Talking about periods will never get old.

They're odd, magical little gifts from Mother Nature that we have to grit our teeth suffer through and yet, there's so much bonding that happens between women from the mere exercise of menstruation. Last week we found out why your period blood smells and now we've found why your period may determine your lifespan. In a study carried out by researchers in the University of California, San Diego, which had 16,000 postmenopausal American women taking part, they found some interesting data in relation to menstruation and the menopause. Researchers of the study found that women who started menstruating when they were twelve or older had a higher chance of living to see their 90th birthday or more. However, women who started having their periods earlier on were less likely to live past 90. In the case of the menopause, researchers found that the later a woman would begin menopause, the longer they'd live also, with women experiencing menopause at 50 onwards deemed more likely to see their 90s. One of the authors on the study, Aladdin Shadyab spoke of how late bloomers in life were more likely to evade health risks.

"Our team found that women who started menstruation at a later age were less likely to have certain health issues, like coronary heart disease, and those who experienced menopause later in life were more likely to be in excellent health overall, which may be a possible explanation for our findings. "Factors, such as smoking, can damage the cardiovascular system and ovaries, which can result in earlier menopause. Women with later menopause and a longer reproductive lifespan may have decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases."