Premature menopause was linked to a higher kidney stone disease risk in two large cohorts, including 189,900 women in UK Biobank and 7,112 women in NHANES. The online 14 July 2026 paper in Menopause defined premature menopause as menopause before age 40 and found the signal in both the US and UK datasets.
In NHANES, kidney stone prevalence was 13.4% among women with premature menopause, compared with 8.4% among women without it. After adjustment, the odds ratio was 1.54. In UK Biobank, the baseline odds ratio was 1.55, and the prospective analysis, which followed women for roughly 15 years, found a 29% to 55% higher hazard of incident kidney stone disease in women with premature menopause. The cumulative hazard curves separated early, which suggests the excess risk appeared relatively soon after the menopause transition rather than only later in life.
The study also looked beyond menopause timing alone. The abstract says the authors assessed whether hormone therapy and polygenic risk scores modified the association, which puts treatment history and inherited risk into the same frame as age at menopause. That matters because this paper broadens the menopause conversation beyond hot flushes, sleep disruption and mood symptoms, and treats early ovarian failure as a marker of wider systemic risk.
The size of the cohorts gives the finding weight for a UK readership. The British Menopause Society says the average age of natural menopause in the UK is 51 and defines premature menopause as menopause before 40, affecting about 1 in 100 women under 40. The Menopause Society puts the figure at about 3 in 100 women and says the normal menopause range is 46 to 55 years. In practical terms, the study points to a group that is small but clinically important, especially when menopause happens years before the usual age.
Kidney stones form when high levels of certain minerals are present in urine, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The American Urological Association says a detailed stone history should include medical conditions and medications that predispose to stone disease, which makes menopause history relevant when a younger woman presents with recurrent stones. Women who went through menopause before 40, or who have repeated kidney stones, should tell their GP both facts.
The new paper fits into a longer and unsettled evidence base. A 2010 Women’s Health Initiative randomized trial found estrogen therapy increased kidney stone risk in postmenopausal women, while a 2022 review described the earlier research on menopause and stones as mixed. This latest study does not prove cause and effect, because it is observational, but it does add a large UK signal to a question that had already been left open.