Rapid Response: Menopause is having a hot moment, with Midi Health’s Joanna Strober
Aug 6, 2024
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Joanna Strober, founder of Midi Health and advocate for women's health, discusses the urgent need to address menopause, a topic often overlooked. She highlights the consequences of ignoring perimenopause and shares her journey overcoming fundraising biases to secure $100 million for her mission. Strober emphasizes the medical community's lack of training on menopause and the importance of integrating hormonal health solutions, including innovative weight loss treatments, to enhance women's quality of life.
Joanna Strober emphasizes that the historical neglect of menopause in research has led to a cultural stigmatization and lack of treatment options for women, highlighting urgent care needs.
The discussion reveals significant investment disparities between women's health initiatives, particularly menopause, and men's health, illustrating a vast business opportunity in addressing these overlooked issues.
Deep dives
The Cultural Shift Surrounding Menopause
Currently, menopause is experiencing increased societal attention, which reflects a growing acknowledgment of the challenges women face as they age. The historical misinterpretations of the Women's Health Initiative Study in 2001 led to a significant reduction in research into hormone treatments, leaving women without essential care for many years. This has sparked frustration among women who have been suffering while lacking access to effective treatments. Such cultural limitations now present business opportunities for companies like Midi Health, aimed at addressing both health care needs and the stigmas surrounding menopause.
The Interconnectedness of Symptoms and Solutions
A significant point in the discussion is how menopause affects various aspects of a woman's health, from sexual wellness to general wellbeing. Many women experience painful sex as estrogen levels drop, leading to disinterest in intimacy, which is often overlooked by healthcare providers. This oversimplification of menopause as merely a medical issue misses the cultural and emotional dimensions involved. It highlights the need for treatments, such as local estrogen therapy, that can significantly improve quality of life, contributing to a more holistic approach to women’s health.
The Business Landscape of Women's Health
The landscape of women's health, particularly regarding menopause, presents unique opportunities that are currently underfunded compared to men's health issues. Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health, illustrates that the staggering discrepancies in funding for women's sexual wellness compared to erectile dysfunction highlight a broader societal imbalance. Midi Health aims to democratize access to menopause care by providing a platform that integrates various specialties and is supported by insurance coverage. This initiative not only seeks to improve women’s healthcare outcomes but also to create a business model that proves the viability of investing in women's health.
Women are losing sleep, falling behind at work, suffering pain, and struggling in their relationships — all because we don’t talk enough about menopause or treat its symptoms. Midi Health’s Joanna Strober founded her company to tap the vast underserved market for this area of women’s health, which is finally getting mainstream attention. Strober shares with Rapid Response host Bob Safian the stakes of ignoring perimenopause and menopause, how she endured bias in fundraising to eventually secure $100 million, and why she isn’t shy about leaning into controversy.