As women, we experience several stages of transition based on hormone fluctuations throughout our lifetimes. Though menarche and pregnancy get much of the attention in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the large and growing population of women living past middle age has been historically overlooked by medicine. This transition, known as perimenopause and menopause has only gained major recognition in medicine in the last 30 years. As one example, the National American Menopause Society, a non-profit organization with the agenda to “promote the health and quality of life of all women during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause and healthy aging” was formed in 1989. Today we know that women experiencing menopause and beyond require more dedicated research attention so physicians can better understand and manage the natural course of this major physiologic transition that affects all aspects of their health. 
As an aspiring physician with special interests in women’s health, I am boggled by the idea that at baseline, physicians and researchers are just now investigating menopause in depth. One major study from 2015 published in JAMA Internal Medicinelooked at the duration of vasomotor symptoms in women transitioning through menopause.
Many physicians currently espouse that women should expect symptoms to persist for 1-2 years and have been treating with hormone replacement therapy for a very limited period of time to alleviate discomfort. Yet, based on the study in JAMA which followed 1,449 US women from several racial and ethnic backgrounds beginning at age 42 to 52 for up to 17 years, the transition appears to be more gradual, lasting up to 13 years based on epidemiological studies.
Emerging studies like this one provide hope for a future of equality of women’s healthcare and gender equality in research.
For menopause updates, follow the Normal American Menopause Society (NAMS) on twitter for some of the latest research and developments in post reproductive women’s health.
Lindsey Lee DUCOM 2018
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