About MenoPause Consortium - MenoPause Consortium

The MenoPause Consortium is working towards more healthy and productive years for perimenopausal women. In the consortium, researchers, doctors, lifestyle experts, perimenopausal women and other stakeholders work together to better identify the adverse effects of the menopause transition and develop strategies to prevent these adverse effects.

Themes

The study on the effects of the menopause transition is divided into the themes ‘Sleep & Mental Health’, ‘Physical Health’ and ‘Labour’.

SLEEP & MENTAL HEALTH

During the menopause transition, about half of women experience sleep problems such as problems falling asleep, waking up at night and not being able to get back to sleep. Sleep is further disturbed by hot flushes, hot flushes and night sweats, which even four in five women suffer from at some point during menopause. Poor sleep is a major contributor to the development of depression, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which women are at increased risk of during menopause. We need to understand the mechanisms of the chain of disorders to develop rationally effective interventions.

Aim and plan of action

We aim to identify the causes of complaints about sleep and mood during perimenopause and to find the most effective combination of existing interventions, including a guided eHealth sleep intervention and hormone therapy. Our approach combines a randomised controlled trial with longitudinal data from women in large-scale observational cohort studies. The results are expected to lead to interventions that allow healthcare providers to better treat and prevent menopause-related sleep problems, mental problems and disorders, by incorporating pharmacological and guided cognitive behavioural and lifestyle interventions into their care and treatment plans.

» PHYSICAL HEALTH

PHYSICAL HEALTH

The menopause transition is accompanied by physical changes. Bone mass decreases at an accelerated rate, increasing the risk of bone fractures later in life. Before menopause, women are less susceptible to cardiovascular disease than men, but after menopause, women’s risk increases. Possibly, the risk of diabetes mellitus (diabetes) also increases and blood sugar regulation changes in women who already have diabetes. It is currently difficult to predict which women will and will not experience these health problems. Also, much is still unknown about the role of hormone changes during menopause in the development of these common conditions.

Aim and plan of action

We will identify factors (environmental factors, genes, biomarkers) in large groups of menopausal women that predict which women are at increased risk for accelerated bone loss, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Using bone, vessel wall, muscle and liver cells, we will unravel in the laboratory the mechanisms involved in the development of these conditions during menopause. With the knowledge of predictors and mechanisms, we will develop and test individualized interventions to better treat and prevent these conditions.

» LABOUR

LABOUR

One in three working perimenopausal women experience a negative impact of perimenopausal symptoms at work. Women with many perimenopausal symptoms feel less able to work, are more often exhausted after a workday and report sick more often. We do not yet know which characteristics of work combined with which perimenopausal symptoms lead to work problems and which women are at increased risk of these effects of the perimenopause. There is also a need for a preventive program that focuses not only on the woman herself, but also on the organization of work and the workplace

Aim and plan of action

Using various research methods, we want to answer the question of how working women around the transition can be best supported in the workplace. To this end, we will enter into dialogue with women themselves, managers and human resources professionals. We are also analyzing combinations of risk factors in long-term cohort studies (Lifelines and HELIUS). Factors that we examine are not only characteristics of the woman (such as whether or not she exercises or drinks alcohol) and experienced menopause symptoms, but also regulation possibilities in work and social support at work.

Based on the results of this research, we will develop a preventive program aimed at both women and their employers. We will pay attention to differences between women according to their background and circumstances. We will implement and evaluate the program in practice. By collaborating in the development and evaluation with women, managers, HR and health and safety professionals, we hope to create a program that has a demonstrable positive impact on the work performance of women around the transition.