(1) The findings have important implications, as the age of menarche - when menstruation begins - has fallen by two years in the past century.(2) Most women with the syndrome experience menarche at a normal age but have irregular menstrual periods that gradually become more abnormal, often leading to amenorrhea.(3) The longer a woman's fertile life (the interval between the menarche and the menopause), the more likely she will develop Parkinson's disease.(4) Early menarche and late menopause may also increase the risk of breast cancer by affecting lifetime exposure to hormones.(5) But the delayed menarche and the delayed puberty may have an effect on their growth and height.(6) age at menarche varies considerably between populations(7) Self-reports of menarcheal status have been shown to be fairly accurate over time.(8) Patton et al., using a multivariate model, reported that depression and anxiety in females were positively correlated with year in school, however menarcheal status was a stronger predictor.(9) Despite the importance of menarcheal age as an indicator of puberty, there is little information on menarcheal age in contemporary teenagers to compare with data on girls born in the 1950s and 1960s.(10) While only the adolescent female (and those she chooses to tell) knows her menarcheal status, breast development is noticeable to all.
