Time For A Balanced Conversation About Menopause
The Lancet’s 2024 Menopause Series reads less like a medical manual and more like a quiet call to reset an entire cultural narrative. Across four papers, researchers trace the contours of early menopause, mental health, cancer-related menopause and a new empowerment model for managing the transition.
Their argument is disarmingly simple. Menopause is not a disease to be “fixed” yet for decades it has been treated as one. By framing it as an oestrogen-deficiency disorder best solved with hormones, medicine and marketing have created a cycle of stigma, over-prescription and profit.
The Series pushes for an individualised, evidence-based approach. Some women sail through with minimal discomfort, others wrestle with night sweats, insomnia or mood shifts that can upend daily life. Hormone therapy can help, but it’s not a universal answer and it carries measurable risks, including higher breast-cancer incidence.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, lifestyle interventions and above all, access to impartial information and empathetic clinicians matter as much as any prescription.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth the papers only hint at. Most of the data behind these recommendations comes from studies that barely include Black women and women of colour. Without their voices and lived experience, “individualised care” risks being just another one-size-fits-all solution in disguise. Intergenerational and cultural biases, from the stereotype of the stoic Caribbean matriarch to the silence in many Asian households, shape how symptoms are reported, treated or dismissed.
To build genuine empowerment, Black women and other women of colour must not only be subjects of research, they need to sit at the tables where research questions are framed and funding is decided.
Representation in study design, clinical trials and policy boards is the only way to capture the nuances of diet, stress, genetics and culturally specific health beliefs that influence menopause.
The Lancet Series invites us to see menopause not as decline but as a developmental milestone. Extending that vision means ensuring that every woman across race, culture and generation has the science, the language and the agency to define this life stage on her own terms.
Let’s keep the conversation moving, because real change starts with shared action.
If you believe Black women and women of colour must help shape menopause research and policy, like this post to show solidarity.
Comment with practical ideas, whether it is advocating for inclusive clinical trials, mentoring emerging researchers of colour or pressing local health boards for diverse representation.
Then share it widely to put pressure on universities, funders, and policymakers to:
Recruit and fund Black and minority-ethnic scientists in menopause research
Set diversity quotas for clinical trials and advisory boards
Create community-led focus groups to inform policy and funding priorities
Every share signals that representation is not optional, it is the cornerstone of evidence-based, culturally competent care.
