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Dr Louise Newson is an award-winning physician, respected women’s hormone specialist, educator, and author committed to increasing awareness and knowledge of perimenopause, menopause, and lifelong hormone health. Each week, Louise dives into the newest research, treatments and hot topic issues, providing accessible, evidence-based information to empower your future health. Joined by fellow experts and special guests, with answers to your burning questions, Louise explores how hormones impact every aspect of our lives. Described as the “medic who kickstarted the menopause revolution”, Louise aims to empower a generation of women to have a greater understanding, choice and control over their treatment, bodies, minds and future health through their hormones. She is the creator of the award-winning free balance app, a Sunday Times bestselling author and the founder of the Newson Health clinic. With over three decades of clinical experience, Louise is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College of GPs, a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge, a regular contributor to academic journals including the Lancet and the British Journal of General Practice, and has been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Health from Bradford University.
Episodes

Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
231 - Getting to the truth around HRT and breast cancer with Dr Avrum Bluming
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Leading US oncologist Dr Avrum Bluming joins Dr Louise Newson to talk about the crucial role of oestrogen in women’s health.
Despite HRT’s proven benefits in protecting against heart disease, bone fracture and cognitive decline, many women still avoid it over breast cancer fears.
It’s been more than 20 years since media headlines about a study called the Women’s Health Initiative linked HRT to an increased risk of breast cancer. In this podcast, Dr Bluming says that in fact we now know oestrogen alone decreases the risk of breast cancer development by 23% and risk of death from breast cancer by 40%.
He also disputes the findings of the WHI study that combined progesterone and oestrogen HRT leads to a small increase in breast cancer cases.
‘It is very upsetting when such an influential study continues to misquote their own data,’ says Dr Bluming, who has spent 25 years studying the benefits and risks of HRT in breast cancer survivors.
Dr Bluming points out that oestrogen used to be a treatment for breast cancer before chemotherapy was developed, and that rates of breast cancer increase as we age, despite the fact our oestrogen levels fall as we get older.
You can read about Dr Bluming's latest paper here, and listen to an earlier podcast Dr Newson and Dr Bluming recorded here.
Comments (1)
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Very interesting but what about those of us who have started combined hrt 10 years plus after menopause. It is mentioned in passing that it benefits women within 10 years of menopause but there’s no detail given about anyone who starts hrt 10 years plus after menopause making it very difficult for us to make an informed decision to weigh up the benefits against the risks and there are many more of us in this position who were warned off hrt years ago. Thank you for all the work you do.
Monday Nov 27, 2023
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