A new wave of pioneers are bringing menopause tracking to wearable tech, with features that could help the lives of millions of women.
This article uses quotes from our exclusive deep dive into the quest for wearable menopause tracking – from this week’s PULSE by Wareable newsletter.
A group of health companies and wearables makers are taking the issue of menopause tracking into their own hands – and kicking back against decades of underfunding and research in women’s health.
Wearables and digital health companies including Oura, Clue, Mira Care, Embr, Amira, and Peri (formerly IdentifyHer) are collaborating with institutions on research and using wearables. Their aim is to collect biodata and help their users track, manage, and alleviate symptoms in real-time.
Embr and Amira are focusing on building devices that can alleviate symptoms such as hot flashes, via cooling on the wrist and via sleep pads, Meanwhile Oura, Mira and Peri are all interested in using wearables to track and monitor the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
But much of the research and development of menopause tracking is being done in real time. With a dearth of clinical research done into menopause, companies like Oura and building the tools, but will need to learn from the data.
“There is a hypothesis out there that changes in sleep architecture – so, deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep – those patterns are the canary in the mines of perimenopause. It’s still a hypothesis – and a lot more research needs to be done,” Dr. Neta Gotlieb, who runs Oura’s women’s health and reproductive health clinical research told PULSE by Wareable.
“This is a key interest to us right now, understanding these changes.”
Other wearable tech biomarkers include heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), body temperature, sleep tracking as well as more specific metrics such as the levels of FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and other hormones.
And it’s not just about the management of symptoms. Women also carry higher risks of separate conditions after menopause – and scientists aren’t sure why. So wearable data tracking could prove essential in understanding – and improve the longevity of women, generally.
“In the context of menopause I think it’s fascinating because women have a higher risk than men after menopause. So there’s this critical switch that is really important to understand,” she said.
You can read our deep dive into the pioneers driving women’s health research via wearables in PULSE by Wareable.