Women’s midlife health: the unfinished research agenda

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

In 2015 we launched Women’s Midlife Health with the aim of increasing scientific focus on the midlife -- a critical window for preventing chronic disease, optimizing health and functioning, and promoting healthy aging. This life stage, from about age 35–40 years to about 60–65 years, is coincident with the menopausal transition in women, encompassing the late reproductive to late postmenopausal stages of reproductive aging [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. As noted in our initial editorial [ 5 ], in addition to the hallmark symptoms of menopause, the midlife is a vulnerable window for onset of gynecologic and hormone-sensitive conditions as well as onset or exacerbation of symptoms, symptom burden and functional limitations. It is also the critical window for interventions to reduce the loss of bone strength associated with menopause, to protect heart health and to promote psychosocial well-being. At the time we started this publication, relatively few journals were interested in manuscripts on midlife aging, except for a handful focused on menopause and reproductive aging. Women’s Midlife Health was designed to fill this gap. We developed an international community of investigators studying the intersection of menopause and midlife health who have contributed to enlarging scientific understanding, developing an international view of the perimenopause and acquainting investigators with studies of menopause around the world. Over the past decade, as scientific knowledge has increased, documenting the importance of the midlife for healthy aging, menopause journals have expanded their scope and aging journals have expanded their breadth. As multiple excellent venues are now available to publish work on midlife health, we have decided to cease publication of this journal. In our closing editorial, we provide reflections on what we have achieved and outline some of the continuing critical gaps in scientific knowledge.