Why We Need More Research into Menopause – Conversations to Remember

Each year, over 1 million women in the United States go through menopause, yet the health impacts of this natural biological process remain poorly understood. Menopause, which typically occurs in women between the ages of 45 and 55, is a major life transition for aging women, impacting not only reproductive health, but also broader aspects of physical and mental well-being. Despite its critical importance, menopause has received relatively little research attention, resulting in a lack of effective treatments for its symptoms and insufficient information for both women and healthcare providers. Increased research into menopause is essential to improve health outcomes and quality of life for women in midlife and beyond.

Menopause is the stage in a woman’s life when her ovaries stop releasing eggs, spurring a complex set of physiological changes that influence nearly every system in the body. Symptoms of menopause can include hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, joint and muscle discomfort, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, which can affect daily life and long-term health. The severity of the symptoms commonly associated with menopause vary widely among women—some experience minimal issues, while others endure severe symptoms for years. Yet, these symptoms are often poorly managed or dismissed due to limited research. While its impact on fertility is widely acknowledged, menopause also has significant consequences for a woman’s overall health.

According to Dr. Jennifer Garrison, a reproductive aging researcher at the Buck Institute in San Francisco, a woman is four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease after menopause. Additionally, the risk for developing conditions like osteoporosis, cognitive decline, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases all increase. This accelerated reproductive aging means that, although women, on average, live around five years longer than men, they also tend to live a greater portion of their lives in poorer health.

“The age at which a woman goes through menopause is linked to her overall lifespan,” Garrison explains. The more troubling part of this observation is that “we have absolutely no idea what’s causing this correlation.” For that reason, understanding the root causes of this phenomenon could profoundly impact not only our understanding of female health but also the broader process of human aging. As Garrison notes, “Ovaries are the canary in the coal mine for aging. Understanding what is driving ovarian aging will give us clues about aging in the rest of the body.”

Despite its profound implications for women’s health, menopause has long been neglected in research. A significant contributing factor to this neglect is a lack of funding. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States’ largest medical research agency, allocated only 15 percent of its $27 billion budget to women’s health, and of that, less than 0.1 percent was devoted to female reproductive aging. This lack of funding means we have limited research on female reproductive aging, and, consequently, insufficient information on women’s health in general, let alone menopause.

This funding shortfall is further compounded by systemic biases that have shaped the course of scientific research for decades. Until the NIH’s 2016 mandate to include female animals in clinical studies, most biomedical research was based on male physiology. This was because scientists assumed that women’s bodies functioned similarly to men’s, therefore, it wasn’t important to include female animal models in their research. This means that for much of scientific history, the male body has been the baseline for research, meaning that a century’s worth of preclinical data has been derived almost exclusively from male models. However, since female and male bodies function differently in many different aspects, all of which are not entirely understood, the lack of female animal models has created gaps in our understanding of female physiology.

This oversight has serious consequences, particularly in reproductive health. Even though lab research is now required to include female animals, menopausal women remain severely underrepresented in clinical studies, leaving healthcare providers with limited evidence-based tools to manage menopausal symptoms.

Unmanaged menopausal symptoms don’t just affect individual health—they also have great economic repercussions. Research shows that menopause-related symptoms, such as hot flashes, fatigue, and mood changes, can impact work productivity. Many women report having to reduce their work hours or leave the workforce entirely due to disruptive symptoms, affecting workplace diversity and economic output. This is especially important as many women in midlife hold leadership positions and possess valuable expertise that is critical to many industries. Therefore, investing in menopause research could lead to better treatments, more effective workplace accommodations, and policies that allow women to remain engaged and productive in their careers, ultimately benefiting both individuals and society as a whole.

As mentioned earlier, menopause offers a unique opportunity to study aging, as it involves rapid biological changes that mirror broader age-related processes. For example, the decline in ovarian function during menopause could provide insights into cellular aging and mechanisms that contribute to age-related diseases like osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Fabrisia Ambrosio, director of the Musculoskeletal Recovery Center at Spaulding, notes that over 75 percent of age-related diseases are likely influenced by menopause in some way. However, the vast majority of preclinical biology research studies on aging fail to consider menopause in their experimental design. By better understanding menopause, we could develop an even deeper understanding of these other age-related diseases, which could potentially facilitate the development of better treatments.

The time has come for menopause to receive the research attention it deserves. By prioritizing menopause research, we can improve health outcomes for aging women, gain insights into the aging process, and address the systemic biases that have marginalized women’s health issues for too long. Supporting research into menopause will not only enhance the quality of life for millions of women, but also contribute valuable knowledge to the broader field of aging research, leading to breakthroughs in treating age-related health issues for both men and women.

As Ambrosio aptly puts it, “Menopause is a critical juncture in the biology of aging, and yet the great majority of studies in aging do not address it.” By allocating more funding to menopause research, we can shift the focus towards a more holistic understanding of aging. Prioritizing menopause research is a critical step in creating a more inclusive and effective healthcare system—one that respects and meets the needs of all people, at every stage of life.

Menopause research is not just a women’s issue. It is a crucial piece of the broader puzzle of aging, with the potential to transform our understanding of health, longevity, and disease prevention for both women and men. It is time to invest in this vital area of research for the betterment of future generations.

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