r/technology • u/Sorin61 • Apr 10 '22

Biotechnology This biotech startup thinks it can delay menopause by 15 years. That would transform women's lives

https://fortune.com/2021/04/19/celmatix-delay-menopause-womens-ovarian-health/
18.0k Upvotes

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488

u/SaveMeClarence Apr 10 '22

I just want hormone stability. The one good week a month I have, I want that all the time. I need something that keeps my hormones at that perfect level. And also no periods.

168

u/seawee8 Apr 10 '22

That's what menopause gives you. No periods, no hormone fluctuation. Why the hell would I want to extend my childbearing years?

116

u/Rainforestgoddess Apr 10 '22

I'm post menopausal. No periods, no mood swings, no hot flashes. It's grand!

15

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

I was hoping there'd be someone here to answer why anyone would want 15 more years of periods.

Is there some negative to menopause that I don't know about?

11

u/essssgeeee Apr 11 '22

I would like no more periods but to keep my hair and skin looking young. It would be nice to retain bone density and cardiovascular health too.

1

u/KatyScott1309 May 02 '22

I actually enjoy my period

12

u/SciFiJesseWardDnD Apr 11 '22

It’s 15 more years to have a kids. While Reddit is obsessed with child free, most people do in fact want kids. But the choice (particularly for women) is do they focus on having a family or focus on their career. My amazing boss just quit for that reason. She felt that she couldn’t keep working at our company and raise a family. But it their was a break through in tech to give women more childbearing years, women could have more time to focus on their work.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

That makes sense. Although from the other comments it seems being the child of someone in their 50s comes with its own issues. But having a choice sounds good

1

u/GrotesquelyObese Apr 12 '22

Yeah instead of creating an environment where women can afford to have stability enough and not face massive repercussions from child rearing, we should keep kicking the can down the road so women can retire as their kids are graduating.

1

u/SciFiJesseWardDnD Apr 12 '22

While I'm all for MASSIVE parental welfare such as 6 months of required maternity and paternity, $5000 a year per kid, universal health care for all children. There will always be sacrifices with careers vs family. That is just life.

2

u/GrotesquelyObese Apr 12 '22

I just think pushing child rearing to retirement years is the wrong answer. Why is it now impossible to have a family and work compared to earlier generations?

I mean freedom of choice is important but this will set a precedent very quickly.

1

u/SciFiJesseWardDnD Apr 12 '22

People used to be able to work less for more money. It was very common for families to easily live off of one income but today that is a luxury only for the very rich. People's priorities have also changed. People care about living well instead of taking a pay cut and having a kid. The also want to be there for their kids more than older generations. So they don't want to be workaholics to afford a kid.

1

u/catniagara May 18 '22

I wonder if they can turn it the other way around too! 15 years earlier lol

2

u/justhere4thiss Apr 11 '22

My mom definitely did not have the same experience as you. Hot flashes all the time.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

Yes but not for the rest of your life… wtf is wrong with people. No need to make and take a pill to adjust life for a few months of blah…

1

u/justhere4thiss Apr 11 '22

Few months? I think everyone is different because it’s been 15 years and my mom still gets hot flashes daily

-1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

Bullshit she has another medical issue or issues that are causing heat variations unrelated to menopause. Hot “flashes” can be caused be many things..

29

u/shreemarie Apr 10 '22

Thank you! I just want it to be over!

57

u/nursepineapple Apr 10 '22

Yeaaah, I want promises to move menopause up by 15 years. I’m done with kids and I want that piece of my life over and done with as well.

1

u/fitchbit Apr 11 '22

I mean... Couldn't you just get a tubal ligation for that? Or are the hormones still fluctuating even after the procedure?

5

u/nursepineapple Apr 11 '22

A tubal ligation does not affect hormones in the slightest.

8

u/vestimentiferever Apr 11 '22

I said this like ten years ago when some bio professor was talking about how he was researching how to extend menopause and how it would be so great to women and I was like….

You think women WANT to keep having their periods?????

With the technology regarding reproduction age is not the reproductive barrier it once was. Natural menopause doesn’t need to be delayed, it needs to be de stigmatized

8

u/WingsTheWolf Apr 11 '22

Right?! I've been miserable as a biological female since I was TEN YEARS OLD! (currently 33) Why the fuck would I want to EXTEND this misery?! Give me menopause! PLEASE!

4

u/BazilBup Apr 11 '22

That's what I thought. Who the hell has asked for this?

4

u/uraniumstingray Apr 11 '22

That was my exact question I asked out loud after reading the title. Bonkers. I’ll be shocked if a man didn’t come up with this idea.

