Social support and memory in postmenopausal women: a careful null
A secondary analysis of the ELITE hormone-therapy trial found hints that social ties tracked with cognition, but none survived correction for multiple testing.
Vaginal oestrogen around prolapse surgery: better symptoms, same anatomy
A 293-woman Dutch trial found more women reported improvement at 12 months with perioperative oestriol cream than placebo. Anatomical success, surgical success and reintervention were unchanged.
Eighteen years of follow-up tie menopause age to brain change. The effects are tiny.
A cohort with serial MRI and autopsy data found earlier menopause tracked faster cognitive decline and white matter damage. The per-year coefficients are very small.
Heart health scores drop during perimenopause, a national analysis finds
A study of 9,248 US women published in May 2026 found perimenopausal women twice as likely to fall into the lowest cardiovascular health band. The design cannot show that the decline happens within individuals.
$215 million lands on menopause. Under 1% of aging research has ever studied it.
The June commitment is the largest private push into midlife women's health yet. The named grants so far fund clinician training and maternal mental health — not the preclinical gap the field keeps citing.
The FDA pulled menopause hormone therapy's boxed warning. Prescribing was already rising.
Six products got revised labels in February 2026, removing cardiovascular, breast cancer, and dementia language. The scientific societies that welcomed the change also listed the distinctions the new label does not make.
A 13-country survey finds menopause symptom burden varies enormously by country
The UK and Rwanda reported the highest anxiety, depression, and vasomotor symptom scores; Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore reported the lowest. Burnout emerged as the symptom most connected to everything else.
Women with the densest breast tissue reached menopause later, 429,000-woman cohort
Extremely dense breasts on a routine screening mammogram were linked to a 20% lower likelihood of menopause over the following years, a possible marker of reproductive aging.
Twelve diet scores compared across menopause. Two separated from the rest.
In 38,283 nurses tracked through the transition, low-insulinemic and planetary-health eating patterns had the strongest associations with less weight gain. The average woman still gained 0.8 kg a year.
Lung function dropped as women moved through menopause — whether or not they had HIV
In women 41 to 50, late perimenopause and postmenopause brought measurable declines in lung volume, with postmenopausal women losing up to 310 mL of FEV1. HIV status didn't change the pattern.
One in five midlife women said self-pleasure eased their menopause symptoms
Rated against other symptom-management strategies women already use, masturbation scored among the highest for relieving mood changes and sleep disturbance. Nearly half said they'd try it if a doctor suggested it.
Earlier menopause, less gray matter: a Cambridge cohort finds both, and can't say why
747 postmenopausal women were tested; 182 were scanned. Gray matter volume partially mediated the link between menopause age and cognition — in a cross-sectional design that cannot establish direction.
A 34-study meta-analysis splits hormone therapy's breast cancer signal by regimen
Pooling decades of research, the combined estrogen-progestin regimen showed a 44% higher breast cancer risk. Estrogen-only therapy showed none in observational studies — and trials suggested it lowered risk.
Denmark followed 877,000 women for 14 years. Hormone therapy did not raise mortality.
A nationwide register study found a hazard ratio of 0.96 for all-cause death among users of menopausal hormone therapy. The raw death rate in users was higher — which is the part worth understanding.
A 25-member panel says hormone therapy after breast cancer should be a shared decision
The consensus statement does not claim the treatment is safe after breast cancer. It says some women may reasonably accept an increased relapse risk in exchange for symptom relief.
A review of 158 studies grades the evidence for non-hormonal menopause remedies
Black cohosh, Chinese herbal medicine and vitamin D reached moderate certainty for specific outcomes. Most of the rest of the field — 158 studies deep — sits at low or very low certainty.
A million women's worth of data on hormone therapy and dementia returns a flat line
Pooling ten studies, researchers found menopause hormone therapy neither raised nor lowered dementia risk. The certainty of that evidence ranged from moderate to very low.
Two non-hormonal menopause drugs look similar on hot flushes, differ on sleep
An industry-standard indirect comparison of fezolinetant and elinzanetant found comparable reductions in vasomotor symptoms. Elinzanetant improved sleep disturbance more, without a difference in overall quality of life.
FDA approves elinzanetant for menopausal hot flushes, with liver reporting attached
Lynkuet is the second neurokinin-targeted drug cleared in the US for vasomotor symptoms. The trials found no hepatotoxic effects; FDA still asked for three years of enhanced liver-injury reporting.
Four vaginal energy devices tied on symptoms — with no sham arm to beat
A Brazilian randomised trial found laser and radiofrequency equally effective for genitourinary syndrome of menopause. The one trial that used sham treatment found no benefit at all.
A Latin American statement narrows testosterone for women to one indication
ALEG's position holds that testosterone in postmenopausal women should be limited to hypoactive sexual desire disorder, and that pellets and compounded formulations are not recommended.
Asked which menopause symptom mattered most, 7,285 women said brain fog
A UK-wide survey found cognitive and psychological symptoms outranked the ones menopause care is organised around, with higher ratings among Asian and Black respondents.
Endometriosis does not always stop at menopause. A European guide says so
An EMAS clinical guide sets out how to manage endometriosis after menopause, advising against oestrogen-only hormone therapy even in women who have had a hysterectomy.