Women’s Health on Ultrahuman Blog

What Is Perimenopause? Symptoms, Stages, and What to Expect

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:21:16 +0000

Perimenopause is the transition leading up to menopause — the years when the ovaries gradually wind down and hormones begin to fluctuate, before periods stop for good. Menopause itself is a single point in time — defined as 12 months after your final period. Everything before that, from the moment your cycles start changing, is perimenopause. It usually begins in the late 30s or 40s, though in rare cases it can start earlier, and lasts about four to eight years on average. One thing surprises most people — the earliest, most reliable sign isn't hot flashes but a change in your cycle, often with sleep disturbance close behind. This guide covers what perimenopause is, when it starts, the symptoms in the order they typically appear, why they happen, and when to see a doctor.

Preeclampsia Symptoms: Early Warning Signs in Pregnancy

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:04:35 +0000

_{_{This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert}_{, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman.}}

Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication thataffects 2-8% of pregnancies globally and is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide. The early warning signs include severe headaches, vision changes, sudden swelling of the face or hands, upper abdominal pain, sudden weight gain, and elevated blood pressure. If you're pregnant and experience any of these, seek medical care promptly — do not wait for symptoms to worsen.

Period Cramps: 9 Evidence-Backed Remedies

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:03:40 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

Period cramps (medically called dysmenorrhea) affect most menstruating women at some point, with severe pain interfering with daily life in 2-29% of women across population studies . Most cases are primary dysmenorrhea — cramping driven by prostaglandins released during menstruation, without underlying pelvic pathology. The good news is that the evidence base for relief is strong.

What Is PMDD? Diagnosis and Treatment Options

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:37:30 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) is the most severe form of premenstrual symptoms — affecting 2-5% of menstruating women with mood symptoms severe enough to disrupt daily life. Unlike PMS (premenstrual syndrome), PMDD has formal DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) diagnostic criteria . It’s a real, recognised, and treatable condition.

Ultrahuman Cycle Flags™ explained: How C&O Pro offers advanced insights

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:08:56 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

Most period trackers tell you when your period is coming. Ultrahuman’s Cycle and Ovulation Pro (C&O Pro) goes further — it surfaces ten distinct cycle patterns called Cycle Flags™ that can reveal hidden clues about your reproductive health.

Built on 15 years of OvuSense™ research and trained on more than 260,000 real-world cycles , each flag is anchored in peer-reviewed clinical evidence or in OvuSense™’s clinical database.

How to Track Ovulation with PCOS

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:23:27 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

Tracking ovulation with PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome) /PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) is harder because the signals are noisier.

Cycles can stretch beyond 90 days, ovulation skips entirely in some months, and LH (luteinizing hormone) tests that work for most women throw false positives in women with PMOS/PCOS because baseline LH is often elevated.

Science-backed Ways To Balance Your Hormones Naturally

Fri, 29 May 2026 20:43:33 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

Balancing hormones naturally comes down to whether your body cycles cleanly through its hormonal phases each month**.**

Estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, insulin, and thyroid hormones rise and fall in predictable patterns. “Balanced” doesn’t mean flat-line — it means those rhythms run on time and the system doesn’t tip into chronic activation.

What Does the Luteal Phase Feel Like? A Guide to Symptoms, Mood, and Training

Thu, 28 May 2026 21:49:57 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert *, Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .*

The luteal phase is the second half of your menstrual cycle — roughly 14 days between ovulation and the start of your next period — and it has its own predictable signature: a small rise in body temperature, modest mood shifts, energy fluctuations, and changes in how you sleep, train, and crave food. Most luteal-phase symptoms are physiological, driven by the progesterone-and-estrogen ratio that follows ovulation.

Why Is My Period Late? Eight Non-Pregnancy Reasons

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:29:17 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

A late period without pregnancy is common — stress, thyroid issues, hormonal disorders, perimenopause, and rapid lifestyle changes all routinely shift cycle length by days to weeks. Understanding which non-pregnancy cause is most likely, matters because some (like thyroid disease or PMOS/PCOS) need clinical evaluation, while others (like a stressful month or a heavy training block) usually resolve on their own.

