Life course epidemiology of women's reproductive health and its relation to chronic disease

生殖健康对女性的整体健康和幸福很重要，而且越来越多地被认为是女性日后可能经历的其他疾病的标志。然而，我们对导致一些女性生殖健康较差的原因的了解存在差距，例如，月经周期高度不规律，怀孕困难，或在更年期前后出现潮热和盗汗。我建议填补这些差距。我将使用包括许多女性在内的几项大型研究的信息，其中一些研究收集了女性从子宫中或出生以来的信息。我将利用这些信息来找出是什么影响了他们的生殖激素水平，他们的月经模式，他们在成年早期怀孕的容易程度，以及他们出现怀孕并发症的可能性。这一点很重要，因为生殖健康不佳的一些原因可能是可以预防的。此外，越来越多的女性在高龄生育，我们必须了解是什么影响了女性怀孕和健康怀孕的机会。我们在理解为什么生殖健康状况较差的妇女，包括妊娠并发症，如先兆子痫，更有可能在以后的生活中患有其他疾病，如心脏病，也存在差距。在这里，我也将使用对老年女性的大型研究，来找出为什么一些生殖健康状况较差的女性在以后的生活中更有可能患有心脏病、糖尿病、乳腺癌和其他疾病。了解妇女生殖健康与其他疾病之间的关系很重要，因为这可能确定潜在的新治疗方法。我还将评估女性准确和容易记住的生殖健康信息是否可以用来准确预测她们在以后的生活中患糖尿病、心脏病和骨骼疾病以及痴呆症的可能性。这一点很重要，因为高危女性可以得到建议或治疗，从而降低这种风险。

Reproductive health is important to a woman's overall health and well-being and is increasingly recognised as a marker for other diseases that she might experience later on in life. However there are gaps in our knowledge about what causes some women to have poorer reproductive health, for example, have highly irregular menstrual cycles, difficulties getting pregnant, or experience hot flashes and night sweats around menopause. I propose to answer these gaps. I will use information from several large studies that include many women, some of which have collected information on women since they were in the womb or since their birth. I will use this information to find out what affects their reproductive hormone levels, their menstrual patterns and how easy it is for them to get pregnant in early adulthood, and how likely they are to have complications of pregnancy. This is important as some of the causes of poor reproductive health may be preventable. Also, women are increasingly having children at older ages and it is important that we understand what affects women's chances of getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy. There are also gaps in our understanding of why women with poorer reproductive health, including complications of pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia, are more likely to have other diseases later in their life such as heart disease. Here too I will use large studies of older women, to find out why some women with poorer reproductive health are more likely to have heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer and other diseases later in life. Understanding the relationship between women's reproductive health and other diseases is important as it may identify potential new treatments. I will also assess whether information about reproductive health which women accurately and easily remember can be used to accurately predict their chances of having diabetes, heart and bone disease and dementia later in life. This is important as women at high risk can then be offered advice or treatment that will lower that risk.