Ohio State University researchers are launching a four-year study on how menopause affects the mental and physical health of women veterans.
The OSU Wexner Medical Center and the Soder Women's Health Research Program received a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for the study.
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke with Tamar Gur, a professor of psychiatry at Ohio State.
Debbie Holmes: So why study women veterans?
Tamar Gur: I think that women veterans are heroes, nothing short of heroes. They dedicated their lives to serving our country and they actually go through menopause on average around a decade earlier than civilians, which really struck me the first time I read that fact. And so, there's something going on there that's making their menopause come earlier and likely contributing to potentially more significant symptoms of menopause and I think they deserve to understand why and as a first step for coming up with new treatments and interventions that could ultimately help them.
Debbie Holmes: Does this follow up then or build upon earlier studies that show that menopause affects the physical and mental health of women differently in the service than women in general?
Tamar Gur: Yes, it's following up on studies that show that women who served in the military, on average, go through menopause earlier. And so, we know that the menopause transition is a critical window for women's health afterwards. So, it stands to reason that going through it a decade earlier could increase the risk of things like stroke, heart attack and other things that happen to women who have an increased risk following menopause. So, an additional decade of menopause to their lives could potentially be harmful. Also, cognitive changes and other things that we see with menopause.
Debbie Holmes: What are the health changes for women in menopause?
Tamar Gur: Menopause is just one day 365 days after your last menstrual period, but perimenopause can span several years. And so, during perimenopause, women can experience very uncomfortable and unpleasant symptoms like hot flashes, some cognitive fogging, increased risk of depression and anxiety, and other, you know, some weight gain and other effects, difficulty sleeping. And then after menopause, we know that there's an increased risk of things like stroke, heart attack and other health complications. A woman isn't doomed to those things, but there is an increased risk. And so, I think understanding why that's happening earlier in veterans is really important, and also understanding during that transition, what is the impact on their health and their mental health, I think is of critical importance.
Debbie Holmes: How severe can those changes be then in women?
Tamar Gur: The changes, it can run the gamut from mild to moderate to really, really life altering and very disturbing. So, if you have significant changes to your sleep, to your cognitive function, if those heat flashes are really getting in the way of your day, if you are starting to have significant weight gain that can increase your risk for things like diabetes and heart attack and stroke. So, these things all tie together. I don't want to pathologize a natural transition, but there are absolutely risks that we need to understand so that we can find new treatments for them and new approaches to help women.
Debbie Holmes: How will the study be conducted and how many women will be involved?
Tamar Gur: Yes, we're really excited to be partnering with Columbus VA. We'll be recruiting patients from their women's clinic, up to 150 patients, and then here at Ohio State, we will be evaluating them for their stress levels. We have a really interesting way to measure stress levels here at Ohio State with my colleague, Dr. Stephanie Gorka, also in the Department of Psychiatry. We'll also be getting their microbiome. The microbiome, I think, is a really critical piece of our health. You actually have more microbe cells in you than “you” cells in you, and so it stands to reason that they could be contributing to your health and your mental health. And so, we'll be collecting that over an 18-month period, as well as markers of inflammation, as well hormone levels. And so, we really think that's going to clarify the pictures, the picture of what is happening in a woman's body during this critical transition that could be contributing to her health and her mental health.
Debbie Holmes: How will the results be used? Do you feel that maybe perhaps there could be new ways to relieve some of the menopausal symptoms?
Tamar Gur: Absolutely, I'm really glad you asked me that. You know, as a reproductive psychiatrist, I'm always searching for a new treatment that helps women. I think that we're going to be able to find out which microbes are involved, potentially create new probiotic approaches or prebiotic approaches. So that's just really good microbes that can help your health. I think there's also the microbes that are really active. They're pumping out all kinds of metabolites, which also may be therapeutic targets. And so, they're producing things in our bodies that can also be potentially harnessed for therapeutic approaches. So, I think we're going to be able to generate new treatments as a result of this study, and will be the next line of research for us here.
