Women showed two patterns of hormone decline near menopause
Median hormone decline was 1.2 versus 6.7 picograms per milliliter per month in women with lower versus higher starting levels.
Multicenter
Limit: Best-fit model assignments could misclassify women into the two hormone-decline patterns
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational analysis examined 1,131 women going through the menopause transition in the multiethnic Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Each had an observed final menstrual period and at least three measurements of anti-Müllerian hormone, a hormone produced in the ovaries.
Statistical models identified two patterns leading to the final menstrual period: 448 women had lower starting levels and slower declines, while 683 had higher starting levels and faster declines. The lower-starting, slower-declining pattern was associated with worse cardiovascular risk profiles after menopause, independent of cardiovascular risk factors before menopause. Women in this group were also less likely to report frequent vasomotor symptoms—hot flashes or night sweats—after their final period.
Why it matters
The study addressed whether patterns of reproductive aging relate to cardiovascular risk after menopause, beyond risk factors present beforehand.
Caveats
This observational analysis cannot establish cause and effect. It included only women with an observed final menstrual period and at least three hormone measurements.
The paper
Anti-Müllerian Hormone Trajectories Across the Menopause Transition
Duke University
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oct 27, 2026
