Type 2 Diabetes Linked to Worse Menopause Symptoms

Serina Lewis-Everett, MD, a board certified family medicine physician and owner of Sepia Modern Primary Care in Catonsville, MD, told Healthline that hormonal changes affect blood sugar directly. Lewis-Everett wasn’t involved in the study.

“Declining estrogen levels can contribute to increased insulin resistance, changes in body composition, sleep disruption, and mood changes,” she said. “All of these can make blood sugar more difficult to control.”

Wedad Rahman, MD, an endocrinologist with Piedmont Healthcare in Conyers, GA, told Healthline that estrogen and progesterone fall over a period of years, and that shift changes where the body stores fat. Rahman wasn’t involved in the study.

“That change leads to lower lean muscle mass, which then makes it easier for fat tissue to accumulate in all the wrong places,” she said. Fat settles in the abdomen and around the organs, Rahman said.

“That in turn increases insulin resistance and makes it more likely for one to develop type 2 diabetes,” she said.

The relationship runs in both directions. A 2018 study published in Menopause found that severe hot flash symptoms were associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on. The association was greater for those with severe symptoms.

Diabetes is also common in this age group. In a 2022 analysis of national health survey data covering nearly 5,000 postmenopausal U.S. females, 16% had type 2 diabetes, and females who reached menopause earlier were more likely to have it.