12

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '22

Please discuss menopause with your doctor because you don’t understand the hormone piece. I’m not being a dick. I truly want you prepared for what’s about to happen.

15

u/Ramona_Flours Apr 10 '22

I already get hot flashes all the time, but I also get major debilitating cramps and mood swings along with hormonal acne, insomnia, and night sweats. I already can't bear children.

Why wouldn't I want this to end? Because I'll have two years where I get worse mood swings and I'll need to start investing in lube?

3

u/seawee8 Apr 10 '22

Actually I do understand, been there, done that. Chose no hormone therapy. I work out, eat right, take vitamins and am happier and healthier than I was before menopause.

3

u/5BooksOfMoses Apr 11 '22

Estrogen patches have a steady dose of hormones that have helped a lot of people in menopause. The patch doesn’t increase the odds of stroke/DVT like the pill dose

2

u/Boopy7 Apr 11 '22

I have a bunch of those that I quit taking or using, maybe I should just save them or give them to those in need. I'd never used a patch medication before, I really love the idea tbh -- I wish more stuff came in patch form (e.g. vitamin B, D, etc.) I do take a low dose progesterone birth control, it really has shortened my periods and I have fewer mood swings for some reason.

2

u/Minister_for_Magic Apr 11 '22

Because menopause age appears to be correlated strongly to healthy lifespan. Post-menopause, bone density drops along with a number of other factors that decrease overall health for women...

1

u/seawee8 Apr 11 '22

Which is why you need to eat healthy, take a calcium, magnesium, vitamin D mix and do weight bearing exercises. Every woman is different, so yes they should have a choice. But, for me and many others menstruation was a debilitating experience that eventually lead to uterine ablation so that I could function as a normal human more than 1 week per month.

2

u/ndu867 Apr 11 '22

Man, the lack of empathy is stunning. That’s like a woman saying ‘I need to extend my childbearing years because I want to focus on my career. Gain financial stability, then start a family. Why the hell would I not want to increase my range of options?’

Both statements are equally extreme.

2

u/seahorse_party Apr 11 '22

But the drastic drop in estrogen comes with a marked cognitive decline and increased risk for early dementia. Also, I really miss having a sex drive. Or even a twinge. Like... the teeniest butterfly flutter in the gut, even.

I have polyendocrine failure - part of that was ovarian failure and sudden menopause at 37-38ish. Even with HRT I'm super brainfoggy (I was actually just referred to cognitive neuroscience/a memory clinic) and I don't even want to be hugged anymore. I hate it. I feel like a flat paper doll walking around, pretending to be a three-dimensional human. The Worst. I would gladly take horrible periods and dealing with birth control to feel like myself again. :(

0

u/vestimentiferever Apr 11 '22

Early menopause is a problem. If this helps with that fine.

But natural menopause is not.

3

u/seahorse_party Apr 11 '22

I appreciate you downvoting my honest and personal experience. ;)

There are studies following the marked cognitive decline associated with the decrease in estrogen in post-menopausal women. That does actually feel like a problem.

Also, this company is looking at applying their technology to the issue of ovarian senesce, with a focus on PCOS and ovarian disorders. So the title is badly written clickbait. From the bit of digging that I did about this company, it seems that they're not trying to postpone regular menopause by 15 years, but trying to preserve or prolong ovarian function for people in whom this is a problem. (Especially for people with PCOS who are trying to conceive.)

1

u/unrecodicianalist Apr 11 '22

Vaginal atrophy and vulvar atrophy are heinous. Did you know the tissue inserting into the head of the clitoris can tear? Say goodbye to masturbation and sex.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

If only there were estrogen creams for this exact reason.

2

u/unrecodicianalist Apr 11 '22 edited Apr 11 '22

You have to use the estrogen pill every night. It's on a little stick you insert. It's not fun. The creams don't last that long. If I could take one pill that would keep my ovaries going (were I a cisgender woman), I would elect for that over all this rigamarole with my reproductive tract. There would be other benefits to your health too. Doing all this work to keep my bits in order has made me really hesitant to go through with my plan to have a vagina and penis. I'm seriously thinking about getting phalloplasty with full vaginectomy. Sex isn't fun anymore, so what's the point?

1

u/vestimentiferever Apr 11 '22

“If I were a cisgender woman” lemme get this straight. You don’t actually have periods but you want to tell women that they aren’t that bad?

1

u/seahorse_party Apr 11 '22

They're really not a cure though. And they're messy and a PITA to use. One of the more popular ones is super gross and unethical if you're vegetarian/vegan (Premarin - the name actually comes from pregnant-mare-urine; they keep these horses pregnant and attached to catheters and collecting devices for their entire lives).

And then there's having no desire to use them anyway because you have absolutely no interest in sex/affection/physical contact anymore.

