Must watch: A first-of-its-kind film ignites attention to a prevalent woman's 'health crisis' most docs don't understand
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
"I believe that menopause is a health crisis, along with all of women's healthcare. [...] For years, we have faced a lack of data, funding, female leadership, time, and education. This has created a situation in which women face needless delays in diagnosis, increased mortality based on the gender of the provider, and years wasted in poorer health." — Somi Javaid, MD, FACOG
"Women are not given any information about their bodies, so it is hard for them to make the right choices when it comes to their health." — Amy Beckley, PhD
Find more of your peers' perspectives and insights below.
A new film, The M Factor, explores the complex realities of menopause, from the vague and sometimes scary symptoms it causes to the lack of education medical professionals receive around treating it.[] Journalist and producer Tamsen Fadal sat down with several experts to break down the “marginalized or ignored health crisis” that is menopause.
A lack of menopause education
The film’s multiple experts, including OB/GYNs, said that they didn’t receive adequate or formal training on menopause. Their medical programs focused on the reproductive years, sure, but the menopausal years were simply neglected. In fact, only about 31% of OB/GYN residency programs in the United States report having any menopause curriculum at all, according to a 2023 study published in Menopause.[]
One of the film’s messages is that women are “outliving” the lifespan of their ovaries, which is why menopause awareness and education are so crucial. “When you look at projections over the next few decades, by 2060, there will be around 90 million women in the US alone, who will be in the post-menopausal range,” Jennifer Allen, MD, an associate professor and the director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at the Medical College of Georgia and Wellstar MCG Health, told Augusta University’s alumni magazine.[] But women are doing something about the issue. To address this knowledge gap, Dr. Allen set up the OB/GYN Residency Program at Augusta University.
Understanding the need
“I believe that menopause is a health crisis, along with all of women's healthcare,” Somi Javaid, MD, FACOG, a board-certified OB/GYN, tells MDLinx. “There is such a profound lack of access to evidence-based education, for both providers and patients. This film is spreading awareness to both providers and to the general population. I know this will be the impetus for many providers to seek the additional training that they need to diagnose and treat patients.”
Dr. Javaid says that the film has created community, made women feel less alone, and provided a space for education. “This film is also showing women all of their options, including cutting edge, evidence-based, modern solutions that medical guidelines may have not caught up with just yet.”
Menopause and race
The film also expands on the ways that race and racism intersect with how menopause is understood and treated. For example, Asian women tend to experience joint pain more and hot flashes less. But in Black women and Hispanic women, hot flashes are more likely, proving that individualized treatments are key.
Footage of woman's head literally steaming from menopause.
byu/gabito705 ininterestingasfuck
According to a 2024 study published in Menopause, “Understanding and addressing social, cultural, and economic factors are crucial to reduce disparities in menopausal symptoms.”[]
That said, the issue is complex: “This study highlights that, although there is a correlation between race and ethnicity and the severity of menopausal symptoms, further research is needed to better understand the complexities of this issue, including cultural, lifestyle, genetic, or other factors. The authors caution against attributing differences solely to race and ethnicity and highlight[s] the need for a more nuanced understanding of this important health issue,” the authors note.
Women want help managing their menopause symptoms, as evidenced by the fact that the over-the-counter supplement market is set to reach $735 million by 2025, according to the film. Hormone therapy, the film’s experts stress, is the most effective. The M Factor does bring up the issue of risks, including cancers that these therapies can feed, but its experts say that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Woman's healthcare needs a reboot
Dr. Javaid agrees with the film’s message that women’s healthcare is in crisis. “For years, we have faced a lack of data, funding, female leadership, time, and education. This has created a situation in which women face needless delays in diagnosis, increased mortality based on the gender of the provider, and years wasted in poorer health,” Dr. Javaid says. “Women will spend roughly 40% of their lives in menopause; it occurs at the prime of their lives,” she adds.
Beyond the brain fog, insomnia, weight gain, decreased libido, and vaginal dryness, menopause can increase the risk of heart disease, bone loss, and even mortality rates due to features, Dr. Javaid notes.
“If we want to prevent chronic disease, improve quality of life, support healthy sexual function, and keep individuals working in their most impactful manner, we must curate a treatment plan for individuals,” she says.
Amy Beckley, PhD, founder of Proov, says that she’s excited for the film because “women are not given any information about their bodies, so it is hard for them to make the right choices when it comes to their health.” She also thinks the film helps normalize menopause—something that can be seen as shameful or secretive.
Most of all, Dr. Beckley thinks it’s important that the film addresses treatment options: “If there was a way—and it is called hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—to prevent this, I would sure as heck want to know,” she says, adding that there’s been a lot of confusion around whether HRT causes cancer.
“This makes medical professionals apprehensive to treat women in menopause, as they were unsure of the correct treatment protocol,” she adds. “Much more research is needed in menopause, and women's health in general, to get to these answers.”