It's Not Easy: Midlife Weight Gain in Women

As a board certified menopause clinician, this is one of the most common questions I receive: "Is it age, menopause status, genes and/or lifestyle factors which is the cause of my increased weight and abdominal fat?" My curiosity pushed me to search the scientific literature to try and answer that question. And I must say that my initial impression about the cause of weight gain was very much altered by the time my reading was complete. I would like to share with you some of the most interesting and useful information I found. Each of these next three blogs will be devoted to age, hormones/menopause, genes, and finally what really works to help control or reduce weight.

Most of us are aware that increased weight can have a significant impact on health. What I came to learn was that weight gained in midlife had an especially high predictive value for breast cancer and diabetes. Among almost 50,000 nurses studied for up to 24 years, those that gained 22 pounds or more since menopause had a statistically significant increased risk for developing breast cancer. By contrast, those that lost 22 pounds (and did not use hormone therapy) had significantly less breast cancer than the rest of the women (Eliassen, JAMA, 2006).

In a study of some 7,000 Australian women aged 45-50, those who had a body mass index (BMI) of greater than or equal to 25 (i.e. overweight) had a very significant increased risk of developing diabetes. The risk of diabetes was the highest for women who had a BMI of greater than 35. After following the women for eight years, this study concluded that the risk of diabetes was more closely linked with the body weight during perimenopause than any subsequent weight change (Mishra, Diabetes Care, 2007).

If you do not know your own BMI, try WebMD's BMI calcuator.

Coming next: Is Age Responsible for Weight Gain?

Related Topics:

• WebMD Video: Menopause Myths
• WebMD Video: Acupuncture for Menopause

Technorati Tags: menopause, women's health, weight, obesity, breast cancer, diabetes, health and wellness

Welcome to Pelvis World!

The moderators ("Mod Squad") here at WebMD have been asking me to do a blog, and also to share more of my feelings about being the ruler of "Pelvis World". I have been interested in women's health even before my graduation as a nurse practitioner in 1983. My teaching career began in 1989 when, after joining at faculty at Oregon Health & Science University, I gave a lecture that was an absolute bomb. I was using someone else's slides (pre-Powerpoint days), and was so nervous that I wrote out the lecture and read it! Those poor medical students were squirming in their seats it was so BAD. That lecture style had no place to go but to improve!

My first job with the early version of WebMD seemed like a good idea because I loved answering questions from patients, their families, and students. It also incorporated my love for learning something new everyday. Thanks to the amazing questions from all of you this has been one of my most favorite jobs (second only to being a cook in a macrobiotic restaurant for about 50 cents per hour). While I am feeling as nervous about "blog" as I did that first lecture, I will undoubtedly get accustomed to this new venue as well. With your excellent questions, we'll continue to explore new topics together...that makes it all worthwhile.


Yours,

Jane Harrison-Hohner aka the "Pelvis Queen"