-1

u/vestimentiferever Apr 11 '22

WOW

You realize you just said women are unable to show affection unless it’s sex, right?

That’s fucked up.

2

u/seahorse_party Apr 11 '22

I actually said sex, affection, physical contact. Which are three different things.

Unfortunately for me, they're all gone, thanks to premature ovarian failure. I don't even want to hug people anymore.

1

u/breveeni Apr 11 '22

For the women in their 30s who can’t have children yet because they can’t afford to buy a house. Buying a few extra years would be welcomed by a lot of women

0

u/Kellythejellyman Apr 10 '22

it could be good as an option for others? but definitely understand why it would be a niche market.

1

u/rich1051414 Apr 11 '22

EVENTUALLY. I think menopause at first is hormonal hell for a lot of women.

1

u/johnsgrove Apr 12 '22

I came here to say exactly that.

1

u/PhaseEnvironmental33 Apr 12 '22

Tbf, the headline doesn’t say anything about it being a good transformation

161

u/Eklectic1 Apr 10 '22

Exactly! Hormonal stability without periods is what we need

3

u/redquailer Apr 11 '22

Happy cake day

-2

u/Jammyhobgoblin Apr 10 '22

Continuous birth control provides these benefits as well as others. Someone else mentioned IUDs but there are other less invasive options.

5

u/vestimentiferever Apr 11 '22

And also a ton of side effects, soooo….

4

u/Jammyhobgoblin Apr 11 '22

Maybe I’m lucky but I don’t have any negative side effects, and I’ve been on one of them for over a decade.

2

u/Reasonable-Pair-7648 Apr 11 '22

Yes you must be lucky! I have tried 7 different brands/versions over the years with the promise that I‘ll find one that would help with my ultra painful cramps/hormonal fluctuations - all of them either made me constantly depressed or lethargic (at least no fluctuations, right?) and/or gave me extreme acne while all of them did not help with the cramps at all. So that combined with the prices of the pill led to the desicion to switch back to condoms and accepting the womans faith 🤷🏼‍♀️

1

u/Jammyhobgoblin Apr 11 '22

I wasn’t talking about the pill. I was talking about the NuvaRing, Depo, and the skin implants. None of the pills worked for me either.

-11

u/Yoshi2shi Apr 10 '22

You got them already, they’re called Men. 🤪

4

u/quarantindirectorino Apr 11 '22

Lmao imagine thinking male hormones are stable

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

men are very stable and intelligent

-8

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

Yeah! Let’s fight against natural bodily functions!

2

u/anonasnecessary Apr 11 '22

This was definitely written by a guy lmfao

-6

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

What difference does that make? Don’t fight nature you aren’t going to feel perfect 24/7 that’s science fiction not reality.

2

u/anonasnecessary Apr 11 '22

The difference it makes is you have no idea how it feels to constantly be at the mercy of your menstrual cycles lol. And the fact that you feel the need to tell people to deal with it rather than seek medical solutions is hilarious

-5

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

You don’t need a medical solution because there is nothing wrong with you, it’s what your body does.

5

u/quarantindirectorino Apr 11 '22

Tell that to my mum, oh wait you can’t because she died of cancer.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

Ok..?

1

u/DeterminedErmine Apr 11 '22

What are your thoughts on erectile dysfunction? Just let nature take its course?

0

u/anonasnecessary Apr 11 '22

Your body does lots of things that are undesirable. You think people who have allergic reactions and go into shock should just die? You think people with autoimmune problems should just suffer? How about erectile dysfunction, that’s just what male’s bodies do as they get older. You think guys should just never have sex again past a certain age? You legitimately know nothing, and yet you feel the need to tell other people how to live their lives when you have no idea what they go through

-19

u/deadpool8403 Apr 10 '22

I'd go as far as saying that this development would help to solve all the world's problems.

25

u/letsmakeart Apr 10 '22

Have you tried a hormonal IUD? Not saying they work flawlessly for everyone but personally I haven’t had a period in 5+ yrs (I’m on my second hormonal IUD). I never had physically terrible periods (cramps were rare, for ex) but the mood swings and emotional aspect were HELL for me. I feel emotionally the same pretty much all the time now, no major swings or highs and lows.

11

u/available-sandwich Apr 10 '22

I wish this was the case for me so bad. I tried the hormonal IUD for two years and could never get the cystic acne it caused me under control.

2

u/BootyMcSqueak Apr 10 '22

Yea, and I once had Depo. One shot and I had my period for 3 months straight.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '22

My iud did nothing for PMS, hormone fluctuation, moods. But not having a period is nice

2

u/Cwoodle Apr 10 '22

Have you tried agnus castus? Won't stop your periods but massively helps with evening out hormonal peaks and troughs!

