Welcome back to Fact Friday, our weekly dive into the newest endometriosis and adenomyosis research, translated out of medical-journal language and into plain English. This week we’re looking at a study that asks a question many of our community have raised with us directly: does living with endometriosis or adenomyosis change what menopause looks like?

The short answer, based on this new research, is: possibly yes, and in some surprising directions. Before we get into it, a quick reminder of how we talk about endometriosis here at Endometriosis South Coast: it is a full-body, systemic inflammatory condition. It affects the reproductive system, but it is not simply a “women’s reproductive disease” that stays contained to the pelvis, and it is not driven only by oestrogen from the ovaries. Endometriosis tissue is capable of generating its own oestrogen locally, which is part of why it behaves so differently from ordinary reproductive-system tissue and why it can show up far beyond the pelvis. Keeping that bigger picture in mind helps make sense of why a condition like this might also shape something as whole-body as the menopause transition.

This research, published on 14 October 2026 in the journal Post Reproductive Health (the journal of the British Menopause Society), was led by researchers from Cardiff University, Swansea University and the University of South Wales, working with the women’s health platform Health & Her, which is based in Cardiff. That makes this one of the more directly UK-relevant studies we’ve covered: both the data and the research team are home-grown.

Instead of running a small clinical trial, the team did something different: they analysed real-world data from the Health & Her app, covering 210,489 users between October 2020 and June 2024. People using the app had logged their menopausal symptoms alongside information about their medical history, including whether they had ever been diagnosed with endometriosis, adenomyosis, premature ovarian insufficiency (POI, when the ovaries stop working normally before the age of 40), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), autoimmune conditions, uterine fibroids, depression, anxiety, certain cancers, or whether they had undergone procedures like hysterectomy (removal of the womb) or oophorectomy (removal of one or both ovaries).

Using statistical modelling, the researchers grouped menopausal symptoms into clusters: for example, vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats), joint aches, sleep problems, low libido, weight gain, psychological and cognitive symptoms (such as brain fog, low mood or anxiety), vaginal symptoms (such as dryness or discomfort), and other physical symptoms. They then tested which medical conditions and procedures were statistically linked to each symptom cluster, and how severe those symptoms tended to be.

This kind of large-scale, “real-world” app data has its own strengths and limits, which we’ll come back to, but the sheer size of the dataset (over 200,000 people) is genuinely unusual for research into menopause and underlying reproductive-system conditions, which are often studied in much smaller groups.

Across the whole dataset, a few headline patterns emerged:

• Depression and anxiety were linked to the strongest overall increases in menopausal symptoms across the board, a reminder of just how tightly mental health and the menopause transition are connected for everyone, regardless of underlying conditions.
• Surgery involving the reproductive organs (such as hysterectomy or oophorectomy) was linked to increased vasomotor symptoms: more frequent or more intense hot flushes and night sweats. This fits with what’s already known: removing the ovaries, in particular, can bring on a sudden “surgical menopause” rather than a gradual transition.
• Endometriosis and premature ovarian insufficiency were both specifically linked to increased vaginal symptoms, things like dryness, irritation or discomfort during the menopause transition.
• Autoimmune conditions were linked to more joint aches, and to more physical and psychological/cognitive symptoms, a finding that fits with the growing understanding that chronic, whole-body inflammation (rather than any single organ) drives a lot of menopausal symptom burden.
• Interestingly, adenomyosis, PMDD, and a metabolic/hormonal ovarian condition the paper refers to as PMOS were all linked to reduced vasomotor symptoms, meaning people with these conditions reported somewhat fewer or milder hot flushes and night sweats than those without them. The researchers don’t fully explain why in the paper, and this is exactly the kind of unexpected result that needs following up with further study.
• People who had undergone cancer treatment generally reported reduced symptoms across most categories, with the notable exceptions of vaginal and vasomotor symptoms, which increased. Breast and reproductive-system cancers specifically were linked to lower libido and more vasomotor and sleep symptoms.

For our community, the two findings worth sitting with are the endometriosis–vaginal-symptoms link and the adenomyosis–reduced-vasomotor-symptoms link, because they’re specific, they’re new, and they both point towards the same underlying message: menopause doesn’t look identical for everyone, and your reproductive-system history may well be part of why.

If you live with endometriosis, this research suggests that as you move through perimenopause and menopause, vaginal symptoms (dryness, soreness, discomfort during sex or daily activities) may be more likely to feature, or to feature more strongly, than they would for someone without the condition. That’s useful to know, because vaginal symptoms are chronically under-discussed and under-treated in general menopause care, and many people don’t realise effective treatments exist, from vaginal moisturisers and lubricants to localised hormone treatments that your GP or menopause specialist can discuss with you.

