The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

251 - Kate Muir: everything you need to know about hormones but were afraid to ask

This week, Dr Louise is once again joined by journalist and activist Kate Muir, who made the Davina McCall documentary Sex, Myths and the Menopause. In Kate’s new book, Everything You Need to Know About the Pill (but were too afraid to ask), she turns her attention to the hormones commonly used in the contraceptive pill.

Kate shares personal stories of how women have been negatively affected by synthetic hormones and uncovers the bad science and patriarchy that have had such an impact on women’s health. She also offers hope that women have options and can demand change.

Finally, Kate shares three things every women should know about hormones and the pill:

1. Progestins are not all the same. Some of them are androgenic and some of them are oestrogenic, and they have very different effects. So, women can be on the wrong pill for them.
2. You can always take a pill holiday. There's nothing wrong with taking a few months off and seeing how you feel. And you may be a different person, or there may be other reasons for why you are in that state of mental health.
3. There needs to be more research into every bit of what synthetic hormones do in our bodies, and particularly in our minds.

You can follow Kate on Instagram at @muirka and on @pillscandal

Click here to find out more about Newson Health.

250 - Testosterone: the missing piece of the jigsaw?

This week we mark 250 episodes of the Dr Louise Newson Podcast!

And joining Dr Louise this week is Anita Nicholson, a nurse practitioner and menopause expert at Age Management Center in the US, where she aims to help patients lead the best quality of life for as long as they can.

Here, Dr Louise and Anita compare notes on the attitudes towards testosterone in the UK and the US, share their clinical experience of the benefits it can provide women, particularly in restoring their zest for life.

Finally, Anita shares three things she thinks could make a huge difference to women's health:

1. Women need to educate themselves. They have to be their own advocate.
2. I would love for hormones to become available and affordable. In the US, we don't even have vaginal oestrogen covered by some insurance here, never mind over-the-counter access.
3. More education of healthcare providers. So have a fellowship in menopause. Let's start very early with med students and nurse practitioner students so they understand that menopause and sexual medicine is very important for our life span and our health span.

You can follow Anita on Instagram @menopause_agewellfnp and the Age Management Center on Facebook /AgeManagementCenter and YouTube /@agemanagementcenter.

Click here for more information about Newson Health

 

 

249 - Dr Mary Claire Haver: on a mission to demystify menopause

In this week’s podcast Dr Louise is joined by Dr Mary Claire Haver, an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor and a menopause specialist in the US. Dr Louise and Dr Mary Claire discuss the challenges of ensuring all women have access to evidence-based information and treatment, and their hopes for change.

Dr Mary Claire shares her three tips to help menopausal women improve their health:

1. Really focus on your nutrition. Make sure you're getting adequate fibre in your diet every day. Fibre-rich goods are good for you gut microbiome, help you stay full for longer, and are good sources of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
2. Limit added sugars – those that are added in cooking and processing - to less than 25g per day. Women who do that consistently have less visceral fat. Visceral fat is tied to increased risk of chronic inflammatory diseases.
3. Don't just focus on cardio for your movement. You really need to keep your muscles strong so at least two days a week pick up some weights. Multiple studies in menopausal women show much better outcomes for osteoporosis with resistance training.

You can follow Dr Mary Claire on Instagram at @drmaryclaire

Click here to find out more about Newson Health

Pre-order the revised and updated paperback edition of Dr Louise’s Sunday Times bestseller The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause here

 

References to studies discussed in this week's episode

J Gen Intern Med 2006; 21:363–6

J Gen Intern Med 2004;19:791–804

Am J Med 2009;122:1016 – 22

JAMA 2004; 291:2243 – 52

Int J Cardiol 2010;138:25 – 31

Urology 2024; Jan 29:S0090-4295(24)00006-2

248 - The menopause brain: why it might be feeling strange and what you can do about it

The Dr Louise Newson Podcast is celebrating two huge milestones this week: not only is the podcast five years old, we’ve hit six million downloads since Dr Louise started her podcast back in March 2019!

Making a welcome return to the podcast this week is world-renowned neuroscientist Dr Lisa Mosconi, PhD. Her new book, The Menopause Brain is released on 21 March and in it Dr Lisa shares some of the fascinating changes that occur to the brain during menopause.

In this episode, Dr Lisa explains how our understanding of the importance of hormones’ role in the brain is relatively new – man was walking on the moon almost 30 years before scientists realised that the hormones that play an important part in ovarian function also have a fundamental role in the brain.

She explains that she wrote her book to empower women with the information they need to navigate the menopause – by understanding why your brain might feel foggy and the science behind it, she hopes to reassure and enlighten.

You can follow Dr Lisa Mosconi on Instagram @dr_mosconi

Click here to find out more about Newson Health

 

247 - Addiction and menopause

Joining Dr Louise on this week’s podcast is Alex Newman, a substance misuse therapist with a special interest in the menopause.

Alex’s passion is supporting women who are self-medicating menopausal symptoms with alcohol and drugs – a recent survey by Newson Health of nearly 1,200 women found some were spending nearly £3,000 a year on alcohol and over-the-counter medication in a bid to cope with menopause-related symptoms.

The pair discuss the relationship between substance misuse and menopause, and crucially, strategies on how to get help for yourself or a loved one.

