{
  "id": 16291321,
  "title": "'Not a gradual slide': Menopause can reshape women's bodies in a sudden shift, Israeli study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/not-a-gradual-slide-menopause-can-reshape-womens-bodies-in-a-sudden",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-24T06:52:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-912578"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Israeli researchers have discovered that menopause can cause sudden, dramatic changes in women's bodies, rather than the gradual decline previously believed. Using a novel computational technique inspired by astronomy, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science analyzed over 300 million lab test results from more than a million women in Israel and the US. The study, published in Nature Medicine, found that menopause triggers significant shifts in various bodily systems, including liver and kidney function, bone health, and cholesterol levels. These changes were discovered to begin several years before the actual end of fertility, challenging the common belief that menopause is a slow, gradual process. Prof. Uri Alon, lead researcher, emphasized that the abrupt changes are associated with a heightened risk of diseases, suggesting that preventive measures could be taken years before menopause.",
  "summary": "Menopause may be less gradual than previously thought, with abrupt changes in bone health, liver function and cholesterol, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers find.",
  "key_points": [
    "Menopause causes sudden, dramatic body changes, not gradual decline",
    "Study uses computational technique inspired by astronomy to analyze data",
    "Shifts in liver, kidney, bone health, cholesterol levels begin years before fertility ends"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Identifying these sudden physiological shifts years before the end of fertility allows for earlier medical intervention to mitigate the heightened disease risks associated with the menopausal transition.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}