The Biology of Female Aging: Hormones, Health, and Longevity (Part 2)

First off, welcome to all the new subscribers who joined over the past 2 weeks! Health 3.0 started as a space for me to make sense of what I was learning, and I’m genuinely grateful it’s resonating with so many of you.

This newsletter is timely: the momentum around women's longevity is accelerating fast:

Just last week, Oprah aired a special “The Menopause Talk” featuring a lineup of celebrities; Dr. Mary Claire Haver's book on the topic hit bestseller lists everywhere, and Longevity Docs (the leading community of longevity physicians) held their first summit on hormones and aging.

That makes it the perfect moment for Part 2 of our series. In Part 1, we explored the biology of female aging. Today, we’re turning to the solutions available now—and why so few women are actually accessing them. This topic proved too rich for just two newsletters—so yes, there will be a Part 3. That final chapter will look toward the future: what the next generation of women’s health could—and should—become.

A special thanks to Stephanie Kuku, MD for reviewing this edition for medical accuracy. You can find her work and subscribe to her newsletter HERE.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. This newsletter simplifies complex medical concepts.

As we discovered in Part 1, ovarian aging is a core foundation of female aging. Logically, delaying or mitigating ovarian aging could transform a woman's entire aging trajectory. A few biotech companies like Gameto are working on developing treatments to do that. But, while promising, these solutions remain on the horizon, as do most longevity drugs. What’s available today?

The State of Women’s Aging Interventions

1. HRT (Hormonal Replacement Therapy)

What is it? Systemic HRT, as opposed to local HRT (which we will cover below), involves supplementing the body with externally sourced (exogenous) hormones to restore levels that naturally decline with age. It serves two critical functions: (1) ADDRESS major symptoms of perimenopause and menopause such as vasomotor symptoms, and (2) PREVENT the cascading deterioration of cardiovascular, skeletal, and cognitive systems that is triggered along with the loss of estrogen.

The dual protective and restorative actions of systemic HRT qualify it as a - if not THE - ultimate longevity intervention for women, and the most powerful evidence-based solution today to treat female aging.

There are a few core components of