Menopause, a natural physiological transition marking the end of a woman’s reproductive years, typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. While commonly associated with hormonal shifts and fertility cessation, its broader health implications are often underestimated. One of the most overlooked aspects is the intersection between menopause and the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—a growing concern that deserves urgent attention from clinicians, policymakers, and public health stakeholders.

Hormonal Changes: A Silent Catalyst for NCDs

The onset of menopause brings a significant decline in estrogen levels. This hormone, while primarily linked to reproductive health, also plays a crucial protective role in regulating cardiovascular, metabolic, skeletal, and immune systems. Its gradual withdrawal sets off a cascade of physiological changes, many of which contribute to an increased risk of developing chronic conditions.

Cardiovascular Disease: A Rising Threat Post-Menopause

Estrogen supports vascular health by enhancing nitric oxide production, which promotes blood vessel flexibility. It also maintains a favorable lipid profile, keeping LDL (bad cholesterol) low and HDL (good cholesterol) high. When estrogen declines, these protections fade, leading to arterial stiffness, plaque buildup, and rising blood pressure—factors that significantly elevate the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke. Indeed, within a decade after menopause, cardiovascular risk in women sees a steep upward trajectory.

Metabolic Shifts and Bone Vulnerability

Estrogen improves insulin sensitivity and helps maintain stable blood glucose levels. Its absence contributes to increased abdominal fat, insulin resistance, and elevated blood sugar, all of which are precursors to type 2 diabetes. Additionally, estrogen is vital for bone health, as it slows down the breakdown of bone tissue. After menopause, accelerated bone loss can lead to osteoporosis and fragility fractures, particularly in the spine, hips, and wrists.

Mental Health: A Hidden Dimension

The psychological effects of menopause are often underestimated but are no less significant. Estrogen influences the brain’s neurotransmitters—serotonin,dopamine,and norepinephrine—essential for emotional regulation and cognitive performance. As hormone levels drop, many women experience:
– Increased susceptibility to depression and anxiety
– Mood fluctuations and reduced stress resilience
– Difficulty sleeping and diminished cognitive clarity

These symptoms are often exacerbated by external stressors such as caregiving responsibilities, career changes, and evolving family dynamics, potentially leading to decreased self-esteem and emotional burnout.

An Emerging Concern: Cognitive Decline

Recent scientific inquiries have started to draw connections between menopause and an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Estrogen’s role in protecting brain cells from oxidative stress and inflammation is only beginning to be fully understood, but its implications highlight the importance of proactive cognitive health strategies during midlife.

A Missed Public Health Opportunity

Despite the established link between menopause and the increased risk for several NCDs—including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and mental health disorders—this life stage remains largely absent from mainstream public health programming. Menopause is rarely addressed as a distinct health milestone requiring preventive care, leaving many women unaware of the risks and without access to timely interventions.

This gap reflects broader gender disparities in healthcare and reveals a pressing need for systemic change. Integrating menopause into the public health narrative offers a pivotal opportunity to reduce the long-term burden of chronic illness and promote healthy aging.

Towards a Gender-Responsive Health Agenda

Public health strategies must begin to see menopause not as a private medical issue but as a societal health turning point. This requires:
– Risk-based screenings for hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and bone density
– Culturally appropriate counselling on lifestyle changes, physical activity, and nutrition
– Access to mental health services, tailored to midlife emotional and cognitive challenges
– Educational initiatives that empower women with knowledge about their changing bodies and health risks

A lifespan approach to women’s health, beyond the reproductive years, can help build more equitable and effective health systems.

Menopause is far more than the end of menstruation—it is a critical inflection point in a woman’s health journey. By recognizing the strong link between menopause and non-communicable diseases, we can shift from reactive treatment to proactive prevention. It’s time we brought menopause to the forefront of public health discourse and created supportive ecosystems that enable women to thrive—not just survive—through this transition and beyond.

Author’s biography

Dr. Shazina Saeed is a physician-scientist with expertise in clinical genetics and public health, currently serving as Assistant Professor and PhD Coordinator at Amity University, Noida.

The post Menopause and NonCommunicable Diseases: The Overlooked Nexus appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

Intermittent fasting (IF) means intervals of restricted food intake for prolonged periods of time. There are different methods of IF with different consequences on health. IF has emerged as an alternative dietary intervention to calorie restriction. IF has analogous benefits in reducing the body weight, improving glucose homeostasis and lipid profiles, and also has added anti-inflammatory effects. Potential mechanisms of IF are reducing oxidative stress, collaborating with the circadian system and inducing ketogenesis. Let us know in detail some of the facts and tips related to IF……….

