Blockchain and DeSci Are the Future of Midlife Women’s Health: Part 2

This will change everything – and I think it’s going to be better.

Photo by Hitesh Choudhary on Unsplash

Last week, I explained how I found my way to learning about blockchain and one of the most exciting applications for women’s health: Decentralized Science, or DeSci. To be completely honest, the piece sunk like a lead balloon.

Sure, it might be a little early to be talking about this, but in the weeks since I put it all together (realizing that my crypto/blockchain obsession actually intersects with my perimenopause and midlife one), I haven’t been able to stop thinking of ways this could help us. It addresses so many of the problems we face in research today: the profound ‘where do we even start’ lack of funding, limited opportunities for the retail investor to influence the early stages, researchers bogged down by grant applications, for-profit scientific journals, gatekeeping by the medical community, lack of transparency in the peer review process, and academic resistance to new ideas, for starters. Researchers also typically operate within their own institutions, or across a small number of them – blockchain would open this up to the world.

Here are just a few scenarios of how a DeSci platform that uses Web3 – the next, decentralized version of the internet that operates on blockchain – could lead to some groundbreaking research for us (followed by some of the DeSci projects happening in our space right now):

• A platform like Hotflash Inc grows and either forms its own DeSci platform or DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) or joins forces with one, taking all the information gathered and using AI to create priorities. These are then fed back to the community, which votes on what projects move ahead, provides funding on a fractional basis (with a chance for financial return), gives direction and feedback, and much more.

• Much-needed meta-analyses clarifying the biggest points of contention and identifying the most pressing research needs. AI could analyze the current range of available data, fast-tracking what is normally an arduous and expensive process and launching us decades into the future. I nominate the question of whether hormone therapy prevents dementia and cardiovascular disease, and an impartial look at hormone therapy in relation to possible risks and side effects.

• Blockchain-verified clinical trials for natural remedies and practices (the ones frequently used in non-medical fields yet criticized by mainstream medicine for lack of research). No more falling prey to predatory marketers and false promises on cheap supplements. I nominate Pycnogenol, sage tea, and a deep dive into hypnosis!