We're living longer, but are we living well? For women, the answer may depend on an organ we've barely begun to understand.
When I first sat down with Dr. Jennifer Garrison — a neuroscientist, women's health advocate, and longevity researcher — I knew we'd be talking about ovaries. What I didn't expect was to leave the interview convinced that these tiny organs might just hold the key to unlocking longer, healthier lives.
Here's the crux of the matter: ovaries don't just make eggs; they're the conductors of your body's biochemical orchestra, influencing everything from brain health to bone density to your risk of disease in later life.
And yet, for decades, they've been misunderstood, under-researched, and ignored.
Not Just for Baby-Making
When most people hear the word ovaries, they think: periods, fertility, and menopause, but as Dr. Garrison explained, ovaries are involved in dynamic two-way chemical conversations with nearly every major tissue in the female body — including your heart, brain, skin, bones and muscles.
"They're like a symphony conductor," she said. "And when that conductor retires early — which ovaries do, functionally — the whole system starts to fall apart."
Ageing, Rewritten — Through the Female Lens
Here's what shook me: ovaries age up to 2.5 times faster than the rest of the body. That accelerated decline doesn't just affect fertility. It's linked to heart health, metabolism, cognitive function, and more — making ovaries a "pacemaker for ageing."
And yet, most of what we know about ageing has been studied in male bodies. As Dr. Garrison says: "We're still in the dark ages when it comes to female physiology. We don't even know what we don't know."
The Education We Never Got
I was never taught that my fertility would decline sharply in my 30s — or that perimenopause could start years before any obvious signs. Like many women, I learned about my ovaries through Google searches, not science. And that's a problem.
"At no point in my life did anyone say: 'Here's what to expect at 25. Here's what's coming at 40,'" Dr. Garrison told me. "We should be able to sit down with girls in their teens and say: 'This is how your body works. And here's how to protect it.'"
But here's what we can do right now: start paying attention to our own bodies.
Your Cycle is Your Superpower
Dr Garrison's advice for women in their 20s was refreshingly practical: "Learn as much as you can about your own bodies. Knowledge is power." But not in the way you might think.
Instead of dreading your menstrual cycle, she suggests reframing it entirely. "Girls should think about their menstrual cycle as their superpower," she told me. "If you really understand what's happening in your body, you can take advantage of that knowledge and leverage it."
The practical takeaway: Start tracking not just your periods, but how you feel, focus, and perform at different phases of your cycle. Research shows your physical capabilities, mental focus, and energy levels all fluctuate predictably throughout your cycle.
Understanding these patterns means you can schedule important meetings during your high-focus days, plan challenging workouts when your body is primed for them, and give yourself grace during the more challenging phases. In Ireland, where women often juggle career and family planning later in life, understanding these patterns becomes even more crucial.
The Hidden Health Connection
Here's something that surprised me: if you have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), which affects more than 10% of women, many unknowingly, you're much more likely to develop metabolic disease later in life.
"Knowing that you might be predisposed to metabolic dysfunction or disease later in life might really help you rethink what you're doing in this moment," Dr. Garrison explained.
This is preventative health in action: understanding what's happening now to change your future outcomes.
Navigating the Misinformation Minefield
Just as we need to understand our ovaries beyond reproduction, we need to understand supplements beyond marketing claims.
Dr. Garrison's red flags to watch for:
- Any supplement claiming to "naturally" mimic pharmaceutical effects.
- Products without independent studies (not company-sponsored research)
- Anything promising dramatic results from "natural" ingredients
Her advice? Only supplement if you're actually deficient in something, and work with a doctor to determine that.
Reframing the Hormone Therapy Conversation
Perhaps the most eye-opening part of our conversation was about hormone therapy. Dr. Garrison believes we're asking the wrong question entirely.
"It shouldn't be, 'Should I take hormone therapy?'" she said. "It should be the other way. The question should be: 'What are the risks of not taking hormone therapy?'"
This isn't a blanket recommendation for all women—hormone therapy decisions are highly individualised and depend on personal and family health history. The key is having informed conversations with qualified practitioners rather than making decisions based on fear or outdated information.
But here's the catch: Many medical professionals receive limited training in women's health during medical education. Dr. Garrison suggests seeking healthcare providers with specific training in women's health for these conversations.
In Ireland, accessing specialised women's health care can involve challenges - whether that's waiting times or finding practitioners with specific expertise. Start by advocating for more thorough discussions with your GP, who can refer you to appropriate specialists when needed.
The Bottom Line: Start Now
Ovarian health isn't just about reproduction — it's about resilience. It affects how we age, how we think, how we move, and how we feel.
Your action plan:
- Track your cycle — not just periods, but energy, focus, and performance patterns.
- Learn about your body — understand how PCOS, irregular cycles, or other issues might affect your long-term health.
- Be a savvy consumer and look for independent research.
- Find the right doctor — seek out healthcare providers trained in women's health.
- Reframe the conversation — ask about risks of not taking preventative measures, not just risks of taking them.
- If this feels overwhelming, start with just one thing: begin tracking your energy levels daily on a simple 1-10 scale.
Knowledge about your own body is the most cost-effective health tool you have, yet most of us only think about our ovaries when something goes wrong. Understanding our bodies' internal systems is just the first step.
Next week, I'll be exploring sexuality as a crucial but overlooked component of women's health and longevity with Dr. Juliana Hauser, author of A New Position on Sex. Her insights promise to challenge what we think we know about ageing at every stage of life.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
