Menopause News and Research

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Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It usually occurs naturally, most often after age 45. Menopause happens because the woman's ovary stops producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

Study finds oral hormone replacement therapy increases venous thromboembolism risk

Current use of oral menopausal hormone therapy (commonly known as hormone replacement therapy or HRT) is associated with an increased risk of blood clots in legs / lungs regardless of dose or treatment duration, finds a large Danish study published by The BMJ today.

23 Sep 2026

Menopause leaves a blood protein signature linked to brain aging and Alzheimer’s risk

Researchers identified a 16-protein blood signature associated with menopause that tracked more strongly with reproductive hormones than chronological age and was largely replicated in an independent UK Biobank cohort. Higher menopause proteomic scores were also associated with less favorable proteomic aging estimates and poorer cognitive outcomes in older women, including incident Alzheimer’s dementia, although the observational evidence does not establish causality.

23 Sep 2026

Simple test could take the pain out of womb cancer check

A new test to identify cells collected from urine and vaginal fluid could help rule out womb and other cancers in most women who experience bleeding after the menopause, find University of Manchester researchers.

22 Sep 2026

Breast density clue for cancer risk

Women with a higher Body Mass Index in early adulthood may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after the menopause because of lasting changes in the structure of their breast tissue, according to researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

18 Sep 2026

High estrogen alters brain circuit causing temporary memory impairment during pregnancy

Many women usually say the same thing during pregnancy: they walk into a room and forget why, misplace their keys or struggle to follow a conversation.

17 Sep 2026

Shatavari may affect more than hormones, and the gut could help explain why

A review in Nutrients examined how bioactive compounds in Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) may influence cognitive health through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, estrogen-related signaling, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter regulation. Evidence from computational, cellular, animal, and limited human studies suggests several plausible biological pathways, but key questions remain about bioavailability, brain exposure, dosing, and clinical efficacy.

16 Sep 2026

Menopause may not drive rising pulse pressure and midlife aortic stiffness in women

Contradicting conventional wisdom, menopause may not be the driving force behind an increase in aortic stiffness in women after midlife, according to new, independent research published today in Hypertension, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Heart Association journal.

15 Sep 2026

Women use creatine differently from men, survey reveals

A cross-sectional survey of 2,094 current or recent creatine users found that women were more concentrated in shorter-duration use groups than men and reported different supplementation goals, information sources, and knowledge patterns. Women were less likely to cite athletic performance and more likely to cite healthy aging as a goal, while researchers cautioned that the survey design cannot explain why these differences exist.

10 Sep 2026

Prenatal paracetamol exposure linked to smaller ovaries in daughters

Researchers in Denmark have found that girls whose mothers took paracetamol during pregnancy had smaller ovaries, fewer ovarian follicles (the structures that contain immature eggs), smaller uteruses and lower levels of reproductive hormones at three months old.

8 Sep 2026

Menopause documented far less often in electronic health records

Menopause is frequently missing from women's electronic health records, according to a University of Colorado Anschutz study of nearly 396,000 women participating in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program.

8 Sep 2026

Hormone therapy during menopause transition associated with lower heart disease risk

A study led by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Pittsburgh provides pivotal insights into one of the most debated questions in women's health: how does hormone therapy for menopause symptoms affect cardiovascular disease risk when used in peri- or early postmenopause?

8 Sep 2026

Experimental cancer drug could protect against osteoporosis and weight gain

An experimental cancer drug could stop osteoporosis and help women stay slim after the menopause – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

7 Sep 2026

Progesterone levels linked to brain patterns underlying mood changes

The influence of the hormone progesterone on mood is well known. Now researchers from the University of Barcelona have shown how higher levels of progesterone during the menstrual cycle are linked to less distinct patterns of activity in areas of the brain involved in controlling emotions.

2 Sep 2026

Menopause may start changing the gut years before periods stop

A longitudinal study of 964 women found that blood markers of gut epithelial barrier dysfunction and microbial product translocation began to rise around 2 to 2.5 years before the final menstrual period and remained elevated after menopause. The findings suggest that changes in gut barrier integrity may form part of the biological transition through menopause and could help explain links between menopause, inflammation, and later health outcomes.

2 Sep 2026

Inconsistent health records limit care and research for menopausal women

More attention than ever is being paid today to midlife women's health, including the menopause transition.

2 Sep 2026

Stay sharp after menopause: How aerobic exercise can improve key thinking skills

Regular aerobic exercise – the kind that gets your heart pumping – can improve important thinking skills called executive functions, and the benefits appear especially strong for women after menopause, according to Rutgers researchers.

2 Sep 2026

Estrogen hormone combination may help relieve menopausal brain fog

Many women going through menopause report struggling with memory lapses, trouble concentrating and slower thinking, a set of symptoms often described as "brain fog."

1 Sep 2026

Aerobic exercise boosts executive function in postmenopausal women

31 Aug 2026

REACT study maps widespread silent atherosclerosis across adult lifespan

Silent atherosclerosis was detectable from early adulthood and showed sex-specific patterns of growth with age, according to results from the REACT study presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

29 Aug 2026

HRT linked to lower dementia risk, but timing and menopause type matter

In a UK Biobank study of 183,450 postmenopausal women followed for an average of 13.3 years, hormone replacement therapy use was associated with a modestly lower risk of dementia, with stronger associations in women who had surgical menopause or shorter natural estrogen exposure. The relationship also varied by age at HRT initiation, while the observational design means the findings cannot establish that HRT prevents dementia.

27 Aug 2026