Can we delay menopause + toxic tampons + Dr Ruth

A short newsletter on women's health and innovation

Dear friends,

I had a conversation with an author I greatly admire recently, Nir Eyal, and he urged me to start a newsletter. Challenge accepted! As you know, my book The Vagina Business is coming out in September and I’d like to amplify the conversation around women’s health innovation.

First off, Flo Health has become Europe’s first femtech unicorn–and I’d like to point out that the period tracking app was founded by four dudes. They’ve raised more money than any other cycle tracker.

My plan is to send a newsletter every 2 weeks or so. As some of you know, I have a 5-month-old baby boy, so it’ll be short and sweet. What I’ll do is I’ll comment on: a story, a study and a quote.

Story: Is delaying menopause the key to longevity? – NY Times

The thing to remember is that our ovaries are not just responsible for reproduction but many aspects of our health—prolonging their function could improve longevity in women. 

I like to keep an eye on how close we actually are to being able to delay menopause: Oviva Therapeutics, is testing a pharmaceutical version of the Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) (on cats and mice) to see if it can reduce how many eggs are lost.

A clinical trial at Columbia University is using an immunosuppressive drug called rapamycin (normally used to prevent organ transplant rejection) which seems to be promising for some women.

Meanwhile, researchers at Cambridge University are working on identifying the genetic drivers behind menopause onset.

But do women actually want to delay their menopause? I spoke to Professor Joyce Harper at Decoding and she said that menopausal women in her research are glad to have stopped their period. I then spoke to Laura Minquini of AthenaDAO who pointed out that there’s a generational difference: those who haven’t had it yet want to delay it, and those who’ve had it--don’t.

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

Study: Toxic tampons?

I’m sure you’ve seen that metals including arsenic and lead have been found in tampons (including organic ones). I was thrilled to see this study! Why thrilled? Because it’s the first of its kind since the invention of the modern tampon in 1931. But are tampons actually toxic?

The sample size was small (60 samples taken from 30 tampons) though metals were found across all brands. (I noticed that the researchers don’t name any of the brands they’ve analysed—which tells you something about the limitations of academic power in the face of corporations.)

Reactions have ranged from those who wonder whether it’s time to stop using tampons, to those calling the study “scare tactics” (because the tampons in the study were “microwave-acid digested” something a vagina doesn’t do).

Some have noted that the level of lead found in the tampons, for instance, is miniscule (120 ng/g). But in comparison, the safety limit for lead in tap water is 15 ng/g and for bottled water it’s 5 ng/g. Then again, it all depends on volume. As Dr Andrea Love points out, if you drink 2 liters of water a day, the lead levels you consume daily might be between 10 and 32 times higher than the lead detected in a tampon.

At this point, we don’t actually know whether those metals are released from the tampons—and that’s crucial. But we do know that vaginal skin is 10x more absorbent than other kinds of skin. And so far, there’s no level of lead that is known to be safe in tampons.

It’s not just tampons. Forever chemicals (PFAS) have been found in period pads and period underwear. When we think about products, we worry most about what’s in us, then what’s on us, and finally, what’s around us. With period products, there needs to be more transparency and more regulation.

Quote: “Teach both boys and girls about menstruation, especially now that girls are menstruating earlier and earlier.” -- Dr Ruth – thank you for your pioneering life, work and wisdom!