There are many negative things in life which can be been blamed on menopause, however in light of a new study, diabetes is no longer one of them.

The study which was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System studied a group of women who underwent natural menopause as well as those who experienced menopause as a result of having their ovaries removed and for both the results were the same. It appears that regardless of however menopause is induced, it doesn’t need to negatively impact a woman’s health.

More than 1,200 women  between the ages of 40 to 65 known to have a glucose intolerance, which is a precursor of diabetes, were observed. In the study, researchers discovered that in this sample group, in every 100 women, 11.8 premenopausal women ended up with diabetes, 10.5 who experienced natural menopause and 12.9 in women who had their ovaries removed.

What reduced the risk in women with their ovaries removed was a loss of 7 percent of body weight combined with exercise for at least 150 minutes a week. In these women, the risk of developing diabetes was greatly reduced. In following every 100 from this particular group, there were only 1.1 who developed diabetes. Surprisingly, most of these women were given synthetic hormones following their surgeries, and these didn’t seem the raise the risk of diabetes either.

This information will come as a relief for the many women who feel that they have no choice in the matter whether they develop diabetes or not once they hit menopause. By remaining, or becoming lean, and exercising regularly, women can reduce their risk even further.

Here are some common risk factors for diabetes…

• Obesity
• Age
• Genetics (family history)
• Eating unhealthy food
• Lack of exercise