NIH Conference on Sleep and Women's Health Highlights Gaps in Research on Hormones and Disease Risk
The NIH held its 2026 Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women from October 14 to 16, bringing together researchers to address gaps in understanding how sleep disorders affect women's long-term health. The conference focused on how hormonal changes, life-stage pressures, and social factors shape women's sleep and contribute to conditions including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. Researchers called for more targeted studies on women of color.
The National Institutes of Health held its 2026 Research Conference on Sleep and the Health of Women, known as SHOW 2026, from October 14 to 16, 2026.
The conference brought together sleep researchers, clinicians, and public health experts to address persistent gaps in understanding how sleep disorders affect women's long-term health outcomes.
Organizers said the event focused on how hormonal changes across a woman's life, including puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, interact with sleep quality and duration. Researchers also examined how social pressures, caregiving responsibilities, and work demands create unique sleep challenges for women that differ from those faced by men.
The conference highlighted research linking poor sleep in women to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Speakers noted that much of the foundational sleep research conducted over the past several decades used predominantly male study populations, leaving significant gaps in knowledge about how sleep disorders present and progress differently in women.
Researchers called for more targeted studies on women of color, noting that existing data on sleep health disparities is limited. Academic journals including Sleep Health have published work examining how culture, gender, and race intersect to influence sleep outcomes, but conference participants said more large-scale, diverse studies are needed.
The NIH said the conference is part of a broader effort to close research gaps in women's health and to develop clinical guidelines that better reflect the full range of patients seeking care for sleep disorders.