1. What are the different ways of practicing intermittent fasting?
The following are the various ways of doing IF:

A. 12 hours fasting per day: It involves a 12 hours fasting window every day (Example: 7.00 pm to 7.00 am fasting).

B. 16 hours fasting (Time restricted fasting/16:8 diet): This is the most popular method. It involves abstinence from eating for a 16 hour period and consuming food in the remaining 8 hours (Example: Finish dinner by 8.00 pm, skip breakfast the next day and don’t eat till noon). In this method, upto 16 hours of fasting can be done by males and 14 hours of fasting by females. Those who are not benefited from the 12 hours fasting method can choose this method.
The various advantages of this method are:
i. It is more effective than calorie restriction for weight loss and glycemic control in Type II diabetes mellitus.
ii. Reduces body weight, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, interleukin-6 and TNF-alpha in prediabetics.
iii. This method is feasible for older adults.
iv. It improves sleep.

C. Fasting two days a week (Periodic fasting/ 5:2 diet): In this method, one can consume optimal quantity of healthy food for 5 days and on two non-consecutive days, the person can consume around 500-700 calories of 25 % of regular daily caloric intake.

The advantages of this method are:

i. Safe in Type II diabetes mellitus.

ii. Corrects hypertension.

iii. Helps to decrease weight and HbA1C levels

iv. Decreases visceral fat, insulin resistance, liver steatosis and inflammatory markers. 

D. 24-hour fast per week (Eat-Stop-Eat diet): In this method, fasting is done for 1 or 2 days strictly per week. During the fasting days, no food is consumed for 24 hours. However, the person on fasting can consume water, tea or other calorie-free fluids. These people can resume back to routine eating habits on the non-fasting days. This method reduces the overall calorie intake but does not limit the particular foods that the individual consumes.

E. Alternate day fasting method: Fasting is done on every alternate day. The calorie intake should be only 25% of the normal daily calorie consumption on fasting days. On other days, the person can consume the routine diet. This method is good for weight loss without any increased risk of developing eating disorders. However, it is an extreme form of IF and may not be acceptable for beginners or those with certain medical conditions. It is also difficult to maintain this type of fasting for a longer term.

F. Warrior diet: It is a relatively extreme form of IF. Only a few servings of raw fruits and vegetables are consumed during the 20 hours fasting window period. This is usually followed by a large meal at night. The eating window is only 4 hours and the diet includes plenty of vegetables, proteins, healthy fats and carbohydrates. This method is good only for people who have already tried other methods of IF. 

2. Which is the best option for beginners?
12 hours fasting a day is a good option for beginners as it has various advantages such as:
i. Fasting window is less.
ii. Fasting happens mostly during sleep.
iii. Same number of calories can be consumed every day.

3. What is the IF menu?

The IF menu includes a mixture of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, proteins (meat and seafood).

• Vegetables: Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, onions, garlic, lettuce, bell peppers, eggplant, potatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes, kale, green beans, cucumber.
• Fruits: Apples, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, bananas, grapes, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, kiwi, oranges, watermelon, honeydew melon, lime and lemon.

• Whole grains: Rice, oats, corn
• Nuts and seeds: Almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds.
• Protein:
• Meats: Chicken, pork, beef, eggs, turkey

• Seafoods: Shrimp, tuna, salmon, crab, sardines, scallops, tilapia
• Fluids: Water, herbal tea, moderate amounts of black tea or coffee.

4. What are the possible advantages of IF on health?

• IF improves cardiovascular health by reducing obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes.
• Weight reduction helps in lowering obesity-related diseases such as sleep apnea, diabetes and cancer.
• IF is very effective for reducing inflammation and conditions associated with inflammation such as Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis and stroke.
• Enhancement of chemotherapy effects.
• Tumor suppression
• Mood disorders improvement
• Chronic pain improvement

5. What are the potential risks and side effects of IF on health?

IF may cause weakness, hunger, dehydration, headaches, difficulty in concentrating, low blood pressure, fatigue, irritability, nausea, hypoglycemia, constipation, insomnia or alteration in sleep quality, undernutrition, loss of fat free mass, hyperphagia (post fasting).

