Severe autoimmune conditions such Type I diabetes, Addison's disease, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease, are between two to three times more common in women who have been diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) compared to the general population. The research, published today (Thursday) in Human Reproduction , one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals, is the largest to investigate the link between autoimmune conditions and POI, has followed nearly 20,000 women for longer than any other study and is the only one to match women with POI with women of similar ages in the general population for comparison. The researchers say their findings significantly strengthen the hypothesis that autoimmune processes play a "pivotal role" in the onset of POI.
POI occurs when ovaries no longer work properly and have stopped producing eggs in women younger than 40 years. Periods become irregular and then stop, and some women experience menopause symptoms. Dr Susanna Savukoski, a gynecology and obstetrics doctor at Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Finland, led the study.
She said: "Estimates of the prevalence of premature ovarian insufficiency of autoimmune origin have ranged from 4% to 50%. Our study has found that autoimmune diseases were two-to-three-fold more common in women diagnosed with POI at the time they were diagnosed, and incidence of these diseases was two-to-three-fold higher during the first years after being diagnosed with POI, co.
