What If Pausing Menopause Can Keep Women Healthier?

by Sharelle Burt

July 3, 2024

Could this actually work?

White House officials are examining if pushing the pause button on menopause will expand women’s life expectancy. 

Menopause is the process in which a woman’s ovaries begin to fail normally in the age range between 50 to 60. However, a new initiative implemented by First Lady Jill Biden will work to potentially extend the health quality of women. According to research, women in menopause possess a high risk of heart attack and, within the first ten years, having a stroke. 

During menopause, women are also likely to develop conditions such as osteoporosis, dementia, migraines, and mental health issues.

With the $100 million executive order Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, researchers hope to find the key link between longevity, a woman’s reproductive organs and menopause. The project’s lead is Renee Wegrzyn, the director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, who says ovaries are the “only organ in humans that we just accept will fail one day.” 

While Wegrzyn labeled the thought process as “wild,” Buck Institute for Research on Aging assistant professor Jennifer Garrison said not thinking about ovarian function during aging is “kind of missing the boat.”

Researchers have proposed numerous ideas to slow menopause. One idea is to slow the process of egg depletion, and another is to introduce a synthetic version of a chemical that correlates to egg release—anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Researchers are also examining whether drugs like immunosuppressant drugs like rapamycin may slow ovary aging.

Pharmaceutical company Oviva Therapeutics has begun the early stages of testing AMH, primarily on cats and mice. Oviva’s co-founder and chief executive, Dr. Daisy Robinton, described AMH as a “cloth that you cover around the ovary.”  

AMH levels determine the size of holes in the cloth – big holes mean a low level – while small holes, meaning high levels of AMH, will release fewer eggs. “The idea is that if a woman loses fewer eggs, she can hold on to her ovarian reserves and the ovaries’ functionality for longer,” Dr. Robinton said.

Now, the question is what exactly causes ovaries to fail over other organs. A report from the New York Times revealed factors like smoking, stress, autoimmune diseases, and treatments for cancer can cause early menopause. It was also found that white women tend to go into menopause later on in life over Black and Hispanic women. “Is the ovary just a marker of overall health? Or is it that the ovary is timing out and causing poor health?” Stephanie Faubion, the medical director for the Menopause Society, said. 

“I mean, it’s chicken-egg.”

For an organ that plays a vital role in creating and regulating hormones such as progesterone and estrogen, minimal research has been done on the process. Back in May 2024, according to the Washington Post, lawmakers and Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry met to unveil a $275 million legislation that will heighten federal research, physician training and public awareness on menopause. The bi-partisan bill – supported by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WS), Susan Collins (R-ME) and more – will push for a boost for a condition that many doctors claim they aren’t thoroughly trained on.   

Out of surveyed OB/GYNs in 2022, 31% said menopause studies were provided in their residency training programs. However, both patients and providers admitted to being confused about treatment for conditions that women will experience. “There’s not enough information about menopause,” Murray said. 

“It is overlooked, it’s underinvested in, and it’s been left behind. And it is about time that our country and everyone really started taking this seriously.”