Despite being a significant stage in every woman's life, it's surprising that menopause continues to be a neglected and disregarded subject.
When a woman has gone 12 months without a menstrual period, it is generally acknowledged as menopause, which signifies the conclusion of the reproductive stage of her life. Not just one or two, women may suffer up to 48 symptoms of menopause! Which includes hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and weight gain.
Since their peak during the 20th Century, women's empowerment efforts have been at an impasse. However, recent advancements in technology have changed that. More and more tech-savvy people are coming forward to improve female health, consequently giving rise to the concept of FemTech.
FemTech, the use of technology to improve women's health, is a groundbreaking idea that is transforming the lives of women everywhere.
At least, there’s that. Someone, at long last thinking about women, rather than just shaming them for being emotional.
The Stigma Around Menopause
Menopause is another stigmatized topic like menstrual health, and talking about it openly remains a challenge for many due to the societal taboo surrounding it.
Even with the significant progress made toward women's empowerment, it may take several centuries to eliminate the pervasive taboos that still exist globally.
Menopause affects both the physical and mental well-being of women. Hormonal changes mainly the drop in estrogen levels can trigger a series of mood-related symptoms such as sullenness, anxiety, and aggressiveness. However, another factor that’s interlinked with menopause is the stigma around aging.
Let’s be honest, nobody likes getting old. But old age doesn't necessarily mean crippling changes to your body.
Navigating Menopause With Femtech
Menopause sounds scary, but it doesn't have to be. Gone are the days when you had to rough it out on your own. Femtech has paved plenty of ways to help make menopause easier. For instance, the invention of bracelets provides a cooling effect and helps in alleviating hot flashes.
Other innovations that are worth a mention are clothing made to combat hot flashes, the development of apps to track menopause symptoms, and wearable symptom tracker as well.
By monitoring the frequency and severity of symptoms, these apps and wearable trackers offer personalized treatment suggestions to alleviate menopausal discomfort.
Although traditional methods, such as hormone replacement therapy, have been the standard for treating menopausal symptoms, the introduction of revolutionary products such as home-use therapeutic ultrasound devices, specifically designed to treat vaginal dryness in women with vulvovaginal atrophy, represents a significant step forward in promoting women's health.
Intravaginal rings are also a notable addition to femtech devices that help with menopausal and vasomotor symptoms.
Femtech emerged as a promising solution to relieve the symptoms of menopause. However, it's equally important to focus on preventive measures that increase awareness and promote good reproductive health among women.
Post menopause and Chronic Disease Risk: Breaking the Silence
Menopause can cause a lot of changes in a woman's body, but it's not just hot flashes and mood swings. After menopause, women are more likely to develop chronic diseases. This means that staying healthy becomes even more important in the post-menopausal stage.
The most prominent of these diseases are cardiovascular (heart) disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.
The question is not why, the question is how?
Menopause has a significant impact on the hormones estrogen and progesterone, both of which protect us against cardiovascular diseases.
The postmenopausal stage can be particularly challenging due to the changes in hormone levels. These hormones have numerous functions in women's bodies, and their absence can result in a range of physical and emotional symptoms that can affect a woman's overall well-being.
Unfortunately, we don't always talk about these risks, but it's important to be aware of them so that we can take steps to protect our health.
According to American Heart Association, bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglyceride levels are most likely to increase in the postmenopausal stage which puts women at a high risk of atherosclerosis, and consequently heart disease.
However, with a balanced diet, and a healthy lifestyle it is easily avoidable.
Menopause can make women more susceptible to unexpected weight gain, which can have a negative impact on their self-esteem. But again, the sedentary lifestyle adopted by most women after menopause is to blame, and not the menopause itself.
But the story does not just end here.
Did you know that menopause can affect women's bone health as well and lead to a condition called osteoporosis?
During menopause, estrogen levels decrease, which can cause bones to weaken and become brittle. This is because there's less bone formation and more bone breakdown.
Final Thoughts
Ladies, it's important to keep in mind that while technology can aid in alleviating symptoms, adopting a healthy lifestyle is the only way to prevent chronic illnesses.
The femtech market was valued at $51 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $103 billion by 2030. This growth is driven by increasing health concerns among women, technology advancements, and cultural attitudes.
The advancements in technology are only part of the solution for women's health. A critical component of progress is the acknowledgment and understanding of people in society to drive meaningful change.
