For generations, women were expected to simply “get on with” menopause. Symptoms were minimised, misunderstood or treated in isolation, while many women were left feeling that changes to their sleep, mood, memory, weight and energy were inevitable parts of getting older.
Thankfully, that conversation is beginning to change.

 

 

 

Menopause is not an illness, but it is a significant biological transition. The hormonal changes associated with perimenopause and menopause can affect far more than periods and temperature regulation. They may also influence bone health, body composition, cardiovascular risk, insulin sensitivity, sleep, emotional wellbeing and metabolic health.

That is why women deserve more than a one-size-fits-all response. At Harley Longevity Club, we take a personalised, whole-body approach to midlife health, helping women understand what may be changing within their bodies and what they can do to support their health for the years ahead.

 

 

Why has menopause been overlooked for so long?

 

 

Menopause affects approximately half the population, yet it has historically received insufficient attention in medical research, public conversation and workplace policy.

In the UK Government’s call for evidence that helped shape the Women’s Health Strategy for England, respondents reported that the impact of menopause on women’s lives was often overlooked. The resulting strategy called for better information, improved professional education and more accessible support for women throughout the menopause transition.
For many women, the problem has not simply been a lack of treatment. It has been a lack of joined-up investigation.

 

Brain fog may be considered separately from disrupted sleep. Weight gain may be dismissed as an unavoidable consequence of age. Low mood, fatigue, palpitations or reduced confidence may each be approached as an isolated complaint. However, these changes can overlap and interact. A woman’s hormones, metabolic health, stress, nutrition, sleep, muscle mass and wider medical history all form part of the same picture. The renewed focus on women’s health is long overdue. Menopause care should not be about dismissing symptoms, nor should it be about assuming that every symptom is caused by menopause. It should begin with listening, careful assessment and an individual plan.

 

Menopause is a whole-body transition.

 

 

Hot flushes and changes to menstrual cycles may be among the best-known signs of menopause, but the transition can present differently for every woman.

Symptoms can include:

 

disrupted sleep and night sweats
fatigue or reduced energy
brain fog and difficulty concentrating
changes in mood, confidence or anxiety
loss of muscle mass or strengthincreased abdominal fat or changes in body composition
joint discomfort
changes in sexual wellbeing
altered cholesterol, blood pressure or blood-sugar regulation

 

 

 

 

These symptoms deserve to be taken seriously. They can also be an opportunity to review the health markers that matter for long-term wellbeing. Midlife is an important time to look beyond how you feel today and consider future cardiovascular, bone, liver and metabolic health. This does not mean assuming something is wrong. It means replacing guesswork with useful information.

 

 

Meet Dr Saima Ajaz

 

 

Harley Longevity Club’s Medical Director, Dr Saima Ajaz, brings more than 20 years of clinical experience and a distinctive combination of expertise in hepatology, metabolic health, lifestyle medicine, precision medicine and preventative care.

 

 

Dr Saima is a Specialist Hepatologist at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at King’s College London. She holds an MPhil in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a PhD in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. Her work has focused on metabolic liver disease, mitochondrial function, non-invasive biomarkers and the ways in which lifestyle and metabolic health can shape long-term disease risk.Her contribution to the menopause conversation reflects this wider, connected view of women’s health.

 

Dr Saima was invited to speak about lifestyle medicine as part of the Midlife Matters Menopause Meetings, a year-long educational programme covering nutrition, metabolism, HRT, pelvic health and other aspects of menopause. Coverage of her address at a Parliamentary event also highlighted her message that menopause can affect cardiovascular, mental and metabolic health far beyond its better-known hormonal symptoms.

 

Most recently, Dr Saima co-authored an academic review on upcoming therapies for steatotic liver disease. The review notes that postmenopausal women have a higher likelihood of advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis from metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, reinforcing why liver and metabolic health should be part of the wider midlife conversation. This is where Dr Saima’s expertise is particularly valuable. Rather than viewing menopause through a single lens, she considers how symptoms, biomarkers, lifestyle, metabolic function and future health risks may connect.

 

 

How Harley Longevity Club can support you through menopause

 

Every woman’s experience is different. Your symptoms, medical history, family history, lifestyle and priorities should shape the support you receive.

At Harley Longevity Club, your journey can begin with an in-depth consultation with Dr Saima Ajaz. This provides the time and clinical context to discuss what you are experiencing, consider other possible contributors to your symptoms and identify which assessments may genuinely be useful for you.

 

 

Depending on your needs and clinical suitability, your personalised assessment may include:

 

Advanced health and biomarker testing

 

 

Targeted testing can provide a clearer picture of areas such as metabolic health, inflammation, cardiovascular risk, nutrient status and blood-sugar regulation. Results are interpreted in context rather than treated as isolated numbers.

 

 

Body Composition Test

 

 

The number on a standard scale cannot distinguish between fat and lean tissue. Understanding muscle mass, fat distribution and other aspects of body composition can be especially helpful in midlife, when hormonal and metabolic changes may affect where fat is stored and how easily muscle is maintained.

 

Liver health assessment

 

Metabolic liver disease can develop without obvious symptoms, and routine liver enzymes alone do not always reveal the full picture. Where appropriate, a FibroScan assessment can offer non-invasive information about liver fat and stiffness. This may be particularly relevant for women with metabolic risk factors or changes in body composition.

 

Oxidative stress assessment

 

Oxidative stress occurs when the balance between free radicals and the body’s antioxidant defences is disrupted. Where clinically appropriate, assessing oxidative stress may add another piece to the wide picture of cellular and metabolic health.

 

DNA and epigenetic insights

 

Genetic information does not predict your destiny, but it can help reveal predispositions. Epigenetic insights can add information about how biology, ageing and lifestyle may interact.

 

At Harley Longevity Club, these insights are used to help inform a more personalised approach, not as a standalone diagnosis.

 

 

 

 

A personalised plan

 

The purpose of testing is not to create a folder of results. It is to turn useful findings into appropriate next steps. Following assessment, Dr Saima can help you understand your results and develop a personalised strategy that may address nutrition, movement, strength, sleep, stress and other clinically appropriate options. Where additional specialist menopause or gynaecological care is required, this can also be identified and discussed.

 

Beyond symptom management: protecting your future health

 

 

Many women seek help because they want relief from symptoms. That matters. But good midlife care should also ask a bigger question: what can we learn now that may help protect your health later?

 

Menopause can be a valuable point at which to review muscle and bone-supporting habits, metabolic health, cardiovascular risk, sleep and liver health. Small, targeted changes made with the right information may support energy, strength, resilience and quality of life well beyond the menopause transition.

 

You deserve to feel heard. You deserve answers that take your whole health into account. And you deserve a plan designed around your biology, rather than a generic checklist.

 

At Harley Longevity Club, we believe the future of healthcare is proactive, preventative and deeply personalised.

 

Ready to understand what is changing in your body? Book an in-depth consultation with Dr
Saima Ajaz at Harley Longevity Club via the booking links at the top of our homepage.