The Menopause Crisis: Why Women Deserve Better Care
Imagine spending a third of your life feeling dismissed, misdiagnosed, and left in the dark about your own body. That’s the reality for millions of women entering menopause. And it’s not just about the hot flashes.
Despite the fact that menopause affects every woman, our healthcare system leaves us to navigate this phase alone, without the guidance or specialized care we desperately need. The underinvestment in menopause research and treatment options is staggering:
- Less than 1% of healthcare research funding is allocated to menopause. Of the $46 billion NIH budget, only around 10% goes to women’s health, and less than 1% of that funds menopause research.
- Only 6.8% of OB-GYN residents actively included menopause care in their training curriculum.
- Women were rarely included in clinical trials before 1993, and even today, only 33% of participants in many studies are women, despite significant differences in how medications affect us.
The reality? Women are often left to suffer in silence. And when you consider that Black and Latina women tend to experience more severe menopause symptoms yet receive even less research attention, it’s clear this issue is a crisis.
Meet Menopause Experts Changing the Narrative
To help break the silence, we brought in two powerhouse experts leading the way in menopause care:
- Dr. Alicia Jackson, founder of EverNow, a telehealth platform that has helped nearly 50,000 women reclaim their vitality.
- Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, author and creator of The Menopause Bootcamp and trusted advisor to women like Drew Barrymore.
Together, they’re revolutionizing the conversation on menopause, highlighting groundbreaking research, and sharing real solutions for women looking to thrive—not just survive—midlife.
Key Learnings from Our Menopause Masterclass
1. Women Will Spend Over 30 Years in Post-Menopause
The average woman will spend more time in menopause than she did having periods. Yet, most of us know more about our monthly cycle than we do about this crucial phase of life. As I quickly realized when preparing for this episode, the aisles in stores are lined with PMS products, yet there are very few products on the mainstream market dedicated to midlife and menopause health for women.
What You Can Do? Start educating yourself early on symptoms and solutions. Track your hormonal shifts through solid cycle tracking and discuss options with healthcare professionals and telehealth platforms well-versed in menopause care.
2. Later Menopause = Longer Life
A large study of women in their 90s found that those who went through menopause later tended to live longer. While genetics play a role, lifestyle and hormone health contribute significantly. How you eat, move, and manage stress today will impact your experience in menopause and your overall longevity. Research shows that estrogen is protective, and as it declines, it’s crucial to build lifestyle habits that protect all parts of the body, from your head to your gut to your bones and beyond.
What You Can Do? Prioritize lifestyle changes that support longevity, such as nutrition, exercise, and stress management. Start focusing on muscle building and bone density by exercising like plyometrics (i.e., exercises that essentially incorporate bouncing). Consider discussing hormone therapy with a knowledgeable provider.
3. Your OB-GYN May Not Be the Right Person to Help with Menopause
Most doctors aren’t incentivized or trained or don’t have time to discuss menopause care at your annual checkup. Many women are left navigating symptoms alone or misdiagnosed with anxiety or depression instead of receiving proper hormonal support. According to Dr. Alicia Jackson, the real risk beyond that is that hormonal support gets blunted as well when taking SSRIs (or anti-depressants) based on new research.
What You Can Do? Seek out a menopause specialist or a telehealth provider like EverNow. Stay up to date on the latest research. Try hormone supplementation before turning to antidepressants if it’s the right choice for you, and advocate for yourself.
4. Women of Color Experience More Severe Symptoms—But Proper Care Levels the Playing Field
One EverNow study of 70,000 women of color found they had twice as many menopausal symptoms as white women. However, when provided with proper hormonal care, their outcomes improved significantly.
What You Can Do? Don’t settle for subpar care—find a provider who listens and looks for telehealth networks with data on women just like you. Take it a step further and share menopause information within your community to ensure all women can have access to resources.
5. Groundbreaking Research Is Changing Menopause Treatment
From Ayurvedic medicine to GLP-1 medications showing a 12% reduction in Alzheimer’s markers, cutting-edge research is offering new hope for menopause care.
Exciting Breakthroughs:
- Rapamycin is being studied at Columbia University for its potential to prevent ovarian aging. This would potentially improve women’s longevity.
- GLP-1 medications (commonly used for diabetes and weight management) are now being examined for their role in preventing cognitive decline. The early markers look very promising even for women not overweight since these diseases are insulin resistant.
- Vaginal estrogen and DHEA treatments (such as prescription Interrosa) are proving effective in addressing multiple symptoms, including mood, libido, and bone health. As a precursor hormone, it’s a safe place to start as it’s able to convert within your body to the hormone it needs.
Menopause Solutions & Products That Work
1. EverNow
A telehealth platform offering personalized menopause care and hormone therapy solutions. Their database also helps build better treatment options based on real women’s experiences.
2. Vaginal Estrogen (DHEA)
Starting with vaginal estrogen can help the body naturally convert what it needs, providing overall hormonal support.
3. Body Composition Tracking
Instead of focusing on weight, understanding fat distribution (especially around organs) is key to health in midlife and beyond. The simple math is to estimate body fat using your height and weight measurements, but a step further helps account for muscle mass, bone density, and body composition.
4. Ayurveda & Functional Medicine
Holistic approaches like Ayurvedic medicine take into account diet, lifestyle, and hormone balance for menopause support. This ancient Indian medical system transformed Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz’s practice to apply a more holistic approach to patients’ physical and mental health.
5. Finding the Right Healthcare Advocate
SSRI antidepressants can interfere with hormone therapy. If you’re struggling with mood changes, starting with hormone therapy first might be more effective before adding other medications. EverNow can help you find other women like you to see which treatment is working and how it might apply to your own well-being during this stage of life. A good indicator is also how you adapted through your pregnancies.
Bottom Line: Women Deserve Better Care When it Comes to Menopause
I had no idea how little women’s bodies have been studied until this episode. It’s why many of us feel we are learning as we go through this stage of life, but as women get louder and more vocal in terms of care, it’s important you also know you aren’t alone.
To summarize, in our menopause masterclass episode, we learned:
- The power of tracking our symptoms and knowing our bodies. Looking at pregnancy and PMS symptoms are great starting points.
- Finding the right healthcare advocate and scheduling separate visits and resources for care and early symptom management is key.
- The revolutionary treatments and options that are available now are only going to get better as we go.
Since tissues get dryer as we age, leveraging silicone-based lubricants like Uberlube during intercourse and an over-the-counter hyaluronic acid called Revaree in between can help, as well as regularly checking the tissues in the vulvar area to ensure you notice any changes early. Maybe skip on the vaginal steaming, though. Just starting with these basics can make a world of difference.
Most importantly, we learned that women deserve better—and together, we can demand it and break the silence. Your health journey is unique, but you’re not alone.
Stay curious, stay vocal, and never settle for dismissive care.
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