Mayo Clinic study finds majority of midlife women with menopause symptoms do not seek care
Mayo Clinic
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A new study from Mayo Clinic underscores the widespread impact of menopause symptoms on midlife women — and raises concern that most are navigating this stage of life without medical care to help manage those challenges.
The study, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, was based on responses from nearly 5,000 women ages 45-60 who were surveyed across four Mayo Clinic primary care locations. More than 3 out of 4 respondents experienced menopause symptoms, with many reporting substantial effects on daily life, work productivity and overall well-being.
Despite the availability of safe and effective treatment options, Mayo Clinic researchers found that menopause symptoms remain underrecognized, undertreated and inadequately addressed in the health care system.
Severe symptoms affect daily life, yet few women seek care or receive treatment
More than one-third (34%) of women who were surveyed reported moderate to very severe symptoms. Sleep disturbances and weight gain were among the most common issues reported by more than half of participants.
The most striking finding was that more than 80% of the women who responded to the survey did not seek medical care for their menopause symptoms. While many women said they preferred to manage symptoms on their own, others said that they were too busy or unaware that effective treatments exist. Only about 1 in 4 women were receiving any treatment for menopause symptoms at the time of the survey.
"Menopause is universal for women at midlife, the symptoms are common and disruptive, and yet, few women are receiving care that could help them," says lead author Ekta Kapoor, M.B.B.S., an endocrinologist and menopause specialist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "This gap has real consequences for women's health and quality of life, and it's time we address it more proactively."
Without proper treatment, menopause symptoms can negatively affect sleep, mood, cognition, and productivity at work and at home. The findings underscore the importance of healthcare professionals proactively identifying and managing menopause symptoms in patients who may be struggling with them, the authors said.
Researchers call for proactive care strategies and new tools to close the treatment gap
The study noted that women often do not voluntarily mention concerns about menopause symptoms to their healthcare professional. Mayo Clinic researchers emphasize the need for strategies that destigmatize menopause care and make it more visible and accessible. Efforts are underway to develop questionnaires, digital tools and smartphone apps that help women identify symptoms, learn about treatment options and have more productive discussions with their primary care professionals.
"Our goal is to educate women and healthcare professionals about menopause," Dr. Kapoor says. "By making it easier to recognize and understand symptoms, we can close the gap between need and care — and help midlife women live healthier, more fulfilling lives."
Review the study for a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding. A video of Dr. Kapoor discussing the findings is available.
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About Mayo Clinic Proceedings
One of the premier peer-reviewed clinical journals in general and internal medicine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings is among the most widely read and highly cited scientific publications for physicians. Continuously published since 1926 and celebrating its centennial next year, Mayo Clinic Proceedings is sponsored by Mayo Clinic, guided by its Bold. Forward. vision to transform medicine as the global authority in the care of serious or complex disease. The journal publishes original research, articles and commentary from authors worldwide and has an Impact Factor of 6.7, placing it in the top 10% among general and internal medicine journals.
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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.
Media contact:
Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu
Journal
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Addressing Menopause Symptoms: Barriers and Opportunities for Improvement
Article Publication Date
29-Oct-2025
COI Statement
Dr Kapoor has received consulting fees from Mithra Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharmaceuticals, and Womaness; and has received grant support from Mithra Pharmaceuticals. Dr Kling has received consulting fees from Everday Health as a medical editor; and has received fees or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speaker bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events from Pri-Med and AiCME. The remaining authors report no potential competing interests. Dr Faubion has received honoraria for lectures for PriMed, AiCME, Medscape and consulting fees from Era Women’s Health Platform and Weight Watchers.
Houseplant inspires textured surfaces to mitigate copper IUD corrosion
Laser-engraved microstructure patterns inspired by the golden pothos mitigate the burst release of copper ions, paving the way for safer IUDs
image:
A golden pothos plant (Epipremnum aureum) and a scanning electron microscope image of its surface microstructures. Researchers are taking inspiration from its surface patterns to make a safer copper IUD.
view moreCredit: A golden pothos plant (Epipremnum aureum) and a scanning electron microscope image of its surface microstructures. Researchers are taking inspiration from its surface patterns to make a safer copper IUD. Credit: Liu et al.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2025 – Copper intrauterine devices are a common contraceptive due to their long-acting effects and affordability. However, the first few months of use are associated with several side effects.
