title: Contributions of the Nurses' Health Studies to Reproductive Health Research.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the Nurses' Health Study's (NHS's) contribution to identifying risk factors and long-term health consequences of reproductive events.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a narrative review of the NHS I, NHS II, NHS3, and Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) publications between 1976 and 2016.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Collection of detailed reproductive history to identify breast cancer risk factors allowed the NHS to document an association between menstrual irregularities, a proxy for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The NHS II found that infertility associated with ovulation problems and gestational diabetes are largely preventable through diet and lifestyle modification. It also identified developmental and nutritional risk factors for pregnancy loss, endometriosis, and uterine leiomyomata. As women in NHS II age, it has become possible to address questions regarding long-term health consequences of pregnancy complications and benign gynecologic conditions on chronic disease risk. Furthermore, the NHS3 and GUTS are allowing new lines of research into human fertility, PCOS, and transgenerational effects of environmental exposures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The multigenerational resources of the NHSs and GUTS, including linkages of related individuals across cohorts, can improve women's health from preconception through late adulthood and onto the next generation.
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Chavarro
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Janet W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Rich-Edwards
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Audrey J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gaskins
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Leslie V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Farland
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Cuilin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jorge E. Chavarro, Janet W. Rich-Edwards, Audrey J. Gaskins, Leslie V. Farland, Kathryn L. Terry, and Stacey A. Missmer are with the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Cuilin Zhang is with the Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Rockville, MD.
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Missmer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D060728:Reproductive Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health