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Early Age at Menopause Among Left-Handed Women

From the Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York

Abstract

Associations have been suggested between handedness, autoimmune disorders, and reproductive hormonal changes. The purpose of this study was to test a proposed relationship between handedness and age at menopause. Two national survey data sets were used to compare recalled ages at menopause. Mexican-American women, ages 35-74, naturally postmenopausal for at least 1 year, were selected from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey HHANES). White and black women were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES-I) using similar criteria. The mean age at menopause was found to be earlier among left-handed women than right-handed women from the NHANES-I data set. In the HHANES data set, the mean age at menopause was significantly earlier among left-handed women than in right-handed women (t=2.35, P<.05). Early age at menopause among left-handed women may result from misclassification of handedness among older women or differential mortality among left-handed individuals. Alternatively, the association may be related to possible correlations between left-handedness and autoimmune disorders, which may include reactions against hormone receptor sites and oocytes.

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