Current Projects
Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) IV
The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) is a multi-center, multi-ethnic longitudinal study characterizing the physiological and psychosocial changes that occur during the menopausal transition and to observing their effects on subsequent health and risk factors for age-related diseases. The Michigan SWAN sites work with eligible women of suburban communities (Ypsilanti, Inkster and Tecumseh), located in Southeast Michigan.
SWAN is a longitudinal study encompassing data from 3,302 women (at baseline) in five race/ethnic groups (African-American, Caucasian, Chinese, Hispanic and Japanese) who have been evaluated prior to, during and following the menopausal transition. In its first three waves of funding (SWAN I, II and III), SWAN collected and analyzed information on demographics, social, health and physical characteristics, reproductive and health history, and intermediate risk factors for disease in women from community-based samples. SWAN has identified and utilized markers of chronological aging and aging of the ovarian-hypothalamo-pituitary axis and related these markers to alterations in menstrual cycle characteristics and health status as women traverse the menopause to the early post-menopause.
The focus of SWAN IV is in four major areas, chosen for their importance in the overall process of aging and disability, as well as potential links to the data we have collected during the menopausal transition:
- Physical Function including the contribution of osteoarthritis
- Cognitive Function, Symptoms, Emotional and Mental Health
- Bone Health/Osteoporosis
- Cardiovascular Health
SWAN is compiling the most comprehensive characterization to date of the health and the physiologic and psychosocial changes of women from pre- to post-menopause in community-based samples. SWAN will study the effects of these menopause- related changes on subsequent aging and age-related diseases in the post-reproductive period.