6. Who should not practice IF?

• Elderly frail people
• Underweight people
• Those under 18 years of age
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women
• Type I diabetes people who are on insulin
• Those with eating disorders
• Those with kidney, liver, heart diseases
• Those with immunodeficiency

7. What are the tips to stick to an IF plan?

       The following tips help people to stick to an IF plan:

• Resting and relaxing: Strenuous activities should be avoided on fasting days. Light exercise like yoga may be beneficial.
• Stay hydrated: Make sure to drink plenty of water or other calorie-free drinks. This helps to ensure that the body gets enough electrolytes.
• Avoid thinking about food: On the fasting days, avoid thinking about food and plan plenty of distractions such as going out for a movie or keeping yourself busy with office work or house chores.
• Choose nutrient-rich foods after the fasting period: Eat foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients to keep the blood sugar levels steady and prevent nutritional deficiencies.
• Increase the taste without the calories: Season the meals liberally so that the foods are low in calories yet full of flavor. This helps to reduce feelings of hunger.

 Author’s biography

Dr. Shubha. H.V is the Associate professor,Department of pathology,Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore.

The post INTERMITTENT FASTING: The most popular and emerging concept of the modern times appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

India is a diverse country, whether the diversity is in culture, religion, eating habits, or exercising habits. Earlier, there was this notion that if you eat healthy and exercise daily, your heart will stay healthy. The heart is an organ that needs to beat continuously so that every organ can get oxygenated blood to function. To let it function properly, one needs to take care of it. The effects of your daily lifestyle have a major impact on your heart, and along with that, heredity and environmental factors play a role in heart health. If you compare the day-to-day lives of 21st and 20th-century individuals, a massive difference in their eating and working habits will be inevitable. The difference in time showed the fast-paced life evolution where exercise habits have also changed. There were gyms earlier as well, but for boxers or sports people. Common people’s physical labor was cycling or walking to anywhere they went.

Most of them didn’t have machinery such as bikes, cars, etc. But physical exercise is not the only way to protect your heart; it involves multiple factors. Let’s see what the other factors are. One of them is eating healthy, which is another way to reduce consumption of processed food, less sugar, and less saturated fats or trans fats, as these will gradually lead to increased obesity, blockages in heart vessels, and the heart having to struggle for every beat, eventually leading to a heart attack.

The environment also has its effects on overall health as well as on heart health. Most people are aware of these facts but choose to ignore them. Some do care; they eat healthy and they workout, but what went wrong was that they got a heart attack. Sometimes, when everything is right, there is something wrong hiding behind that right. Changes in the working lifestyle and trying to be ahead of the competitive nature of today’s generation have left no space to relax and calm down. This not only affects their health but also their relationships with family and loved ones.

Thus, a lot of emotions are piling up in the form of stress, which is one of the major reasons for heart attacks in people who have a balanced diet and exercise. Not only that, but stress – smoking and alcohol consumption—and lack of sleep also contribute to it. For adults, at least – 8 hours of sound sleep is required.

“Eat right, sleep tight, and exercise light” should be the new life mantra for this generation”. Apart from this yearly checkup of your heart, invest in certain basic tests like an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram, and a stress test (exercise tolerance test (ETT) or treadmill test) and certain advanced tests like cardiac CT, chest x- ray and Thallium scan (myocardial perfusion scintigraphy) as per your physician’s recommendations on the basis of your blood test and symptoms, if any. So, you can make it a habit to visit your physician once or twice a year to keep up with your heart health.

This discovery suggests we should change public health messages. Instead of pushing intense daily exercise for everyone, we should focus on personalized, moderate, and varied physical activities. It encourages us to tune into our bodies, to find equilibrium between activity and rest, and to recognize that health includes physical, mental, and emotional aspects. By doing this, we aim for a healthier life that reduces risks and embraces overall well-being. It also shows how important
scientific research is in updating our knowledge about what’s best for our health. “Fit to Fail” reminds us that real health is not simple.

Author’s biography

Dr. Soumya Singh, Head of Partnerships at InnovatioCuris, is a healthcare expert with a postgraduate degree in Health and Hospital Management and a background in dentistry. Her articles provide valuable insights into healthcare administration

The post Fit to Fail: Exploring the Reality of Heart Attacks in Daily Exercisers appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.