Period Symptoms — What's Normal and What's Concerning

Tue, 26 May 2026 20:43:52 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Period symptoms span a wide range of normal (cramps, breast tenderness, mood changes, irregular flow, fatigue) and most resolve within a few days. Understanding what’s typical versus what signals an underlying condition matters because some symptoms (heavy bleeding, severe pain, bleeding outside expected windows) deserve clinical evaluation rather than dismissal.

When Does Perimenopause Start? Average Age and Early Signs

Mon, 25 May 2026 19:26:10 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Perimenopause typically starts in a woman’s mid-40s, with the estimated average onset around age 45 to 47 and a normal range from the early 40s to early 50s. The earliest signs (subtle cycle-length changes, sleep disruption, mood shifts) often appear years before periods become noticeably irregular, and missing them tends to mean treating each symptom as a separate problem instead of recognizing one underlying transition.

How Low Progesterone Shows Up in Your Sleep, Mood, and HRV

Sat, 23 May 2026 20:46:07 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Progesterone is the dominant hormone of the second half of your cycle (the luteal phase , after ovulation), and it shapes how you sleep, feel, and recover. When it’s low — common in perimenopause, anovulatory cycles, and high-stress states — the typical post-ovulation calm doesn’t quite arrive: sleep gets choppier, mood gets edgier, and the body-temperature rise that normally marks the luteal phase fades.

Perimenopause Tests: Reliability Issues and Accuracy Explained

Sat, 23 May 2026 17:02:01 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Perimenopause testing typically means a blood test for hormones like FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), estradiol, or AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone) — sometimes done at a lab, sometimes through at-home kits. The honest answer: most hormone tests are less reliable during perimenopause than they are at other life stages, because the hormones themselves swing dramatically week to week. Symptoms and cycle patterns remain the diagnostic gold standard.

Implantation Bleeding vs. Your Period — How to Tell the Difference

Sat, 23 May 2026 15:04:10 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Most pregnancies don’t present with implantation bleeding - the light spotting some women experience in very early pregnancy that’s often mistaken for the start of a period. Its absence is normal and doesn’t rule out conception, and its presence isn’t a guaranteed pregnancy sign either. Understanding the difference matters because, when implantation bleeding does occur, it can be the first sign that a missed period is actually pregnancy, and knowing what to look for helps you decide when to take a test, when to wait, and when to call a clinician.

How to Increase Estrogen: Why It's Not What You Eat, But How Much

Fri, 22 May 2026 19:24:04 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Low estrogen shows up as irregular or missing periods, low libido, vaginal dryness, poor sleep, brain fog, mood dips, and, over time, weaker bones. It touches almost every system, so when it drops, you feel it.

The strongest natural lever is energy availability — fuel in versus fuel out. When you’re eating too little for the amount you’re training, the brain reads it as a famine signal and quiets the hormonal cascade to the ovaries.

Discharge Before Your Period: A Complete Guide to What's Normal

Fri, 22 May 2026 16:33:57 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Normal discharge in the days before a period is usually thick, white or pale yellow, and slightly tacky. It’s the result of progesterone rising through the luteal phase and falling in the final days before menstruation.

Across the menstrual cycle, vaginal secretions shift predictably. After a bleed, secretions may be absent or minimal, becoming thicker in consistency and then stretchy, clear, and more profuse just before and around ovulation. Returning to a thicker secretion after ovulation. What is not normal cycle variation — a strong fishy odor, gray or green color, itching, burning, or foamy texture — points to infection or another condition, not the hormonal lead-up to menstruation.

Why Breasts May Be Sore or Tender in Perimenopause

Fri, 22 May 2026 16:09:13 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Sore, tender breasts in perimenopause are common – and driven by erratic estrogen surges combined with falling progesterone.

Estrogen overstimulates breast tissue and pulls fluid into the ducts; progesterone usually balances that effect, but in perimenopause, cycles are increasingly anovulatory — meaning no egg is released, so the corpus luteum never forms and progesterone never gets made.

Cramping But No Period? Here's What It Could Mean

Thu, 21 May 2026 18:50:22 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN, BSc (Hons), FP Cert , Vice President Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

Cramps without a period can come from at least six hormonal sources — ovulation pain, an anovulatory cycle, early pregnancy, a hormonal IUD or contraceptive adjustment, a functional ovarian cyst, or endometriosis and adenomyosis.

Many resolve on their own, but a few of these patterns — ectopic pregnancy, ovarian torsion, severe endometriosis — need prompt clinical evaluation rather than waiting. Which one it is depends on when in your cycle the cramping appears, what other symptoms come with it, and your reproductive context (trying to conceive, on contraception, in perimenopause).

PCOS explained – and why metabolism plays a huge role

Fri, 15 May 2026 14:48:01 +0000

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome — and for a condition affecting 1 in 8 women of reproductive age, it’s extremely poorly understood.

The average woman with PCOS sees three or more health professionals and waits over two years to get diagnosed . Despite being one of the most common endocrine disorders in women of reproductive age , many never get diagnosed at all.

Part of the problem is the name. Despite being called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, PCOS isn’t really about cysts. It’s a metabolic and hormonal condition that may involve the ovaries. That’s why in May 2026, PCOS was renamed PMOS — Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome .

PMOS explained: Why PCOS has an important new name

Thu, 14 May 2026 17:56:47 +0000

PCOS has been renamed PMOS. It’s just one letter, but it’s designed to change our understanding of the role of metabolism and insulin resistance in a condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is now Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS).

The change was published in The Lancet on 12 May, and was the result of a 14-year, 56-organisation consensus process led by Professor Helena Teede at Monash University, the International Androgen Excess and PCOS Society, as well as patients and advocacy groups.

How to connect Ultrahuman and Clue for biometric cycle tracking

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:53:49 +0000

Understanding your menstrual cycle is a window into your overall well-being, energy, mood, and reproductive health. That’s why Ultrahuman has partnered with Clue to enable users to sync their period data for deeper analysis.

Navigating the complexities of the menstrual cycle — where the four stages can have a huge impact on everything from energy levels to mood and resilience — is key to better self-understanding. Cycle tracking is a powerful tool for understanding the intricate dance of hormones and how they affect your overall well-being.

Hormones explained: what blood testing can reveal about your health

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 11:33:45 +0000

Hormones are chemical signals that coordinate the way your body works. They’re produced by glands like the brain, adrenal glands, ovaries, or testes, and travel through your bloodstream to deliver instructions to different organs and tissues.

The hormone panel in Blood Vision measures a targeted set of hormones related to energy, fertility, recovery, and resilience. Many of these are shared across the male and female panels. Others, like estradiol and AMH, are specific to women’s physiology.

Should you rest or train on your period?

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:34:09 +0000

Your menstrual cycle doesn’t just affect mood and energy – it can shift your heart rate variability (HRV), recovery, and performance too.

For some, training during their period feels strong and steady; for others, it’s a sign of slowing down. This article unpacks how hormones, HRV, and physiology interact across your cycle, helping you decide when to push, when to pause, and how to listen to your body without second-guessing it.

Menopause and blood sugar explained

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:45:19 +0000

Glucose is the fuel that the human body runs on. While glucose metabolism is influenced by a number of genetic and environmental factors, growing evidence suggests that hormonal changes during menopause can throw blood sugar levels out of whack.

We examine what menopause is, the changes the body undergoes, and how that can affect hypoglycemia and blood glucose levels.

Highlights

Falling estrogen levels during menopause can lead to insulin resistance and higher blood sugar.
Visceral fat gain and early menopause both raise the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Diet, exercise, stress management, and hydration help stabilize glucose levels.

What is menopause?

Menopause marks the end of the menstrual cycle and a woman’s reproductive years. A person officially enters menopause when they’ve not had a menstrual period for a year.

