Ayush ministry marks World Menopause Day 2026, says Ayurveda remedies still under study

The Ministry of Ayush marked World Menopause Day on October 18, 2026, with a public awareness message on menopause and women's health, carried out through the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), its Ayurveda research body. The ministry said its focus is on preventive care, healthy daily habits and treatment fitted to the individual woman. CCRAS Director General Prof. Rabinarayan Acharya said the council is studying classical Ayurvedic formulations to judge whether they can help with menopausal health, and the ministry acknowledged that scientific research is still needed to establish how safe and effective these approaches are.

Menopause usually arrives between the ages of 45 and 55. The ministry's message listed the common symptoms: irregular periods, hot flushes, vaginal dryness, poor sleep, mood swings, joint pain and anxiety. A government body talking about menopause in plain terms, on a fixed day each year, helps make it an ordinary health topic rather than a private embarrassment.

The message also shows how the Ayush system is trying to position itself. Ayurveda describes menopause as a natural stage of life, a transition rather than a disease, and the ministry built its message around that idea: support the body through diet, rest, exercise, stress control and, where a practitioner advises it, traditional preparations. Much of this lifestyle advice overlaps with what doctors generally suggest as a first step.

Where tradition and evidence part ways is on the medicines. Ashokarishta, Lodhrasava and Amalaki Rasayana have been used in Ayurvedic practice for women's health for a long time, but long use is not the same as proof from controlled trials. CCRAS says it is running studies to test them, and the ministry openly said that safety and effectiveness still have to be shown. That admission matters. It tells readers that these remedies are under study, not proven treatments, and that no one should stop or skip a doctor's advice on the strength of an awareness message.

The 2026 message also continues a pattern. On World Menopause Day 2025, CCRAS issued a similar statement that named Ashokarishta and Amalaki Rasayana and said it was working to validate such classical formulations. A year later, the research is still described as ongoing, and no trial results were announced alongside this year's message. Published CCRAS data would be the real test.

Short-term: The campaign raises awareness in the days around World Menopause Day, and women who use Ayush services may hear more about menopause care at government Ayurveda clinics and wellness centres. It does not change any treatment rule, approve any medicine or launch a new scheme.

Long-term: If CCRAS publishes good-quality trial results on these formulations, doctors and patients will have a firmer basis to decide whether they help, and which women they help. If the evidence does not appear, the message will remain one of lifestyle advice wrapped in traditional language.

Who is affected: Women approaching or going through menopause and their families; Ayurveda practitioners who advise them; and researchers and regulators who will judge the evidence when it arrives. Women with heavy bleeding, severe symptoms or other conditions should still see a qualified doctor, since some symptoms around this age need proper medical checks.

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