The holiday season brings comfort and joy in the form of indulgence, irregular routines and disrupted sleep, causing metabolic mayhem. For most of us, these shifts are fleeting. But they offer a powerful window into something far more enduring: the metabolic and emotional changes women experience throughout the menopause journey.
Previous work we’ve done in menopause revealed that many symptoms emerge before women recognise they’re in it. By understanding how these early experiences shape behaviour and identity, we highlighted clear opportunities for pharma to engage women more meaningfully across every stage of the journey.
Dive into our case study here.
While the holidays give us a temporary glimpse of slowed metabolism and disrupted sleep, menopause represents a sustained biological transition driven by declining estrogen. These changes make weight regulation, energy levels and emotional equilibrium harder to maintain, but because of physiology vs. lifestyle.
A few painful truths…
♦ Physiological shifts can start up to 10 years before menopause
♦ Decline in resting metabolic rate means fewer calories burned
♦ Fat distribution shifts toward visceral fat
♦ Sleep disruption influences hunger and satiety hormones
These realities are reshaping how women seek support, and one clear area of interest is GLP-1 receptor agonists. Women aged 50–64 are among the fastest-growing group exploring or using GLP-1s to help manage appetite, insulin response and visceral fat. It’s a signal that metabolic symptoms are driving earlier help-seeking and new expectations of care.
For pharma, this represents an opportunity to elevate support by:
♦ Educating, guiding, and empowering women with solutions that reflect both the biological and emotional realities of menopause.
♦ Building clearer evidence in menopausal populations, so therapies are tested and optimised for midlife physiology.
♦ Embedding metabolic treatments into holistic menopause care that also addresses sleep, mood, cardiometabolic risk and bone health.
♦ Reframing metabolic change as a biological symptom, helping reduce stigma and self-blame.
♦ Providing digital and/or community scaffolding so treatment feels supported, practical and sustainable and less like a solo uphill climb.
Let’s make 2026 the year women’s health receives the empathy and insight it deserves.
We’d love to partner with you, get in touch:
Europe: Karen Douglas, Commercial Director, Healthcare Europe (kdouglas@buzzback.com)
US: Jonathan Weiser, Healthcare Practice Lead, (jweiser@buzzback.com)
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