When a copper IUD is first implanted in the uterus, it undergoes a chemical reaction with uterine fluid. This reaction corrodes its surface, causing a burst of copper ions, which can lead to symptoms such as menstrual irregularity, increased menstrual cramps, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
In Biointerphases, an AVS journal published by AIP Publishing, researchers from Changchun University and Northeast Normal University took inspiration from a common houseplant to develop a better, safer copper IUD.
The researchers noticed that pothos leaves are hydrophobic — a distinctive microstructure on the leaf’s surface causes water droplets to ball up and slide off.
The team realized that mimicking this pattern on the surface of a copper IUD might repel uterine fluid. Less contact between the surface and fluid would decrease corrosion, releasing fewer copper ions and mitigating side effects.
Under a scanning electron microscope, the researchers observed that the dried pothos leaf was covered with a system of ridges and hexagonal valleys. Researchers quantified this pattern by calculating the average diameter of the ridges, the depths of the valleys, and the angle between each ridge and valley. Then, the simplified, bioinspired pattern was engraved onto the surface of the IUD using lasers.
“The pothos structure offered a balance of simplicity, stability, and effectiveness, making it well suited for our goal of improving copper IUDs,” said author Junbo Liu.
The researchers saw the engraved surface repelled water significantly better than the traditional IUD. After testing the corrosion of the IUD, researchers found that it released fewer copper ions into simulated uterine fluid. Cell viability and cytotoxicity tests determined potential tissue responses to cells in contact with the IUD.
Compared to a traditional copper IUD, the plant-inspired device is more hydrophobic and more corrosion-resistant, releases fewer copper ions, causes less cell death, and increases cell viability. The laser texturing technique is scalable and avoids supply-chain risks associated with the creation of mixed-metal IUDs and the degradation of polymer IUD coatings.
The team plans to optimize their prototype for larger-scale laser patterning and efficient production and to conduct in vivo studies to measure the long-term behavior of their IUD.
“On a broader level, this study demonstrates how surface engineering inspired by natural structures can provide innovative solutions to biomedical challenges, bridging materials science with women’s health care,” said Liu.
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The article “A femtosecond laser-textured copper surface for reducing initial copper ion burst release in intrauterine devices” is authored by Junbo Liu, Lili Zhou, Li Liu, and Yuwei Li. It will appear in Biointerphases on Oct. 28, 2025 (DOI: 10.1116/6.0004923). After that date, it can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0004923.
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
Biointerphases, an AVS journal published by AIP Publishing, emphasizes quantitative characterization of biomaterials and biological interfaces. As an interdisciplinary journal, a strong foundation of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, theory, and/or modelling is incorporated into originated articles, reviews, and opinionated essays. See https://pubs.aip.org/avs/bip.
ABOUT AVS
AVS is an interdisciplinary, professional society with some 4,500 members worldwide. Founded in 1953, AVS hosts local and international meetings, publishes five journals, serves members through awards, training and career services programs, and supports networking among academic, industrial, government, and consulting professionals. Its members come from across the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, engineering, and business and share a common interest in basic science, technology development and commercialization related to materials, interfaces, and processing.
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Journal
Biointerphases
Article Title
A femtosecond laser-textured copper surface for reducing initial copper ion burst release in intrauterine devices
Article Publication Date
28-Oct-2025
Drinking for two? Prenatal alcohol exposure rewires the brain and fuels compulsive behavior, new study finds
Research reveals how alcohol exposure can significantly impair key brain cells and circuits in offspring.
Texas A&M University
image:
Dr. Jun Wang
Professor, Department of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics
Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine
view moreCredit: Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a leading cause of neurodevelopmental disorders, may affect as many as 1 in 20 school-aged children in the United States. Despite its prevalence, the exact brain circuit responsible for FASD’s hallmark symptom — cognitive inflexibility, or the inability to adjust thoughts and behaviors to new environments — has largely remained a mystery.
