New research has revealed privacy and advice concerns surrounding tech aimed at helping women navigate the menopause.

The study, which surveyed 310 UK participants, warns that sensitive data collected from women about their health is often vulnerable to exploitation, ranging from targeted financial scams to workplace discrimination and misinformation.

With nearly one million women in the UK leaving their jobs due to menopausal symptoms, and an estimated 13m currently perimenopausal or menopausal, new digital technology has boomed, promising to provide medical advice and solutions.

However, the research identified significant security gaps in these technologies, including the lack of medical professionals on community forums, leading to the spread of unverified medical advice and misinformation.

The large-scale study, which is the first of its kind, also highlighted a growing tension between the benefits of menopause tech and the privacy risks associated with the intimate data these services collect.

Unlike fertility trackers, which have faced intense scrutiny following legal changes such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US, menopause tech remains under-researched and under-regulated.

Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, from the information security department at Royal Holloway and co-author, said: “Many women are turning to technology to navigate the diagnostic ambiguity of going through the menopause and to combat the long waiting times often associated with traditional healthcare.”

This makes the absence of trained medical professionals on these tech community forums, who can create misinformation, a real serious threat to participants.

Users we surveyed also expressed deep fears regarding data use, specifically that intimate health data, including emotional symptoms and sexual activity history, could be accessed by insurance companies or employers.

Such data types can be used to discriminate users e.g., in regarding their health insurances and in workplaces.

Dr Taylor Robinson, co-author and post-doctoral researcher at Royal Holloway, added: “Self-tracking apps are becoming essential tools for personal advocacy, allowing users to document their journeys and foster deeper self-reflection, which ultimately improves their interactions with doctors, but more needs to be done to protect those using the apps.”

As the femtech industry is projected to reach nearly US$30bn by 2032, the authors argue that developers and policymakers must prioritise privacy to ensure digital tools remain a safe resource for those experiencing the complexities of menopause.

Rebecca Jones and Sophie Hawkes, PhD students and co-authors, added that digital platforms and social media groups provide a vital lifeline by alleviating the isolation often tied to menopause, offering a dedicated space for users to share advice and validate their experiences and, with much more rigorous scrutiny on real healthcare advice, they can be a great asset for many.

This research provides crucial practical data to inform secure, user-centric design for policymakers and menopause tech developers, noting that many current apps and devices fall short of GDPR standards by making privacy notices difficult to access or understand.

Nearly three-quarters of UK women do not realise menopause can trigger a new mental illness, new research has revealed.

The findings have prompted what is described as the first targeted position statement on menopause and mental health from a major UK medical body.

A YouGov poll found only 28 per cent of women know a new mental illness can be linked to menopause, while 93 per cent associate it with hot flushes and 76 per cent with reduced sex drive.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists, which commissioned the poll and represents more than 20,000 psychiatrists, said the lack of awareness means many women may not seek help or receive appropriate care.

Dr Lade Smith, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “Menopause can have a significant yet often overlooked impact on women’s mental health and wellbeing.

“Women account for 51 per cent of the population and all will experience menopause at some point.

“This is a societal issue for everyone. Simply put, we must do better.”

The report states that while anxiety and low mood are common during menopause because of hormonal changes, some women face a higher risk of more serious mental illness during perimenopause.

Women in this phase are more than twice as likely to develop bipolar disorder, a condition involving extreme shifts between elevated and depressed moods, and are 30 per cent more likely to develop clinical depression.

Hormonal and physical changes may also trigger eating disorders or cause a relapse, and suicide rates are higher among women of menopausal age.

Dr Cath Durkin, joint presidential lead for women and mental health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “For women with or at risk of bipolar disorder, perimenopause may represent a period of particular clinical danger that has historically gone unrecognised.”

The report also noted that women with bipolar disorder who experienced postnatal depression or premenstrual mood symptoms were at higher risk of relapse of depression during menopause.

The report calls for health services and governments across all UK nations to improve care, introduce mandatory teaching on menopause and mental health in medical and psychiatric training, and ensure workplace menopause policies address its relationship with mental health.

It comes as a study from University College London published in the Post Reproductive Health journal found that 58 per cent of black women in the UK said they felt completely uninformed about menopause, with many describing the experience as “psychologically damaging”.

More than half, 53 per cent, reported anxiety, yet many said they were misdiagnosed with anxiety or depression rather than menopause when speaking to their GP. #

As a result, only 23 per cent took hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, a treatment that uses hormones to ease menopausal symptoms.

Janet Lindsay, chief executive of Wellbeing of Women, said: “For too long, women’s symptoms have been dismissed or misunderstood.

“We fully support the call for better awareness, joined-up care, better workplace support and policies, and more research that will help ensure women are listened to and supported through menopause.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It’s unacceptable women are facing barriers to the care and support they need.

“We’re taking action, bringing a menopause question into NHS health checks, renewing the women’s health strategy, and investing an extra £688m in mental health services while recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers.

“Women now have access to a wider range of treatments alongside improved training for new doctors to help ensure faster diagnosis and support.”

Three women have been named winners of the UK young scientist awards, the country’s largest unrestricted prize for young researchers, marking only the second time all laureates have been female.

Thi Hoang Duong (Kelly) Nguyen, Maxie M. Roessler and Paola Pinilla each received £100,000 at a ceremony held at Banqueting House in London on 24 February 2026.

The remaining six finalists were awarded £30,000 each.

The winners were selected from nine finalists and a wider field of 91 nominees drawn from 46 academic and research institutions across the UK.

An independent jury chose one laureate in each of three categories: life sciences, chemical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering.

Nicholas B. Dirks is president and chief executive of The New York Academy of Sciences and chair of the awards’ scientific advisory council.

Dirks said: “This is a remarkable group of laureates whose work reflects both scientific brilliance and real-world impact.

“Notably, this marks the second time in the history of the Blavatnik Awards in the United Kingdom that all three laureates are women scientists.

“On behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences, we celebrate the representation and success of women in science and congratulate these winning laureates.”

Nguyen, a molecular biologist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, was recognised for research into telomerase, an enzyme that helps protect the ends of chromosomes during cell division.

Her work sheds light on how disruptions in telomerase activity are linked to premature ageing and cancer.

She used cryo-electron microscopy, a technique that allows scientists to visualise biological structures at extremely high resolution, to produce the first atomic-level model of the enzyme.

Roessler, a bioinorganic chemist at Imperial College London, was recognised for developing new methods that reveal how cells generate energy through rapid electron transfer.

Her findings could inform future work on catalysts and the development of new functional materials.

Pinilla, an astrophysicist at University College London, was recognised for research into how planets form.

Using telescope data and computer modelling, she identified structures in protoplanetary discs, rings of gas and dust around young stars, that trap dust and support planet formation.

Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “The exceptional talent celebrated through these awards reflects the creativity and ambition that continue to place the UK at the forefront of scientific advancement.

“It is a privilege to recognise their work and to support the next stage of their scientific journeys.”

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are open to UK-based researchers aged 42 or under.

Now in their ninth year in the UK, the awards also run parallel programmes in the US and Israel.

Since launching in the UK in 2017, 73 honourees have received nearly £3.3m in prize funding.

By the end of 2026, the awards are expected to have distributed more than US$20m to over 500 scientists and engineers worldwide.