(CNN)Doctors should pay more attention to women's menstrual cycles and treat them as an additional vital sign to assess a patient's health, researchers have said, after a new study found a link between irregular periods and a greater risk of early death.
A team of mostly US-based researchers found that women who reported always having irregular menstrual cycles experienced higher mortality rates than women who reported very regular cycles in the same age ranges. The study took into account other potentially influential factors, such as age, weight, lifestyle, contraceptives and family medical history.
The study assessed 79,505 women with no history of cardiovascular disease, cancer or diabetes. The women reported the usual length and regularity of their menstrual cycles at three different points: between the ages of 14 to 17, 18 to 22, and 29 to 46 years. The researchers kept track of their health over a 24-year period.
"This study is a real step forward in closing the data gap that exists in women's health. It raises many interesting research questions and areas of future study," Dr. Jacqueline Maybin, a senior research fellow and consultant gynecologist at the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, told the Science Media Centre in London.
"These data will encourage future interrogation of menstrual symptoms and pathologies as an indicator of long-term health outcomes and may provide an early opportunity to implement preventative strategies to improve women's health across the lifespan," said Maybin, who wasn't involved in the research.
Irregular and long menstrual cycles have been associated with a higher risk of major chronic diseases including ovarian cancer, coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and mental health problems, the study said.
In particular, the research, which published in the BMJ medical journal Wednesday, found that women who reported that their usual cycle length was 40 days or more at ages 18 to 22 years and 29 to 46 years were more likely to die prematurely -- defined as before the age of 70 -- than women who reported a usual cycle length of 26 to 31 days in the same age ranges.
The links were strongest for deaths related to cardiovascular disease than for cancer or death from other causes.
The authors were from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Michigan State University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan,