In 1991, the US National Institutes of Health, or NIH, launched the Women’s Health Initiative, or WHI, which is one of the largest and one of the first long-term, nationwide studies of health conditions affecting postmenopausal females in the United States. Menopause is defined as the point in time twelve months after a female has had her last menstrual period. After menopause, females face higher risks of certain conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases. In 1991, Bernadine Healy, a physician who studied cardiology, became the first female director of the NIH and founded the WHI because she observed that research into female health was lacking. The WHI initiated several clinical trials to study whether changing diet, taking supplements, or undergoing hormone therapy could alleviate menopause symptoms. The trial of hormone therapy identified risks associated with that treatment and generated controversy. Despite the controversy, the WHI was one of the first organizations to produce comprehensive research into treatments and preventative methods for menopause symptoms, thereby improving healthcare options for postmenopausal females. 

Menopause is defined as the point in time exactly twelve months after a female has had her last menstrual period, or shedding of the lining of the uterus. As a female ages, the hormone levels that drive menstruation decrease, beginning the process of perimenopause, which eventually leads to menopause and can result in various symptoms including depression, difficulty sleeping, and hot flashes, or abrupt feelings of heat typically in the upper body. Once a female reaches menopause, those symptoms typically subside, but after menopause, the risk of other health conditions such as osteoporosis, or brittle bones, increases. At least since the fourth century BCE, researchers understood that menopause occurred in females but held many negative ideas and misconceptions about the process, which resulted in stigma that left females uninformed about what happened to their bodies as they aged. Research on and perceptions towards menopause evolved over the twentieth century, and as of 2024, researchers understand it as a typical part of aging and development in females, marking the end of their reproductive years.