The association of smoking with clinical indicators of altered sex steroids--a study of 50,145 women.

This study was designed to test the association of smoking with four clinically apparent conditions that may be related to altered sex steroids: natural and induced menopause, infertility, oligomenorrhea, and hirsutism. Data were obtained from the personal inventories of 50,145 women ages 20-59 years in TOPS, a weight reduction program. The age-adjusted odds ratios of each condition for heavy smokers compared with nonsmokers were 1.59 for natural menopause, 1.49 for induced menopause, 1.35 for infertility, 1.30 for oligomenorrhea among women younger than 40 years, 1.63 for oligomenorrhea among women 40-49 years, and 1.54 for hirsutism (P less than .05 for oligomenorrhea and P less than .001 for all other risks). The odds ratios were not substantially changed after adjustment for obesity, parity, and husband's education level. These results suggest that smoking may affect the ovaries or hormone metabolism, or both, with medical and cosmetic consequences.