Putting on weight, hot flashes at any time of day, waking up with night sweats or living through emotional rollercoasters. These are the most visible and better-known changes to a female body during menopause. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Women in menopausal and postmenopausal stages of their lives have an increased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and bone diseases. An increasing amount of research has studied what exactly happens in the phase that follows the fertility