Richa Puri is an independent prescribing pharmacist and registered nutritionist at Richa Puri Hormones. She explains that women in their forties and fifties have become the prime target for a booming longevity industry, which markets products and treatments claiming to slow ageing and extend lifespan.<\/p>\n
“They’re told they can control how fast they age,” she says. “But the practical advice they’re given is often a shopping list of tests and pills.”<\/p>\n
Richa Puri<\/p>\n
![\"Richa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Copy_of_Photo__1_.jpg\"\/)
How science became a sales pitch<\/p>\n
Research is often undertaken to improve health and deepen our understanding of disease and ageing. But as new findings emerge, they’re sometimes repackaged and marketed to consumers long before the evidence is strong enough to support their widespread use.<\/p>\n
One example is the \u2018hallmarks of ageing\u2019 framework. Developed over the past decade, it describes 12 cellular and molecular processes that contribute to ageing and provides scientists with a way to organise research into why we grow older.<\/p>\n
Recent research has built on the ‘hallmarks of ageing’ framework to explore potential longevity drugs and other interventions. But outside the lab, the concept has been turned into a marketing tool.<\/p>\n
Many clinics and wellness brands now sell products they claim target the hallmarks of ageing, including supplement bundles and IV therapies. These are often promoted with promises of reducing your biological age by several years, even though scientists are still debating how reliable those claims are.<\/p>\n
The ‘hallmarks of ageing’ are a research framework – not a treatment plan. They help scientists understand how we age, but they don’t prove that the supplements or treatments being sold to consumers can safely or effectively target these processes. In many cases, the marketing is moving faster than the evidence.<\/p>\n
Women in midlife are not only a key target for marketing tactics, but may also be more susceptible to the negative health effects associated with unregulated polypharmacy.<\/p>\n
The timing is particularly important. Perimenopause brings significant changes<\/a> – including shifting hormones, disrupted sleep, weight changes, altered blood sugar regulation, and increased mental health challenges.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a crucial window for prevention, as long-term health conditions such as heart disease, osteoporosis<\/a>, and cognitive decline can begin to emerge during your forties and fifties. At the same time, the number of medicines and supplements people are taking is steadily increasing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time many women find me, they\u2019re on three or four prescriptions and taking a handful of supplements they\u2019ve chosen themselves to \u2018target\u2019 hallmarks or biological age,\u201d says Puri. <\/p>\n The pharmacist adds that patients often self-prescribe, creating room for harm without professional healthcare guidance. A woman in midlife may combine prescribed medicines such as HRT<\/a>, thyroid medication, or weight loss treatments with a growing list of supplements and longevity products.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividually, none of these is necessarily unreasonable,\u201d warns Puri. \u201cThe risk is in the combination, because no medical professional has reviewed what\u2019s being taken against her history, lab results, and medical priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n When self-care turns into self-prescribing<\/p>\n Health experts warn that this combination of physical changes, multiple medications, and the booming longevity industry is exposing gaps in healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is a kind of DIY longevity clinic in the kitchen cupboard,\u201d says Puri. \u201cPatients bring in expensive biological\u2011age reports and bags of supplements, but those products often don\u2019t show up accurately in our records, and appointment slots are too short to review the entire regimen.\u201d<\/p>\n Puri points to women aged 40 to 55 as the group most affected by this disconnect.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve invested in important awareness messages about perimenopause, but we haven\u2019t yet caught up with the reality that these same women are being told they can and should self\u2011manage their biological age,\u201d she explains. \u201cWithout a prescriber who understands both hallmarks science and drug\u2013supplement interactions, it becomes guesswork.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re considering supplements or medications to help manage major life transitions or reduce your chance of developing age-related health conditions, speak to a healthcare professional first. They can help you decide what’s appropriate for your individual needs and make sure any treatments or supplements are safe to take together.<\/p>\n Rather than reaching for the latest supplement or longevity product your algorithm has served up, it’s worth focusing on a handful of well-established health habits first. <\/p>\n According to Puri, these are likely to have a far greater impact on your long-term health.<\/p>\n Prioritise sleep – for many women, getting hot flushes and night sweats<\/a> under control with HRT or non\u2011hormonal medication is the first real longevity intervention. It stabilises sleep and allows your brain and immune system to repair properly.<\/p>\n Build strength – focus less on weight and more on strength, balance, and metabolic flexibility. Resistance training seems to pay dividends across the longevity hallmarks that matter for blood sugar, bone, and brain.<\/p>\n Eat well and rethink alcohol – helping women move towards a Mediterranean\u2011leaning diet<\/a> and examine their drinking is more impactful than any single supplement for most people.<\/p>\n Manage stress – the 45 – 55 window is often peak stress. For example, work<\/a>, teens, parents<\/a>, health, and long-term stress shows up in telomeres and inflammatory markers. Sometimes we need medication or therapy here as much as lifestyle advice.<\/p>\n Only after those foundations are in place, Puri says, does she consider whether targeted medications or supplements could be helpful. Depending on the person, that might include HRT to manage severe hot flushes and protect bone health, or carefully chosen supplements to support gut<\/a> or metabolic health.<\/p>\n Puri believes the healthcare system needs to catch up with changing consumer behaviour. <\/p>\n She says healthcare professionals should start having conversations about healthy ageing and longevity much earlier, rather than waiting until issues develop.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be offering full medication and supplement interaction reviews to midlife women in the same way we offer medication reviews to older adults,\u201d she says. \u201cThat means sitting down with a prescriber or a qualified nutritionist who would be best placed to offer advice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Women in midlife are especially vulnerable to consumer manipulation. 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