A new study led by Dr. Jun Wang and co-authored by Dr. Rajesh Miranda, professors at Texas A&M University’s Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine, observed that alcohol consumption both during pregnancy and around the time of birth significantly impairs an offspring’s brain development — particularly in regions that govern decision-making — while also increasing the risk of compulsive alcohol use later in life.
“It’s exciting,” Wang said. “We’ve identified a specific brain cell in offspring affected by early alcohol exposure that’s directly linked to problems with flexible thinking and impulse control, and this gives us a clear target for better understanding and eventually developing more effective treatments of FASD.”
Targeted treatments and a call for awareness
By pinpointing the exact brain circuits affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, the study opens possibilities for targeted therapies aimed at restoring normal cognitive and behavioral flexibility in individuals with FASD.
"Our findings represent a major step forward in FASD research. By uncovering how early alcohol exposure changes brain chemistry, we’re able to move from describing symptoms to transitioning into treating root causes," Wang said.
The findings also reinforce longstanding public health messages about the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy or around the time of birth.
“Even limited alcohol consumption during sensitive developmental windows can have profound and lifelong consequences,” Wang said.
Neuron damage in key brain regions
Published in Neuropharmacology and supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the study explored the impact of early alcohol exposure on a specific type of brain cell known as cholinergic interneurons, or CINs — important regulators of learning, behavioral flexibility and impulse control within the brain’s decision-making hub, the striatum
“CINs are like the conductors of the brain’s decision-making orchestra,” Wang explained. “They are largely responsible for the decision-making network in the brain.”
Using high-resolution imaging techniques, the team not only discovered a sharp reduction in the number of CINs in prenatal alcohol-exposed offspring, but they also observed a marked decrease in their firing activity and release of acetylcholine, an essential chemical for learning and adaptive behavior.
“Alcohol exposure during pregnancy or around the time of birth disrupts these conductors,” Wang said. “This impairs the brain’s ability to make critical decisions, learn from feedback and adjust to change.”
These disruptions and deficits help explain why individuals with FASD struggle with cognitive flexibility.
“Cognitive flexibility is our mental ability to learn, adapt and adjust to new or unexpected situations,” Wang said. “It can be significantly impaired in FASD groups.”
The lack of cognitive flexibility was clearly demonstrated in behavioral experiments when the researchers trained and compared two groups—one prenatal alcohol-exposed offspring, one control — to press two distinct levers, each associated with a different food reward.
When the levers were reversed, the prenatal alcohol-exposed group struggled to adjust their responses, continuing to press the old lever despite the change.
“This highlights how prenatal alcohol exposure can have lasting effects on a brain’s flexibility and adaptability to new environments,” Wang said.
From brain chemistry to real-world behavior
Beyond brain changes, the researchers explored how early alcohol exposure might influence behavior later in life — specifically compulsive alcohol drinking, a known risk factor for FASD populations.
Strikingly, they found that the prenatal alcohol-exposed offspring showed compulsive drinking in adulthood, continuing to drink alcohol even when it was mixed with a bitter substance designed to make it unpalatable.
"When key decision-making brain cells are compromised, they don’t just stop at brain chemistry. They manifest in real-world behaviors, like addiction and compulsive behavior," Wang said.
Urgency for prevention, emphasis on intervention
By identifying specific brain circuits disrupted by early alcohol exposure, the research highlights the importance of early prevention, intervention and education of alcohol use during pregnancy and the perinatal period.
“This is a preventable disorder,” Wang emphasized. “There is no safe amount, no safe time, to consume alcohol during pregnancy.”
As the research team continues to uncover brain mechanisms behind FASD, the message is clear: alcohol and pregnancy don’t mix.
For more information about Wang, visit his faculty page.
Journal
Neuropharmacology
Article Title
Perinatal and prenatal alcohol exposure impairs striatal cholinergic function and cognitive flexibility in adult offspring
