news.yahoo.com — Early puberty, having lots of children, and hormone replacement therapy all increase a woman's likelihood of having knee or hip replacement surgery, according to a study that looked at 1.3 million British women whose health was tracked for an average of six years after they turned 50. The participants, all taking part in the Million Women Study, were asked how old they were when they had their first and last periods, how many children they'd given birth to, and whether they'd used oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). During the six years of monitoring, more than 12,000 of the women needed a hip replacement and almost 10,000 needed a knee replacement. The researchers concluded that starting menstruation at or before the age of 11 increased the probability of knee and hip replacement by between 9 percent and 15 percent. Each successive birth increased the risk of knee replacement by 8 percent and the likelihood of hip replacement by 2 percent.
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