Israeli Study Could Reshape How Doctors Approach Menopause and Women’s Health

Jerusalem, 2 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Israeli researchers have found that menopause involves more than a gradual decline in reproductive hormones. Their study identifies a distinct period of accelerated biological changes affecting multiple body systems around the time a woman’s menstrual periods permanently stop.

The findings challenge the conventional understanding of menopause as a gradual transition and suggest that its effects on women’s health extend well beyond the reproductive system.

Mothers huddle with their newborns in the maternity ward of the Hadassah-En Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem during a Houthi missile attack on March 27, 2025. Photo by TPS-IL

The research could influence how doctors approach women’s health in midlife, suggesting that hormonal changes associated with menopause begin developing more than a decade before menstruation stops. Recognizing this broader biological transition could give doctors and women an earlier opportunity to identify potential health concerns and consider preventive measures.

Menopause marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years, occurring when ovarian function declines and menstruation permanently ceases. It is generally defined as having gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period and typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. The years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, involve fluctuating and declining hormone levels that can cause symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disturbances and mood changes.

The study identified significant changes in 52 of 90 types of laboratory tests examined in the US dataset around the time of the final menstrual period. These included indicators of bone health, liver and kidney function, and blood cholesterol and other fats, suggesting that menopause affects a much wider range of bodily functions than previously recognized.

The researchers found no comparable pattern among men of similar ages. Women receiving hormone therapy to manage menopause symptoms also experienced less pronounced physiological changes, suggesting that treatment may influence some of the biological shifts associated with menopause. However, the findings do not establish that hormone therapy prevents the associated health risks.

Changes Begin Earlier

Another important finding was that accelerated changes in sex hormone levels begin 12 to 15 years before the final menstrual period, earlier than previously estimated. Because some of the physiological changes identified are associated with increased health risks, the findings point to an opportunity to consider preventive healthcare well before menopause itself.

“Our study expands the window of opportunity for preventive medicine to a period of almost a decade before menopause,” said Prof. Uri Alon of the Weizmann Institute of Science, who led the research. “More broadly, the method we developed may also help study other periods of biological transition and change, such as puberty, pregnancy, or the onset of disease.”

The research team, led by Dr. Glen Pridham and Yoav Hayut from Alon’s laboratory in the Institute’s Department of Molecular Cell Biology, analyzed medical records from approximately 1.3 million women treated by Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest health maintenance organization. The records covered roughly 20 years. The researchers also examined data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Together, the two datasets contained more than 300 million laboratory test results.

Studying menopause through large medical databases presented a challenge because such records generally do not specify when individual women experienced their final menstrual period. To address this, the researchers developed a mathematical technique inspired by astronomy. Astronomers use similar methods to correct distortions in telescope images and bring blurry objects into sharper focus. The Israeli team applied a comparable approach to account for differences in the age at which women experience menopause, allowing them to reconstruct biological changes relative to the final menstrual period.

The researchers also compared laboratory results from women receiving hormone therapy with those who were not. Of the 80 types of tests examined in this comparison, 39 showed significant differences between the groups.

The researchers noted that their analysis relied on large medical datasets rather than tracking the same women throughout their menopausal transition. The mathematical method allowed them to reconstruct patterns of biological change despite the absence of precise records of individual women’s final menstrual periods.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Medicine.