Oura Menopause report reveals gap in women’s health research

Menopause is strange. If you are a woman, you are born with every egg you have in your ovaries. When you turn fifty, all your eggs are gone. You stop having your period. As hormone levels change, you’ll experience symptoms ranging from hot flashes to loss of bone density. We don’t know much about it, because only humans and some whales experience it. There is also one gaps in research especially women’s health.

A series of recent initiatives are trying to change this, from both the public and private sectors. Last year, First Lady Jill Biden launched the campaign White House initiative on women’s health to help close the research gap on conditions like menopause. Additionally, if you own an Apple Watch, you can opt in to contribute your data to Apple Women’s Health Studydesigned to improve understanding of the menstrual cycle.

Yesterday, smart ring manufacturer Oura published for the first time Premenopausal reportcompiled long-term data from 100,000 unidentified Oura ring wearers to help understand how perimenopause and menopause may affect your daily life.

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Photo: Adrienne So

The term “perimenopause” refers to the years leading up to menopause, which is when your period ends; Some people call it “second puberty” because the range of physical symptoms is so wide. It usually lasts about 4 years, but for some women it can last up to 14 years. It’s unbelievable to think that 50% of the human population suffers from sleep disorders lasting more than a decade due to night sweats, memory problemsor weight gain (or weight loss, it affects each person differently).

As Oura reports in its data, only 28% of women know what to expect during perimenopause, which is a huge information gap when you consider that every middle school student participates in a health classes to prepare for what happens during their period. The first step is even recognizing that it’s happening. To that end, Oura recently added 17 new tags like hot flashes, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and detection, so users can start noticing trends on their own timeline .

One of the most important findings in Oura’s report is that sleep is severely affected during perimenopause and postmenopause. Hot flashes increase significantly during perimenopause and early menopause. Hot flashes can last from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, and 69% of hot flashes are related to waking up during the night. As anyone who has ever cared for a baby can attest, waking up multiple times during the night can affect how you function the next day.

Acne, bloating and migraines are some of the most common symptoms reported by Oura premenopausal women. Most concerning to me is that premenopausal women report a 20 to 30 percent decline. heart rate variability (HRV). High HRV means your nervous system is responsive and resilient; you can cope with changing situations, handle a variety of physical activities and manage stress. Lower HRV is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events.

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Even if you know you’re experiencing perimenopause symptoms, it can still be a little difficult to know what to do about it. Menopausal hormone therapy is a popular, if somewhat controversial, choice. But large-scale solutions—like employers meet health conditions— is a little out of our control. However, if you notice sleep quality and HRV is decreasing as you enter perimenopause, causing a decrease the amount of alcohol and caffeine you consume or more frequent cardiovascular activity can help.

As public and private organizations alike learn to harness the power of smart ring and other fitness wearableswe can begin to shed light on this uniquely human condition. It’s not just your imagination—you don’t have to figure it out on your own.