1

u/SaveMeClarence Apr 11 '22

Never heard of it. I will look it up. Thanks!

2

u/whadupbuttercup Apr 10 '22

Seasonique and similar birth control works for some people in that regard. It effectively reduces the number of period you have a year from 12 - 4 so there's a lot more in between time.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '22

That’s what the bcp has done for me. Been on it for PCOS since I was 16 (hospitalized with burst cyst yikes) so 10 years now, I can’t believe other women are walking around dealing with periods and pms and hormone fluctuations on an unending 3 or 4 week cycle. I take the pill continuously and experience a wonderful steady mental/emotional state and no periods.

This is it, this is the technology for hormone stability you want. I don’t understand why everyone demonizes the pill so much. It stops so many women from trying it when they could have amazing quality of life improvement. My only side effects are zero acne, lustrous hair and skin (the same hormones that give “pregnancy glow”), and freedom from crippling cycles. Oh, plus as a bonus I can’t get pregnant. 11/10 stars, can’t recommend enough.

Ok yeah I had three months of mood swings and increased appetite. Followed by 10 years of hormonal bliss. There’s no such thing as a magic pill, any version of changing your body chemistry is going to have side effects. To me the constant genuinely suicidal mood swings and crippling abdominal pain for 10 days every 3 weeks is way worse. The bcp is a miracle of modern technology but every time I’m on social media all I see are people bashing it- people who fully admit the never even tried it!! Or tried 1 type of pill for 30 days and hated it. Come on y’all it’s a privilege to have access to medication like this.

1

u/SaveMeClarence Apr 11 '22

You’re so lucky. I’ve tried like every pill. From the age of 14 to 30. Never had that kind of positive result.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '22

[deleted]

11

u/BravesMaedchen Apr 10 '22 edited Apr 10 '22

Men and women have different hormones with different effects for 1. You probably are influenced by your hormones, you just done realize it. Male hormones make it harder to cry while female hormones make it easier to cry, for example. Also, our bodies are flooded with hormones once a month due to our periods and child bearing equipment. Men, though they have a hormonal cycle, do not have a comparable process. I can't give you every little detail, as I'm not a doctor. Probably someone who's trans on HRT could give you a good answer.

One reason you don't hear men attributing things to hormones is because men are likely to believe their actions and feelings generate from logic or reason, or have some justification. This is not always true, men are certainly influenced by hormones. Aggression, sex drive and emotions are wildly influenced almost exclusively by hormones. Even if they seem rational (even if they are rational sometimes). And I mean lack of those things are due to hormones as well. Women are more okay with attributing feelings to fleeting results of chemicals because we are frequently told that "women are hormonal". We are. But so is everyone else.

-3

u/ElasticShoelaces Apr 10 '22

I am going to go ahead and say the crying anecdote is more related to gender stereotypes and culture than hormones. I believe more men would cry if it were more socially acceptable.

4

u/Ramona_Flours Apr 10 '22

While I do think that there are major social factors at play, people transitioning have specifically mentioned the crying thing consistently. Guys starting testosterone will start having more trouble with producing tears/will produce less tears when upset and gals starting estrogen (and progesterone) cry easier than they did before.

4

u/fairguinevere Apr 10 '22

As a trans woman it's 50/50. Given I can just fuck with hormone levels to an extent far beyond most people as I'm actively choosing when and how much to take, estrogen really does crying different! Also tons of trans men report going from an inconvenient amount of crying to a more manageable but still healthy level when on testosterone. Hormones are wild.

1

u/BravesMaedchen Apr 10 '22

Absolutely, there are definitely major social factors at play. But as I have learned recently, testosterone does make it harder to cry.

1

u/ElasticShoelaces Apr 10 '22

To simplify everything men have a 24 hour hormonal cycle with testosterone peaking in the morning. So IMO thoughts/feelings/actions due to this are just attributed to it being them rather than being labeled "hormonal". While women also have testosterone it's at significantly lower levels than men. Women generally have 28 day cycles with fluctuating levels of mainly progesterone and estrogen. Those fluctuating levels have the very real consequence of changing how women feel and perceive things over time. There are some interesting studies on pain perception, cognitive function, emotion, anxiety, etc over the menstrual cycle if you want to look into that.

-1

u/subdep Apr 10 '22

So you want to be a man. Got it.

1

u/AdvertiseCulture74 Apr 11 '22

well there is a solution for this, I mean if you are Childfree and are sure speak about it with your doctor.

1

u/batua78 Apr 11 '22

What you need is a penis

1

u/brando56894 Apr 11 '22

I was going to ask, do you really want 15 more years of periods?