Follow Alex on Instagram @alexnewmantherapy or email alexnewman.therapy@gmail.com.

Click here to find out more about Newson Health

246 - Postnatal depression, PMDD and menopause: Wendy’s hormone journey

Content advisory: this episode contains themes of suicide and self-harm

Joining Dr Louise on this week’s podcast is Wendy Barker. Wendy experienced postnatal depression after the birth of her first child in the late 80s and was later diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a very severe form of premenstrual syndrome.

‘For probably three weeks of the month, I was like a coiled spring,’ Wendy recalls.

‘And the only way that I would get anything sort of relief from that would be to either rage, scream, shout, and then there'd be the tears. And then I would think that's it until it starts all over again.’

Wendy movingly describes the impact of PMDD on her physical and mental health and her relationship with her family, her fight for a diagnosis and ongoing access to treatment, plus her advice for others in similar situations.

You can find more information about PMDD in Dr Louise’s book, the Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause. And you can listen back to episode 216 of the podcast with Dr Hannah Ward on progesterone, PMDD, postnatal depression and menopause.

Click here for more information on Newson Health.

Contact the Samaritans for 24-hour, confidential support by calling 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

 

245 - How medicine has failed women, with author Elinor Cleghorn

This week Dr Louise is joined by feminist cultural historian Dr Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women, which unpacks the roots of the misunderstanding, mystification and misdiagnosis of women’s bodies, illness and pain. From the ‘wandering womb’ of ancient Greece to today’s shifting understanding of hormones, menstruation and menopause, Unwell Women is the story of women who have suffered, challenged and rewritten medical misogyny.

Elinor tells Dr Louise how the book draws on her own experience of being dismissed by doctors for years before finally being diagnosed with systemic lupus, an autoimmune condition which is nine times more prevalent among women than men.

In the episode, Dr Louise and Elinor discuss how women’s health, including menopause, has been viewed through the ages, and the misconceptions that need to be consigned to the history books once and for all.

Follow Dr Elinor on Instagram @elinorcleghorn

Click here to find out more about Newson Health

244 - Hot flush drug fezolinetant

On this week’s podcast, Dr Louise is joined by Dr Ashley Winter, a urologist and sexual medicine specialist, and Dr Sarah Glynne, a GP and menopause specialist who is a member of the research team at Newson Health and chairs a working party that promotes access to evidence-based menopause care for patients with breast cancer.

They discuss Fezolinetant – brand name Veoza – a new drug recently approved in the UK and other countries to treat moderate to severe hot flushes in menopausal women aged 45 to 60 years.

You can read an article about fezolinetant on the balance website here.

Related articles

Lederman S., Ottery F.D., Cano A., Santoro N., Shapiro M., Stute P., et al. (2023) 'Fezolinetant for treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause (SKYLIGHT 1): a phase 3 randomised controlled study', Lancet, 401(10382):1091-102. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00085-5

Johnson K.A., Martin N., Nappi R.E., Neal-Perry G., Shapiro M., Stute P., et al. (2023), 'Efficacy and safety of fezolinetant in moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: a Phase 3 RCT', J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 108(8):1981-97. Doi:10.1210/clinem/dgad058

Douxfils J., Beaudart C., Dogne J.M. (2023), 'Risk of neoplasm with the neurokinin 3 receptor antagonist fezolinetant', Lancet, 402(10413):1623-5. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01634-3

Follow Dr Ashley Winter on X and Instagram @ashleygwinter

Follow Dr Sarah Glynne on Instagram @sarahglynne

Click here to find out more about Newson Health 

243 - Contraception during perimenopause: HRT, the pill and the Mirena coil

In this episode, Dr Louise is joined by Dr Clair Crockett, a GP and menopause specialist at Newson Health. Dr Clair has completed diplomas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Sexual and Reproductive Health, and fits coils and implants.

Here, she discusses some of the challenges for perimenopausal and menopausal women when it comes to contraception, and the importance of individualisation. She gives an insight into the hormones used in the contraceptive pill and HRT and shares how the Mirena coil can be transformative for some women.

Finally, Dr Clair suggests three things to consider about contraception:

1. Spend some time gathering information, talking to other women about their experiences with contraception and considering what your priorities are. Your healthcare professional can also help you make your decision.
2. Remember that side effects of contraception are quite unusual but that if something doesn’t work for you, you can change your mind. It’s OK to take time to find the best contraception for you. 
3. Some forms of contraception may mask perimenopausal symptoms so if you’re not sure if this is happening to you, track your symptoms and how you are feeling so you can get guidance from your healthcare professional.

Click here to find out more about coil fitting services at Newson Health

242 - Sex, hormones and the menopause

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, this week’s podcast looks at how menopause can affect sex and intimacy.

Joining Dr Louise is US-based Dr Kelly Casperson, urologic surgeon, author, and sex educator with expertise in hormones and pelvic health, whose passion is empowering women to embrace their best love lives.

They talk about how genitourinary symptoms, such as recurrent UTIs, can impact sex, why communication is crucial and the importance of education in helping women make informed decisions about their treatment and health.

Follow Dr Kelly on Instagram @kellycaspersonmd and listen to her podcast here

Click here to find out more about Newson Health