Pregnancy and heart rate: What you should know

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 13:59:38 +0000

This article on pregnancy and heart rate was first published in April 2022. It’s been checked, reviewed and updated.

Pregnancy can be both beautiful and unsettling. The body undergoes changes you may never have experienced – internally and externally.

One of the more confusing effects is heart palpitations. But what is a dangerous heart rate for a pregnant woman? We explain all:

Highlights

Several factors can increase the risk of heart palpitations, including anxiety, caffeine, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, weight gain, hormonal shifts, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, and anemia.
Heart palpitations during pregnancy typically don’t require treatment if they’re occasional and not linked to an underlying heart condition.
Lifestyle strategies – such as staying hydrated, using relaxation techniques, and limiting sugar, caffeine, and fat – may help reduce symptoms.

What do heart palpitations feel like?

Heart palpitations often feel like your heart is racing, pounding, skipping a beat, or fluttering. Some people may notice an extra heartbeat or feel like their heart is briefly pausing.

Women and sleep: Hormone impact and unique circadian rhythms explained

Thu, 15 May 2025 20:14:39 +0000

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus certainly rings true when it comes to sleep.

Women’s sleep is vastly different from men’s, which stems from circadian biology , hormonal cycles, and inherent differences in sleep architecture.

Women experience deeper sleep in general. But an earlier sleep/wake cycle, hormonal fluctuations that put pressure on sleep quality, and the pressures of balancing work and family can make for a challenging picture. And one that can affect health and well-being.

Introducing Cycle Aware Recovery

Wed, 07 May 2025 19:09:30 +0000

Recovery isn’t constant across the menstrual cycle, and your metrics should reflect that. That’s why we’ve rolled out the Cycle Aware Recovery update, which brings deeper context to how recovery is presented across the menstrual cycle.

Adjusting recovery scores post-ovulation to seem “cycle-sensitive” hides the impact of increased body temperature. At Ultrahuman we’ve chosen accuracy over optics, offering a more honest reflection of what your body is truly experiencing.

Read on to understand this big update and the science behind it.

Ultrahuman free Cycle and Ovulation PowerPlug explained

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 17:06:28 +0000

Understanding your menstrual cycle is a window into your overall well-being, energy, mood, and reproductive health. That’s why Ultrahuman developed the Cycle and Ovulation PowerPlug.

Available to all Ultrahuman Ring AIR users at no extra cost, the Ultrahuman Cycle and Ovulation PowerPlug uses unique biomarkers, such as skin temperature, HRV and RHR to calculate your cycle phases. It will predict a 7-day fertile window and pinpoint ovulation day with precision.

The four phases of the menstrual cycle: How you might feel

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 16:03:13 +0000

This article was medically reviewed by Kate Davies RN BSc, Vice President, Medical Women’s Health & Longevity at Ultrahuman .

The four stages of the menstrual cycle form the basis of a woman’s life, and living in tune with them can help master fertility, energy levels, and mood.

The cycle has important ramifications for a woman’s health, lifestyle, and career. When you know how to interpret your body’s cues, you can make informed decisions about reproductive health, fitness, and productivity. What’s more, understanding the menstrual cycle can decode the onset of menopause, or conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis, or even cancers.

Nutrient Deficiencies That Affect Women The Most

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 18:13:00 +0000

Women are gifted jugglers. They juggle their time between work, home, kids, family, chores and a million other tasks every day. However, can all this multi-tasking lead to health problems? Many studies have suggested that women generally are more prone to certain nutrient deficiencies than men.

Nutrient deficiencies can lead to a lot of health risks, from simple aches and pains to more serious diseases. Hence, it’s important to understand the importance of nutrients, the symptoms of nutrient deficiencies and how to ensure that your daily diet comprises enough nutrients. For starters, let’s look at what constitutes nutrient deficiencies.

