Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist explains the health benefits of menopause

For most women, menopause is a natural phase of life and part of biological ageing. While the symptoms that go with it may be challenging, this week new science research finds that the benefits of menopause probably outweigh the hot flashes and weight gain.

To find out more about menopause, researchers looked at five whale species that go through menopause and compared them to 27 related species to see if they could find any insights, and their findings were published this week in the journal Nature.

Menopause is rare in the animal world, and only a handful of mammals experience it, including humans, one population of chimpanzee and some whales.

It’s much more typical for female animals to stay fertile and keep producing eggs up until the end of their life – helping to increase the chance that their genes will be passed down to the next generation.

The scientist looked at whales that go through menopause including killer whales (Orcas), false killer whales, beluga whales, short-finned pilot whales and narwhals and found that when compared to related species like dolphins and sperm whales, the menopausal female whales lived for 40 years beyond their predicted lifespan.

The researchers noted that menopause occurred in social species and found that non-fertile grandmother whales took part in babysitting calves and shared food with their grandbaby whales. The grandmother whales also led their pods on long journeys to find food if it was scarce.

It seems that rather than compete with their daughters for the same resources by being pregnant at the same time, menopausal whales increase their ability to pass down more of their genes by supporting their daughters to bring up their genetic grandbaby whales. In exchange for this grandmother help, the older female is able to enjoy her postmenopausal time by living for an extra 40 years.

While this study was on whales – not humans, the social dynamics and projected lifetimes are very similar. For example, female killer whales (like humans) can breed until their 40’s but can live until their 90’s! These numbers aren’t far off what a human female goes through which could lead to a conclusion that while menopause symptoms are tough – they might be buying you an extra 40 years of life.

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