This week, my socials have been flooded with a topic that rarely gets much of a look in: menopause, and in particular diabetes and menopause. 

It’s a welcome change! It was World Menopause Day on Tuesday, and with it came an avalanche of great content shining a light on this particular aspect of diabetes – something that really doesn’t get much coverage at all.

Square graphic with the words 'The Diabetes Menopause Project in black text on a pale pink background.

I shouldn’t be surprised that a lot of what I saw was people with diabetes sharing their own stories. These are the trail blazers who could see that there needed to be more awareness, more recognition, more attention to the issue and took matters into their own hands and shared their stories. (I’m looking at you Dawn Adams, you amazing woman!)

Here are just a couple of things that I’ve seen this week:

Dawn’s story at Diabetes UK about managing diabetes with menopausal hormone therapy (MHT, also known as HRT).

And Dawn again here at JDRF – UK with this gorgeous piece about how there are peer networks offering support for others going through perimenopause and menopause. 

This Twitter thread from Diabetes UK, highlighting just how they’ve listened to the diabetes community and calls for more research and information about diabetes and menopause. Their Diabetes Research Steering Groups have made the topic a research priority in coming years. That’s what I call being led by the folks you’re representing!

Twitter has joined the chat with a new account focused exclusively on diabetes and menopause with this neat bio: Peer support for those with diabetes going through the menopause – all types of diabetes, all stages of menopause – we’re in it together. You can follow Menopause Mithers here. 

Not diabetes specific, but worth a share, is this brilliant Instagram video from Dr Jen Gunter which looks at the origin of the word ‘menopause’ (of course I love this!). Oh, and there’s a whole chapter in her book The Menopause Manifesto about language. 

First page of chapter 2 of Jen Gunter’s The Menopause Manifesto and reads ‘The History and Languages of Menopause: From a Critical Age to the Change’. Black text on white background.
Of course I love this too!

I’ll be linking all of these to The Diabetes Menopause Project post as a one stop easy place for links about menopause and diabetes.