Wen Shen, MD, on steering patients to evidence-based menopause care

The surge of interest in menopause medicine has brought a flood of online misinformation that clinicians must now help patients navigate, according to Wen Shen, MD, Assistant Professor, Clinical Gynecology, Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Director, Center of Menopause and Midlife Health.

Shen delivered the opening keynote, “Perimenopause is Every Clinician’s Patient,” at Perry Academy’s The Perimenopause Symposium, held September 25, 2026, in Baltimore, Maryland, during Perimenopause Awareness Month.

Continuing the series’ focus on perimenopausal care, Shen said menopause medicine—and testosterone in particular—has become “the flavor of the month,” drawing a wave of social media “meno-influencers.”

A wave of menopause misinformation

At a recent workshop, Shen said, clinicians described being “bombarded with patients coming in with all this misinformation stuff on their phones,” making it difficult to explain the value of evidence-based medicine.

Shen said much of that content lacks scientific grounding. “They’re out there selling lotions, potions, and eye of newt, and there’s no evidence, there’s no safety data, and there’s no efficacy,” she said.

Those products are also expensive, she added, calling the situation frustrating.

Directing patients to evidence-based resources

Shen said readily accessible, evidence-based websites can help dispel the confusion. She pointed to the Society for Women’s Health Research, a nonprofit recently recognized for its work, which offers a menopause worksheet for women.

“It’s very readable. It’s not medicalese,” Shen said, noting that the worksheet explains symptoms, why they occur, and what patients can do for themselves.

Such vetted resources, she said, give OB/GYNs a reliable way to direct patients toward accurate information. Shen described the worksheet as “a very patient-friendly website to get information, as opposed to the menopause influencers.”

Reference:

Perry Academy Unveils Full Program for First-of-Its-Kind Multidisciplinary Perimenopause Symposium. Perry Academy. News release. September 1, 2026. Accessed September 30, 2026.