Menopause is a natural part of ageing for women, when hormone levels change and periods stop. But for many women, it brings a wave of symptoms – hot flushes, night sweats, irritability, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Between 50-88% of women experience these symptoms, and some may last up to ten years after menopause.

We already know air pollution is bad for health. It can shorten life expectancy, raise the risk of heart disease, and even bring on menopause earlier. But could it also be making menopause symptoms worse?

Physical activity can help reduce menopause symptoms, but it’s unclear if the benefits are the same for women living in areas with different levels of air pollution. Other factors like body composition and cardiorespiratory health may also play a role.

In this edition of Tap into Research, we look at a study exploring the relationship between physical activity and menopause symptoms, and whether air pollution, obesity, and cardiorespiratory health make a difference. It involved 243 women from areas with both low and high air pollution.

How were smartphones and wearables used in the study?

Over two weeks, participants wore a Fitbit to track their daily step count. At the same time, they used a smartphone app to record their menopause symptoms.

Every evening, between 8 pm and 10 pm, participants used the app to rate how much 11 symptoms had bothered them that day. These symptoms included:

• Psychological symptoms like low mood and irritability
• Physical symptoms like hot flushes, sleep problems, and joint pain
• Urogenital symptoms like bladder problems and vaginal dryness.

What did the study find?

Women living in areas with more air pollution reported more physical symptoms, like hot flushes and trouble sleeping, suggesting that living in highly polluted areas may make some menopause symptoms worse.

Interestingly, when women in these more highly polluted areas did more physical activity than usual, they reported fewer hot flushes.

This study found no link between obesity or fitness and menopause symptoms, which means other things like stress, hormones, or the environment might be more important. However, other studies have found links between higher body mass index (BMI) and menopause symptoms.

Overall, more physical activity was linked to less severe hot flushes, especially for women living in places with high air pollution.

Why does this matter?

These findings could help give better advice to women going through menopause. Knowing that being more active might help reduce hot flushes means physical activity could be a useful way to help manage symptoms.

The study also showed that menopause symptoms could be worse for women living in areas with more air pollution. Understanding this link better in the future could help researchers and healthcare providers find new ways to support women during menopause.

Read the paper: Physical activity and menopausal symptoms: evaluating the contribution of obesity, fitness, and ambient air pollution status

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