Does Smoking Bring On Menopause Earlier?What 207,000 Women Showed
Menopause & HormonesArticleSmoking is one of the few things linked to the timing of menopause that you can change. In pooled data on 207,231 women from 17 studies, current smokers had about twice the risk of menopause before 45, and women who had quit more than 10 years earlier had the same risk as never smokers. Smoking also goes with more bothersome hot flashes. Here is what the data show.
In this article
Most of what sets the age of menopause, such as your genes, is out of your hands. Smoking is one factor you can change, and the data on it are large.
What 207,231 women showed
An international team pooled data from 17 studies in 7 countries on 207,231 women past menopause.1 Menopause before 40 is called premature and before 45 early; 1.9% and 7.3% of women had them.1
| Smoking status | Risk of menopause before 40 | Risk of menopause at 40 to 44 |
|---|---|---|
| Current smoker | About 2 times never smokers1 | About 1.8 times1 |
| Former smoker | About 1.1 times1 | About 1.15 times1 |
| Quit more than 10 years ago | Same as never smokers1 |
The dose matters
The more years and the more cigarettes, the higher the risk.1 How long a woman had smoked was the strongest predictor.1 Current smokers who had smoked for 15 to 20 years had about 15 times the risk of menopause before 40 and about 6.5 times the risk before 45.1
The limit: women reported their own smoking history and age at menopause, sometimes years later.1
Smoking and hot flashes
In an Australian survey of 2,020 women aged 40 to 65, smokers had about 1.6 times the odds of moderate to severe hot flashes or night sweats.2 See still having hot flashes in your 60s.
Why the timing matters
Early menopause brings forward the changes that come with lower estrogen, including bone loss and heart risk. See early menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency, does menopause weaken bones? and does menopause raise heart risk?
If you smoke and you’re in your 30s or 40s, the finding that women who quit more than a decade earlier matched never smokers is a concrete reason to quit sooner rather than later.1
Try: “I’m 41, I’ve smoked for 20 years and my periods are getting irregular. Could I be heading into early menopause, and what should we check?”
My Body Changed. Now What? covers the timing of menopause in Chapter 4, “The Change Has a Shape.” Its Change Map puts a date on your last period and flags periods that stop before 45 for a call this week. See the book.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It isn't a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional who knows your health history. Periods that stop or become irregular before 45, and especially before 40, are worth a visit. For help quitting, talk to your clinician or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW in the US. Girl Playbook does not endorse any specific product, test, or provider.
Girl Playbook sells this book. It provides education and worksheets, not individualized medical care.
Sources
The research behind this article, in the order it’s cited. How we source our articles.
- PLOS Medicine, InterLACE consortium (via PubMed Central), 2018Relationships between intensity, duration, cumulative dose, and timing of smoking with age at menopause: A pooled analysis of individual data from 17 observational studies (opens in a new tab)abcdefghijkl
- Menopause journal, Australian survey (abstract via PubMed), 2015Moderate to severe vasomotor and sexual symptoms remain problematic for women aged 60 to 65 years (opens in a new tab)↩
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