Common Health Concerns in Older Women: Hormonal, Metabolic, Psychological, and Lifestyle Interactions
A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Women’s and Children’s Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 November 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editor
Interests: women’s health; menopause; postmenopausal health; metabolic syndrome; obesity; cardiovascular risk; physical activity; stress and mental health; preventive medicine; integrative healthcare
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In modern society, across the world, middle-aged and older women are experiencing major lifestyle and hormonal changes that interact with increasing psychosocial stressors (including media overload, social isolation, and the emotional demands of rapidly changing environments). These factors can affect neuroendocrine balance, which in turn contributes to sleep disturbances, psychological stress, and metabolic dysregulation. During menopausal transition and aging, hormonal and metabolic alterations converge with these neurophysiological and behavioral changes, heightening the risk of overweight, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, and depression. Understanding these interrelated clinical and behavioral processes is crucial in improving prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies to promote health and quality of life in older women.
This Special Issue will explore the hormonal, metabolic, psychological, and lifestyle determinants that influence health and disease in midlife and older women. In line with the multidisciplinary scope of Healthcare, we welcome studies integrating clinical, physiological, psychosocial, and behavioral perspectives to advance our understanding of the complex mind–body interactions underlying women’s health during the climacteric and postmenopausal stages. We particularly encourage submissions employing innovative and integrative approaches (for example, assessments using heart rate variability, clinical screening tools, physical performance tests, or health monitoring systems).
Suggested Themes and Article Types
For this Special Issue, original research articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, stress, hormonal, metabolic, and lifestyle determinants of women health and disease during menopause and aging and obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular risk in older women, as well as physical activity, exercise, and rehabilitation programs. Studies addressing nutrition, sleep, and circadian health are also encouraged, along with research taking a mind–body approach (for example, mindfulness and meditation) to explore relevant health outcomes, including stress perception, cardiovascular metabolic health, mental health status, and translational, community-based, or lifestyle interventions that promote healthy aging.
We look forward to receiving your contributions to this Special Issue.
Dr. María Raquel Huerta-Franco
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- midlife women
- aging
- hormonal regulation
- metabolic health
- cardiovascular risk
- psychological well-being
- lifestyle interventions
- mind–body medicine
- exercise and nutrition
- integrative healthcare
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