Insulin resistance rose faster around menopause

An observational study followed 1,315 women aged 42–52 who were before or in the early stages of the menopause transition in 1995–1996. They had up to 16 follow-up visits through 2018. Researchers estimated insulin resistance up to 12 times. This is when the body responds less well to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. They also recorded each woman’s final menstrual period.

The estimate rose faster from 1.5 years before the final period to 2.5 years after it than in the years outside that interval. Models accounted for factors including changes in body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. For an example woman defined in the model, the adjusted annual increases were 1.2% before the interval, 4.3% during it and 0.9% afterwards.