Perimenopause symptoms often present differently in Black, South Asian and East Asian women. South Asian women typically reach menopause between 46 and 48, compared with 50 to 51 in Caucasian women, meaning symptoms can begin in the mid-thirties. Symptoms are more likely to appear as joint pain, body aches, anxiety, insomnia, vaginal dryness and recurrent UTIs rather than hot flushes. Black women in the UK are approximately five times less likely to be prescribed HRT.

In this episode of The Forties Formula, Jasmin Dhillon and Amanda Lim sit down with Dr Shahzadi Harper to explore how perimenopause affects women differently across ethnicities, and why that matters for diagnosis, treatment and long-term health.

They cover why perimenopause can start earlier than most women realise, the higher baseline cardiovascular, metabolic and bone  ...