Women who go through the menopause early may be more likely to develop the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, scientists say.
Researchers at the Skane University Hospital in Malmo, Sweden, studied data on 390 white north European women, all of whom were 48 years old when they enrolled in the Malmo Perimenopausal Study in 1977.
They were then followed up until the age of 77, at which point 198 women were still involved in the research.
The study authors found that 56 per cent of women who started the menopause early (before age 47) had osteoporosis at age 77, compared with just 30 per cent of those who started the menopause later.
Women who started the menopause early were also found to have a higher risk of fracture and premature death.
The findings are published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and suggest that women who go through early menopause may be candidates for bone-strengthening therapy.
Study author and orthopaedic surgeon Ola Svejme said: 'The results of this study suggest that early menopause is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis, fragility fracture and mortality in a long-term perspective.
'To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study with a follow-up period of more than three decades.'
Approximately 300,000 fragility fractures occur each year in the UK, according to the National Osteoporosis Society.