Menopause doesn’t just bring physical symptoms like hot flushes.

It can affect nearly every part of daily life, from careers and relationships to self-esteem confidence and motivation. New research from Newson Research highlights that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can help many women regain balance across these areas within just a few months.

The study analysed data from 674 women who attended the Newson Clinic for the first time between March and May 2025. Researchers wanted to understand how menopause was affecting their quality of life, and whether prescribing hormone treatments made a difference.

Impact of menopause on daily life

Before beginning hormone treatment, each woman completed a detailed questionnaire about how menopause was impacting five key areas: ability to work, relationships with partners and family, social life, and ability to stay active or exercise. The same questions were asked again three months after taking hormone treatment.

Women rated how affected they felt in each area using a simple scale from ‘not at all’ to ‘severely affected’, allowing researchers to track meaningful changes over time.

Impact of HRT

The findings, presented at the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health annual meeting in California, included:

• Across all five areas, average scores improved after three months of hormone therapy
• The biggest gains were seen in social life and ability to remain physically active
• Nearly half of participants reported improvements in their ability to work (48%) and in their relationships with a spouse or partner (49%).

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Many women also noticed positive changes in family relationships and social engagement.

Importantly, most of the remaining participants reported that things stayed the same rather than getting worse. Only a small minority (between 7% and 12%) said any area of their life had declined.

The importance of holistic, individualised care

Researchers say these findings highlight how hormone changes during menopause extend beyond physical symptoms. Emotional wellbeing, confidence, energy levels and personal connections can all be affected, yet these impacts are often overlooked by healthcare professionals.

The research found that hormone treatments can offer broad quality-of-life benefits, helping women feel more able to work, stay active, maintain relationships and participate socially – sometimes within three months of starting treatment.

The authors emphasise that menopause care and treatment should be holistic and individualised, addressing emotional and social wellbeing alongside physical symptoms. Hormone treatments should be considered more often to menopausal women.

Download a poster summarising Newson Research’s findings below.