Approved Research

Investigating the Effects of Menopause on Longevity

Lay summary

Reproductive life events which influence exposure to the hormone oestrogen, such as the number of babies a woman has, age at menopause onset, and use of hormone replacement therapy, have all been associated with effects on lifespan. The prevalence of different symptoms during the menopause has also been associated with key outcomes for illness and mortality rates, such as cardiovascular disease, memory decline, and suicide risk. Our project aims to quantify the impact of the menopause on lifespan and has two hypotheses: 

1. Factors which influence oestrogen exposure will have large effects on longevity rates.  
2. Prevalence and types of symptoms during menopause will be related to factors which could impact longevity, such as the development of dementia, suicide risk, cardiovascular issues and cancers.  

We will evaluate our hypotheses by analysing data from a variety of public health databanks which include medical, mortality, and reproductive outcome data.  

We have the following research objectives:  

1. We will determine the extent to which oestrogen exposure influences longevity.  
2. We will understand how oestrogen exposure impacts the development of key outcomes affecting morbidity and mortality rates including cardiovascular, cognitive and cancer-related conditions. 
3. We will identify factors explaining the influence of oestrogen exposure on longevity. 
4. We will determine how variations in menopausal symptom type, prevalence and severity impact factors relating to longevity. 

Our findings could be used to identify women at risk of prematurely developing illnesses which could impact their lifespan and early interventions could be performed which would attenuate this risk. Additionally, by examining mechanisms by which oestrogen exposure influences longevity, we could suggest targets for future drug discovery or repurposing existing drugs. 

There is limited research on how oestrogen exposure impacts on diseases influencing longevity. Therefore, key outcomes have the potential to help identify those who are at most risk of premature morbidity and mortality. Thus, our project will expand knowledge and benefit both women and men as they age. There will also be academic beneficiaries from our results, from examining the inter-relationships between the menopause, oestrogen exposure and longevity will stimulate more work on this topic (including multidisciplinary research alliances), thus ultimately benefitting all individuals. We will engage in discussions with the public via social media, menopause cafes and webinars about our research, and we have also been in discussion with government officials who are eager for us to feed in our findings into policy changes relating to women's health rights.