What is Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:32:00 +0000

Periods are no fun. From cramps, mood swings, and irritability, period discomfort can range from mild to severe. In fact, it’s estimated that as many as three out of four menstruating women have experienced some form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

And if PMS wasn’t difficult enough, there exists an even more severe form of PMS called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a condition which affects up to 10% of women who have periods.

How To Navigate High Blood Sugar During Pregnancy

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 13:05:00 +0000

Gestational diabetes refers to diabetes diagnosed for the first time during pregnancy (gestation). It’s said to affect up to 10% of women in the U.S. each year, with or without a history of diabetes or pre-diabetes.

There are two types of gestational diabetes—women with class A1 can manage it through exercise and diet and those with class A2 might need to take insulin or other medications.

It’s believed that gestational diabetes can go away after you give birth, but it can be detrimental to the baby’s health and raises the mother’s risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Women with gestational diabetes may not have symptoms. Routine screening can help identify it.

PCOS And Infertility: Can Dietary Improvement Help Boost Fertility?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 10:33:00 +0000

One of the most challenging aspects of PCOS is dealing with infertility. According to a study, anywhere from 70-80% of women with PCOS suffer from it.

The treatment of infertility caused by PCOS typically involves inducing ovulation—through medications or medical procedures, as needed—and correcting metabolic issues that impair fertility. It also involves proper blood sugar management and improving insulin sensitivity.

Dietary improvement and lifestyle modifications are some of the widely encouraged treatment options for women struggling with infertility. A well-balanced diet can reverse several PCOS symptoms and improve egg quality, insulin sensitivity and energy levels, manage weight, and facilitate ovulation.

What Does A Skipped Period Mean For Your Health?

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 06:06:00 +0000

A skipped period can sometimes be a cause for concern with many plausible reasons that may underlie it. Whilst this can be attributed to natural phenomena such as pregnancy or menopause , there are certain pathologies that you don’t want to avoid missing out on especially when this spans for more than 3-6 months.

Learn: The four stages of the menstrual cycle and how you might feel

A basic awareness of these conditions along with its varying clinical sequelae will enable you to gauge the gravity of the situation and also mend the root cause.

The Menstrual Cycle & Obesity

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 05:48:00 +0000

In a world obsessed with the perfection of the female form, it would make great sense for us to observe the biochemistry of nature that sculpts our internal and external symmetry.

Our observations can then allow us to respond to change the aspects of our internal chemistry to reflect in the expression of the symmetry of our external form. With the incidence of obesity having nearly tripled in the last 4-5 decades according to the WHO, it indeed can be a dissonance in harmony.

What’s the link between sleep & the menstrual cycle?

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 05:21:00 +0000

Sleep is the greatest recovery and health tool in our health arsenal. However, sleep is influenced by everything that we do in a day.

Sleep is governed by our emotional state, food intake, specifically what we eat and when we eat.

The balance of exercise and the recovery process affect sleep. It is also important to be aware of our exposure to real and artificial light. Another important element of sleep is the state of our hormones at that given point in time.

Understand How To Manage Your PMS

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 04:53:00 +0000

Mood swings, ice cream buckets, hatred for every being around you––sounds relatable? Debates have been raging for decades to question if the Premenstrual Syndrome is a real thing or not. Well, we have news, it is! The extent to which women experience this may vary, of course, but there is certainly no negating the fact that the physical and emotional changes that take place before the start of a menstrual cycle do take a toll on women. Let’s understand this a bit deeper, shall we?

Female Sexual Dysfunction & Metabolic Health

Sat, 09 Oct 2021 10:32:00 +0000

What is Female Sexual Dysfunction?

Persistent, recurrent problems with sexual response, desire, orgasm or pain — that distress you or strain your relationship with your partner — are known medically as sexual dysfunction. Many women experience problems with sexual function at some point, and some have difficulties throughout their lives. Female sexual dysfunction can occur at any stage of life. It can occur only in certain or in all sexual situations. Sexual response involves a complex interplay of physiology, emotions, experiences, beliefs, lifestyle and relationships. Disruption of any component can affect sexual desire, arousal or satisfaction, and treatment often involves more than one approach.