Millions of women are being exploited by a “menopausal gold rush”, with companies, celebrities and influencers exploiting the “scarcity” of reliable information on the issue, experts have said.
Women’s health academics at University College London said healthcare companies and content creators see menopause as a “lucrative market” and are trying to capitalize on gaps in public knowledge.
Researchers called for a national education program after finding that a large number of women did not feel well informed about menopause.
“There has been a rapid expansion of unregulated private companies and individuals providing menopause information and profit-making; this has been called the ‘menopausal gold rush,'” they wrote in the medical journal Post Reproductive Health.
“This fragmented landscape of menopause support and education leaves people vulnerable to financial exploitation, may spread misinformation and is likely to amplify existing health inequalities associated with menopause.”
One woman who participated in the study told the researchers: “Everything I know about menopause I learned on Instagram from other women.” Only one in five – 22% – of 1,500 women surveyed by the UCL team felt well informed about menopause.
Nine out of 10 women surveyed said there was a need for an education and support programme. The preference is to provide the service in person or online in weekly sessions over two to four weeks, they told the researchers.
Those surveyed said that the acceptance and success of such a program would depend on its accessibility, accuracy, and being based on the latest scientific evidence. It would also help “bust the myth.”
The UCL team set out to develop a training program that could help women prepare for menopause and support those experiencing symptoms. These can include physical symptoms such as hot flashes, palpitations, and difficulty sleeping, and mental symptoms including brain fog and mood changes.
Lead author of the study, Professor Joyce Harper, from the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health at University College London, said: ‘We have a post-menopausal gold rush because companies, investors and people see menopause as a lucrative market.
“While public awareness of menopause has improved dramatically recently, there has been a rapid expansion of private companies and individuals providing menopause education, especially on social media, resulting in misinformation that could make existing menopause-related health inequalities worse.
“There remains a dearth of evidence-based, theoretically informed and rigorously evaluated public health programs targeting individuals around the time of and immediately after menopause. Hence our proposal for a new national menopause education and support programme, which we hope will be funded by the government.”
The study’s senior author, Dr Sheema Tariq, from University College London’s Institute of Global Health, said: ‘Although menopause is a natural hormonal and social transition, without evidence-based information and support, it can be a difficult time for people. Menopause often comes at a ‘tipping point’ in our lives – we may be juggling multiple caring roles as well as the demands of work and potential impacts on our esteem. To ourselves and our relationships.
“We believe that everyone should have the right to access accurate information and support networks, free of charge, so that they are better able to navigate this stage of life.”