草莓污视频导航

Rhonda Yacey works out at the Faculty of Kinesiology, 草莓污视频导航.
Community advisory board member Rhonda Yacey works out at the Faculty of Kinesiology. Riley Brandt, 草莓污视频导航

Oct. 12, 2024

New research collaboration aims to offer evidence-based wellness solutions for women during menopause

MOMENTUM kicks off with a call for women to join its research cohort

Imagine there鈥檚 a medical condition out there that impacts every part of a body 鈥 organs, tissue, brain, gut, bones. Symptoms from this condition could include things like sleep problems, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, digestive issues, bone loss, or depression and anxiety.聽

It鈥檚 menopause. One of the most under-studied areas in health care, which is a significant limitation for females to receive effective treatment. And there has been almost no focus on 鈥渨ellness鈥 during menopause 鈥斅爌re, peri (during) 鈥斅爋r post.聽

For more than 10 million Canadian women, pre-, peri- and post-menopakinesiuse causes wide-ranging symptoms beyond stereotypical hot flashes, things that impact their quality of life for decades. A new research project at the 草莓污视频导航, MOMENTUM, aims to tackle menopause head-on and give women the tools and resources they need to live a better life and effectively advocate for their own health.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 about so much more than our ovaries shutting down or the end of a period. The hormonal changes in menopause impact everything, from cardiovascular health, bones, and brains, to our social and emotional well-being. And it hasn鈥檛 been holistically addressed with a focus on how women can live well,鈥 says PhD, one of MOMENTUM鈥檚 principal investigators and a professor in the and in the Department of Oncology at the (颁厂惭).听

The project is getting its initial support from the which is aimed at accelerating research to help people live healthy and active lives, with a specific focus on women and girls.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 no standard of care. I started talking to my colleagues to see if they would be interested in developing a cohort study to follow women over time and gather the evidence needed to better inform wellness resources, interventions, and care for all women. We are so fortunate to have the Joan Snyder fund get us started,鈥 says Culos-Reed. She is also a member of the聽, the聽, and the聽聽at the CSM.

Better care for all women

The MOMENTUM team is collaborative, with 11 core team members from the Faculty of Kinesiology. Each team member brings a unique perspective within the project, from bone health, microbiome and gut, injury and concussion, exercise physiology, metabolic health, dance, reproductive history and brain aging, psychology, and the intersections of cancer and menopause.聽

They have developed a cohort study with a broad range of assessments, aiming to build a database of participants in the 40鈥60-year age range who will be re-tested annually. Women鈥檚 data will be provided to them in summary form from their assessments and can be used to advocate for their health and wellness during their menopause experiences.聽

Rhonda Yacey is a member of MOMENTUM鈥檚 community advisory board. She shares that her mother went through menopause in her early 40s, a time when many women are told they are too young to be 鈥渋n menopause.鈥澛

鈥淎s women, our bodies are not studied enough, and we often mask our pain and what we may be feeling at the time. I think a lot of times, we blow things off as it鈥檚 just 鈥榯hat time of month,鈥 but it could be a symptom of a larger thing,鈥 she says.聽

鈥淚 found things out through this project related to my own severe pain that I wish I could have known in my 20s 鈥 maybe I could have done different things that would have helped me now.鈥

Rhonda Yacey, MOMENTUM community advisory board member, centre, with principal investigator Nicole Culos-Reed, left, and assistant professor Leigh Gabel.

Rhonda Yacey, MOMENTUM community advisory board member, centre, with Nicole Culos-Reed, a principal investigator, left, and assistant professor Leigh Gabel.

The future of MOMENTUM

Future stages of the project will get into community spaces to reach women who might otherwise be left out of the study due to time restrictions or being unable to access the testing at 草莓污视频导航.

鈥淲e are going to bring the study where women are in the community, building partnerships to hold testing at different times of the day, to help women in equity-deserving groups be part of the MOMENTUM cohort,鈥 Culos-Reed says. Translating materials into multiple languages and meeting with Indigenous communities to co-create pathways is also part of the long-term vision.聽

The project aims to move their work quickly into practice, developing resources that are evidence-based that support meaningful wellness for women. Culos-Reed is hopeful the evidence could also inform health-care provider education, ensuring that women have access to 鈥渂est evidence鈥 to make their informed health and wellness decisions during menopause.聽

鈥淗ow impactful would it be if our evidence could start to inform what health-care providers are taught?鈥 says Culos-Reed. 鈥淲e will have participants completing these comprehensive assessments across the menopause journey on physical activity levels, brain health, bone health, relationship to gut microbiome, emotional and social well-being 鈥 all data that can truly change what we know about wellness during menopause. Our team鈥檚 hope is that women鈥檚 health becomes a research pillar here at the 草莓污视频导航.鈥澛

In her role on the advisory board, Yacey hopes to highlight and empower more women to advocate for themselves. 鈥淭here is lack of understanding about the complexity of the female body. We are all lumped together but we should be viewed differently,鈥 Yacey says. 鈥淲e need to dig in further.鈥

Learn more

Currently we are only recruiting participants in Alberta ages 40-60,聽learn more and sign up for participation in the cohort study.聽

Potential research collaborators and community partners are invited to contact the MOMENTUM network by emailing the team at聽momentum@ucalgary.ca 辞谤听.

Core team collaborators, all from the Faculty of Kinesiology

  • Dr. S. Nicole Culos-Reed, PhD
  • Dr. Meghan McDonough, PhD
  • Dr. Raylene Reimer, PhD, RD聽
  • Dr. Patricia K. Doyle-Baker, Dr. PH/PhD聽
  • Dr. Cari Din, PhD
  • Dr. Leigh Gabel, PhD聽
  • Dr. Cindy K. Barha, PhD
  • Dr. Sarah Kenny, PhD
  • Dr. Brittany Edgett, PhD
  • Dr. Kathryn Schneider, PhD
  • Dr. Laura St. John, PhD

The project team includes a multidisciplinary group of scholars from a number of faculties who exemplify the breadth and depth of the research and expertise at the 草莓污视频导航 including members of the Faculty of Arts, Taylor Institute of Teaching & Learning, Libin Cardiovascular Institute; Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, Alberta Children鈥檚 Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), The Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education at the HBI, the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, and the O鈥橞rien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine.


Sign up for UToday

Sign up for UToday

Delivered to your inbox聽鈥 a daily roundup of news and events from across the 草莓污视频导航's 14 faculties and dozens of units

Thank you for your submission.