According to a recent report from Flo Health and the University of Virginia, perimenopause is sneaking up on women earlier than ever — sometimes a decade before menopause officially crashes the party.
Men with lower testosterone looking at women getting hot flashes at 30:
Researchers found that in a sample of 4,432 American women, more than half of the women in the 30-35 age bracket (!!) had "moderate to severe menopause symptoms using the validated Menopause Rating Scale (MRS)."
'We had a significant number of women who are typically thought to be too young for perimenopause tell us that they have high levels of perimenopause-related symptoms,' said Liudmila Zhaunova, PhD, director of science at Flo. 'It's important that we keep doing research to understand better what is happening with these women so that they can get the care they need.'
Researchers are pointing fingers at modern delights like stress, obesity, and those pesky environmental toxins we've all come to love (thanks Bill Gates). And young women aren't too keen on visiting their local doctors (who can blame them?).
'Despite high symptom burden, younger women are far less likely to seek medical help for perimenopause. The study found that while 51.5% of women over 56 consulted a doctor, only 4.3% of 30-35-year-olds did. However, among those who sought medical advice, over a quarter of 30-35-year-olds and 40% of 36-40-year-olds were diagnosed as perimenopausal.'
People had thoughts:
RFK right about now...
While women's hormones are doing the cha-cha into chaos, men aren't exactly thriving either.
Testosterone levels and sperm counts are tanking faster than a bad sitcom — studies show a jaw-dropping 50-60% drop over recent decades.
Fewer swimmers, less mojo, and now perimenopause gate-crashing early? It's a fertility apocalypse. Birth rates are nosediving globally, and experts are sweating bullets.
A study published in the journal Human Reproduction Update, based on 153 estimates from men who were probably unaware of their fertility, suggests that the average sperm concentration fell from an estimated 101.2m per ml to 49.0m per ml between 1973 and 2018 - a drop of 51.6%. Total sperm counts fell by 62.3% during the same period.
With women's reproductive windows shrinking and men's contributions fading, humanity might just sarcastic-slow-clap itself into a population crisis.
Who needs sci-fi when reality's this wild?
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