average age of menopause is 51 years old. But there is no way to predict when an individual woman will enter menopause. The age at which a woman starts having menstrual periods is…not related to the age of menopause onset…As a rough “rule of thumb,” women tend to undergo menopause at an age similar to that of their mothers.

And also…

*Certain medical and surgical conditions can influence the timing of menopause.

Surgical removal of the ovaries…
Cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy…
Premature ovarian failure…*

IOW, birth control pills are not mentioned.

FWIW, I didn’t start having periods until I was 15, but menopause kicked in right on schedule at Year 50. If there were a correlation between age of menarche and age of menopause, I should have had at least a few more hot-flash-free years.