If you live with adenomyosis (a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows within the muscular wall of the womb itself, often causing heavy, painful periods), this study’s finding that adenomyosis was linked to fewer vasomotor symptoms is a genuinely new and counter-intuitive data point. It doesn’t mean you definitely won’t experience hot flushes or night sweats: population-level patterns don’t predict any one individual’s experience, but it’s an interesting thread for future research, and a useful thing to mention if you’re discussing your own menopause symptoms (or lack of expected ones) with a healthcare professional.

More broadly, the study’s central message is one we think is important: healthcare professionals should factor in a person’s full reproductive and health history, including endometriosis and adenomyosis, when supporting them through perimenopause and menopause, rather than offering one-size-fits-all guidance. If you have either condition, it may be worth proactively mentioning it when you see your GP or a menopause specialist about symptoms, rather than assuming it’s already factored in or that it isn’t relevant. Given that endometriosis is increasingly understood as a systemic, whole-body inflammatory condition rather than one confined to the pelvis, it makes biological sense that it could also shape a whole-body transition like menopause, and this study is some of the first large-scale evidence pointing in that direction.

It’s also worth remembering that menopause and endometriosis can overlap and interact in other ways too. Falling oestrogen levels at menopause often ease endometriosis symptoms for many people, though, because endometriosis tissue can produce its own oestrogen locally, this isn’t guaranteed, and some people continue to experience symptoms after their periods stop, particularly if they go on to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This is exactly the kind of nuance that makes personalised, condition-aware care so important, and it’s part of what this new research is pointing towards.

As with any single study, there are caveats worth knowing before you take this as the final word:

• It’s observational, not experimental. The researchers looked for statistical associations between medical history and symptom patterns; they didn’t test a treatment or intervention, and they can’t prove that endometriosis or adenomyosis directly causes any particular symptom pattern, only that the two are linked in this dataset.
• It relies on self-reported app data. Health & Her users log their own symptoms and medical history into the app; this isn’t the same as a clinical diagnosis confirmed by a specialist or verified through medical records, so there’s room for some misclassification.
• The population may not be fully representative. People who download and regularly use a menopause-tracking app may differ in meaningful ways, in symptom severity, health engagement, or access to care, from the broader population of people going through menopause, including those with endometriosis or adenomyosis who aren’t using such an app.
• Correlation isn’t the same as mechanism. The study doesn’t explain why adenomyosis might be linked to fewer vasomotor symptoms, or why endometriosis specifically tracks with vaginal symptoms. Those are questions for future, more targeted research.

None of this means the findings aren’t useful. A dataset of over 200,000 people is a real strength, and few studies on menopause and underlying reproductive-system conditions come close to that scale. But it does mean this should be read as a solid, thought-provoking signal rather than a definitive clinical rule.

• New UK research from Cardiff University, Swansea University, the University of South Wales and Health & Her analysed menopause symptom data from over 210,000 people, looking at how underlying conditions, including endometriosis and adenomyosis, relate to menopausal symptom patterns.
• Endometriosis was linked to increased vaginal symptoms (such as dryness and discomfort) during the menopause transition.
• Adenomyosis was linked to reduced vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats), a surprising and not-yet-explained finding.
• Depression, anxiety and autoimmune conditions were linked to broader, more severe symptom patterns, underlining how whole-body and interconnected the menopause transition really is.
• The study is observational and based on self-reported app data, so it should be read as an important signal for further research and more personalised care, not a definitive rule for any one individual.
• If you have endometriosis or adenomyosis and are approaching or going through menopause, it’s worth raising your reproductive-system history directly with your GP or a menopause specialist, so your care can be tailored accordingly.

Research on endometriosis doesn’t always come from a laboratory. Sometimes the most useful evidence is simply a careful, numbers-backed account of what the community is already living through: in this case, hundreds of people going to considerable lengths, and considerable expense, to get surgical care they felt they couldn’t access at home. For a predominantly UK audience, this isn’t a story about “somewhere else.” It sits alongside UK charities’ own data on near-decade-long diagnosis waits and patients here paying privately or travelling abroad for the same reasons: long NHS waiting lists and a feeling that local expertise in complex endometriosis surgery is thin on the ground. It’s a sobering read in some ways, but also a validating one: if accessing timely, expert endometriosis care has felt like an uphill battle for you in the UK, this research shows clearly that you are far from alone, and gives patient advocates here solid evidence to keep pushing for better-funded specialist endometriosis centres closer to home.

As always, this is one study, looking primarily at one country’s experience, and it isn’t medical advice. If you’re weighing up your own options for endometriosis or adenomyosis care (whether that’s through your GP, an NHS specialist referral, or privately), please talk it through with your own healthcare provider, who can advise on what’s right for your specific situation.