Health Research about Perimenopause is New-ish

As we got into this project, we were surprised to learn about how little was known about the underlying hormonal changes that happen in our late 30s/early 40s as ovarian supply (eggs) diminishes.

After all, these normal changes have been happening to people with ovaries forever. It turns out that research about perimenopause relatively new.

We found this article helpful in understanding why. This is the same reason why many healthcare providers are not adept at acknowledging symptoms — particularly before cycles have changed significantly.

Excerpts from the article:

Prior to 1990, women’s health, as we now know it, did not exist in the collective consciousness of internal medicine physicians as a topic to be highlighted in medical education….

The American Board of Internal Medicine has recommended that women’s health core competencies be covered in residency curricula, but at present this is treated as a suggestion rather than as a requirement. Women’s health education programs exist within some academic centers, but are essentially non-existent in others.

This was 1990 – WOW!

The good news is that more women’s health research is underway with longitudinal studies like The Study of Women Across the Nation (SWAN). It’s our goal to stay on top of that research and keep you posted.

Update May 2021

We’ve learned lots more about the state of research about perimenopause and women’s midlife health research over the past few years.

Here is an overview of what research been done and why we and our healthcare providers don’t expect changes before age 45.

Here is our own research about what has been done on the Late Reproductive Stage (LRS) — the time before we have noticeable changes to our cycles and periods.

And our first scientific research paper with data from our big WLB Survey (over 3000 respondents) was accepted to the journal, Menopause and will be in the September 2021 issue.