Historically, one of the reasons for excluding women from clinical trials has been the idea that women's menstrual cycles have made their data too variable to study.

 Wearable tech can and is having an impact on this specific issue, as researchers use data from watches and rings to not only track a cycle, but beyond that, to track many other aspects of physiology at the same time. 

In fact researchers are now moving beyond that simple goal to try to make sense of these physiological changes in the context of our cycles. Today, I finish my conversation with Dr. Sarah Johnson, who's looking at data from wearables to understand both normal cycles and those impacted by various forms of birth control. 

The menstrual cycle through the lens of a wearable device: insights into physiology, sleep and cycle variability : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-026-02799-9