Raging Gracefully

09/03/2026

This is me!! 😂

07/03/2026

03/03/2026

For decades, brain health research centered on the “average” patient.

That patient was not a midlife woman.

Women are nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Yet hormonal transitions have historically been treated as separate from neurology rather than central to it.

Estrogen influences brain metabolism, synaptic function, inflammation, and resilience to stress. When hormones shift, the brain shifts.

Our healthcare system cannot continue to treat reproductive health and brain health as separate specialties.

If we want better cognitive outcomes for women, integration has to start at the research and clinical level.

02/03/2026

This is a study from the UK, but just as relevant here. Many women I speak to are surprised by the impact of perimenopause/menopause on mental health.

28/02/2026

27/02/2026

I love the idea of thinking about perimenopause as a build phase.

In running, strength work, any sport really we training in blocks or phases. A base phase where we hold a consistent, comfortable level of fitness and strength while building endurance, a build phase where we build strength, fitness, endurance, and a performance phase where we can test our improved strength and see what we can do now. Not to forget a recovery block - we can’t train all the time at a high level!!

I love the idea of giving myself some grace. Right now training through perimenopause is hard. Training like this is my build phase with consistency and deliberate sessions will hopefully set me up for menopause and the next 30 or so years of my life.

Reach out if you want to chat about it

27/02/2026

😂 so true!

23/02/2026

Here’s a good explanation of the mechanisms involved in bone loss as we lose estrogen.

Menopause isn’t just a hormonal shift — it’s an immune shift inside your bones.

Bone is not inert scaffolding.

It is living, immunologically active tissue.

The bone marrow functions as a central immune organ — an immuno-bone axis.

Inside bone, remodeling is constant — a balance between:

• osteoclasts (cells that break bone down)
• osteoblasts (cells that rebuild it)

Estrogen helps regulate that balance.

Within the marrow environment, it restrains inflammatory signaling and maintains equilibrium in the RANKL/OPG pathway — the key regulator of osteoclast activation.

When estrogen declines:

• Marrow immune activity increases
• The RANKL/OPG ratio shifts toward activation
• Osteoclast lifespan extends
• Bone resorption accelerates
• Trabecular structure weakens

This is why bone loss often accelerates after menopause.

It reflects altered immune signaling inside skeletal tissue.

Old view:
Menopause → Estrogen drops → Bones weaken.

Biological view:
Menopause → Immune shift in marrow → Increased RANKL signaling → Accelerated osteoclast activity → Bone loss.

Estrogen functions as an immune modulator within bone.

And here is the empowering part:

While estrogen decline is biological, the signaling environment remains modifiable.

Osteoblasts contain mechanoreceptors.

Resistance training sends a direct biochemical signal that stimulates bone formation.

Bone is nearly 50% protein by volume.
Without adequate protein intake, the collagen matrix cannot be rebuilt.

Visceral fat acts as an endocrine organ, producing inflammatory cytokines that amplify marrow signaling. Reducing it lowers systemic inflammatory load.

Vitamin D supports calcium absorption.

Vitamin K2 activates osteocalcin, helping incorporate calcium into the bone matrix.

Magnesium supports vitamin D metabolism and osteoblast activity.

Bone density reflects hormonal tone, immune balance, mechanical load, protein sufficiency, and metabolic stability.

Estrogen decline shifts the environment.

But the environment is still responsive.

Bone is living tissue.

And living tissue responds to signaling.

20/02/2026

20/02/2026

Reach out if you need a conversation.

18/02/2026

True!

14/02/2026

😂😂😂 oh yeah!