Overview
- A team led by researchers at the Weizmann Institute published a Nature Medicine paper based on more than 300 million laboratory results from over one million women in U.S. and Israeli cohorts to map changes to the final menstrual period.
- The analysis detected sudden, step‑like shifts in 52 of 90 lab measures spanning bone metabolism, liver and kidney function, blood chemistry and lipids, and found no comparable abrupt jumps in age‑matched men.
- The study’s computational method reconstructed timing of the final menstrual period and identified accelerating declines in sex hormones beginning roughly 10 to 15 years before the last period.
- Women recorded as taking menopausal hormone therapy showed smaller abrupt changes in some bone, liver and kidney tests, but the authors and outside experts say the observational design and likely selection biases prevent causal conclusions.
- Independent clinicians urged caution because the data rely on retrospective and self‑reported timing and are not randomized, and the study team has announced plans for a clinical trial while recommending earlier midlife checks for bone, lipids, blood pressure and glucose rather than immediate guideline changes.