Let’s Hack the Pause Out of Menopause!

Can you imagine what it would be like to get up and go to work if you had persistent insomnia and couldn’t sleep every night?

Ever been badly jetlagged and unable to concentrate well? What about going about your day with a brain fog that it made it difficult to remember things day after day?

Know that feeling of panic and anxiety before having to get up and speak in front of a large audience? What if that struck at any time?

What if you entirely lost your sex drive? Wouldn’t you want something to help?

It might surprise some of you to learn that all of the above are symptoms of menopause, that transition in life that every woman (with few exceptions) will go through.

We know… we know… menopause on Hackster.io? For some, the mere mention is enough for people to scroll by. But, just give us a few sentences to explain why we decided to do this, and how you can help millions of people.

Here at AARP Innovation Labs, we’re fond of saying that menopause impacts 100% of the population. Why? Because menopause isn't just a hard time for women — it's also rough for the men in their lives.

You may have heard about hot flashes, but there are actually more than 35 symptoms associated with menopause — things like insomnia, panic, brain fog, hair loss, acne, mood swings, night sweats, and loss of libido. In fact, there are so many symptoms and the transition is so misunderstood that women often don’t even realize they are in perimenopause (the main event of menopause, when all of these symptoms come on). Everyone’s experience is different, and there is no real way to predict which symptoms you will get nor how mild or strong they will be. It can start as early as in a woman’s late-30s, but more commonly occur in her early to mid-40s.

In a recent survey, we saw that the men were impacted as well — understandable if your partner, mother, sister, best friend, etc. is suddenly irritable, forgetful, or in the case of a partner, lacking sexual desire. Did we mention that this transition can take up to 10 YEARS or more?

So, what’s a menopausal woman to do? There are medical solutions, such as hormone replacement, but most women choose not to go this route, for a variety of reasons. That leaves them with a handful of other solutions like supplements, fans, cooling pajamas, and sleep aids. The exciting thing is that femtech is exploding right now, an industry that is expected to be worth $50 billion by 2025. It’s currently heavily weighted toward the fertility years, however some savvy engineers are beginning to develop tech to address the symptoms of menopause. Good thing, too, since we found that 93% of menopausal women are interested in a tech solution to help manage symptoms.

Join us in tackling a problem that impacts 1 BILLION women worldwide (and 1 in 3 American women).You might already have something that could work as is, or be adapted to address one or more of the 35 symptoms. The women in your life will thank you.