Smoking can speed menopause for several years

Smoking can speed menopause for several years, doctor Samantha Butts from the Perelman School of Medicine is warning. She and her colleagues found: hard smoker women of European type with certain genetic mutations faced menopause almost 9 years earlier, according to NBC News. That particular mutation occurred in about 7 percent of the white women in the study.

Experts were interested in how do the genes interact with the substances in tobacco smoke. It appeared, that many toxines, as they penetrate into the body, become inactive. But there are certain genes that make these inert toxins more toxic.

410 women aged 35-47 were involved in the study. They were followed within 14 years. Half the women were African-American and half whites of European origin. Overall, current smokers in the study entered menopause a year younger than their non-smoking counterparts. The findings did not extend to the African-American women though. Probably, these are other genes.