Podcasts about health initiative

Aging is a privilege — but perimenopause and menopause can still blindside you. Kate Bowler sits down with Dr. Mary Claire Haver, board-certified OB-GYN and bestselling author of The New Menopause and The New Perimenopause, to explain what's actually happening in the body during perimenopause and menopause, why symptoms like brain fog, frozen shoulder, and anxiety get dismissed or misdiagnosed, and what the evidence really says about hormone replacement therapy after the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study derailed women's care for two decades. They also cover practical, low-cost tools for this stage of life — bone density screening, strength training, protein and fiber, cardio guidelines — and why replacing shame with information changes everything. This conversation was recorded on location at the Aspen Ideas Festival: Health.

Does hormone replacement therapy cause breast cancer? Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Cara Fuhrman unpack what the Women's Health Initiative actually found, and who really needs HRT after menopause. For twenty years, women with hot flashes, sleep problems and low libido were told hormones were too dangerous to touch. Today the message has flipped so hard that women without a single symptom are being told they should be on HRT. Both versions skip the question that matters: do you need it, or do you not? Dr. Cara Fuhrman, Co-Founder and Medical Director of LongevityRx, sits down with her father, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, to walk through the science without the fear or the hype. This is for any woman navigating perimenopause or menopause, anyone already on hormones who isn't sure why, and anyone handed a lab report and a prescription without an explanation. In this episode: Does HRT really increase breast cancer risk? Does every woman need hormones after menopause? Oral vs. transdermal estrogen: does the form matter? Why Drs. Fuhrman caution against chasing hormone levels When testosterone may — and may not — be appropriate The role of diet, exercise and metabolic health during menopause The conversation continues in the next episode. If this helped you, follow the Eat to Live Podcast, leave a review, and share it with a woman who's trying to make this decision. This episode is educational and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice.

Kate Beckinsale wiped her Instagram last week after trolls decided she must be on Ozempic, then revealed the real reason, tied to grief and a health condition she's had since sixteen. Chalene Johnson breaks down why the internet's first assumption about any thin woman is always the same one, using Lizzo, Kylie Jenner, Kelly Osbourne, and Olivia Wilde as the latest examples. Then, a new Stanford study analyzing more than 21,000 women found that estrogen only hormone therapy is linked to measurably less Alzheimer's related brain plaque, confirmed by autopsy rather than memory complaints. Chalene explains who actually qualifies for estrogen only therapy and how to bring the research to your own doctor. She also covers a new survey showing 40% of Americans have already been scammed by AI, a viral video of a woman who refused to train the cheaper replacement who got her promotion, and a new collagen treatment tested on skin from real plastic surgery patients. Topics discussed: Kate Beckinsale, mast cell activation syndrome, Lizzo, Kylie Jenner, Kelly Osbourne, Olivia Wilde, Stanford study, estrogen, Alzheimer's, Women's Health Initiative, AI scams, voice cloning, Demi Moore, theunobsolete, collagen study.   Join Chalene on Patreon, her private podcast to hear all the latest on the landlord dispute drama! And it is JUICY!! Plus Penelope Updates 

In this episode of the Core Connections Podcast, Erica dives deep into progesterone — one of the most overlooked hormones in women's health. Whether you're trying to conceive, pregnant, postpartum, or navigating perimenopause, this conversation applies to you. Erica covers what progesterone actually does in the body (beyond fertility), its role as a calming neurosteroid, why it's often the first hormone to decline in perimenopause, the connection between toxin burden and hormone receptor function, and the key differences between bioidentical and synthetic hormones. In this episode: Why progesterone deserves a spot on every hormone panel The brain-calming connection (allopregnanolone + GABA-A receptors) Progesterone's role in pregnancy and preventing miscarriage The postpartum progesterone crash and postpartum mood support Perimenopause and why progesterone tanks first Estrogen dominance, detox pathways, and daily bowel health Hormone receptors, toxin burden, and why labs can look "normal" but not feel that way Going low and slow with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy The truth about the Women's Health Initiative study Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider. Share this episode with the women in your life — your friends, sisters, and daughters — at whatever stage they're in.

What if the goal was never "optimization" at all? Dr. Amanda Kahn is one of the most sought-after longevity doctors working today, and she built her practice from the inside out — after a mysterious postpartum health crisis left doctors with no diagnosis and no answers, she left traditional medicine to figure out what actually helps people recover, feel like themselves, and stay well as they age. Rather than chasing the next buzzy supplement or hormone hack, Dr. Kahn's philosophy is about resilience: understanding your baseline, your genetics, and your bloodwork so your body has what it needs to bounce back faster — from an injury, a cold, jet lag, or years of just feeling "off." Plus: why the peptide black market is more dangerous than people realize, what BPC-157 and TB4 actually do for injury recovery, how GHK supports collagen and skin from the inside out, what the Women's Health Initiative really got wrong about hormone replacement therapy, and her go-to protocol for beating jet lag. A Sony Music Entertainment production.  Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us at @sonypodcasts  To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Mentioned in the Episode: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join us for a FREE live Q&A with Dr. Salcedo on September 10 at 9:00 AM PT / 12:00 PM ET and ask her your questions directly. Register here.What if the uterus is an end organ, responding to insulin and inflammation the same way the heart, kidneys, and liver do?Dr. Andréa Salcedo is a board-certified OBGYN (DO, MPH, FACOG) and associate professor at Loma Linda University School of Medicine whose research and clinical practice, which she calls conscious gynecology, examine gynecologic disease through a metabolic lens.In this episode she walks through the evidence that uterine fibroids share progenitor cells with atherosclerotic plaque, why she now teaches residents that fibroids are cardiovascular disease of the uterus, and how high insulin acts at the level of the brain stem to block ovulation. The conversation also covers her clinical observations on fasting insulin thresholds by body type, the renaming of PCOS to PMOS, what hormonal contraceptives do and do not treat, the role of chronic stress and adversity in gynecologic disease, and the four insulin-resistant transitions of a woman's life.Questions Answered in This Episode:Why are uterine fibroids being reframed as cardiovascular disease of the uterus?Can the menstrual cycle function as a metabolic vital sign?How does insulin, acting as a stress hormone, shut down ovulation?Is there an optimal fasting insulin for reproductive health, and does body type change the answer?What does the shift from PCOS to PMOS change for diagnosis and treatment?What happens to insulin resistance in perimenopause, and was the Women's Health Initiative misread?Viewers will come away with a physiological framework that treats heavy periods, fibroids, irregular cycles, and PCOS as early signals of metabolic dysfunction rather than isolated hormone problems.Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode:✅ Genova Connect: Get 15% off any Genova Connect test kit with code METABOLICLINK here. ✅ Cowboy Colostrum: Get 25% off your entire order with code METABOLIC here. ✅ Zocdoc: Find and instantly book a top-rated doctor here. ✅ fatty15: Get 15% off a 90-day starter kit with code METABOLICLINK here.More LinksLive Q&A with Dr. Salcedo, September 10, 9:00 AM PT (free): register hereDr. Salcedo's website: consciousgynecology.comDr. Salcedo on YouTube: @consciousgynecologistDr. Salcedo on Instagram: @consciousgynecologistPaper: The uterus is an end organ: a preliminary study of the association between abnormal uterine bleeding and hyperinsulinemia (Menopause, 2025)Paper: Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction as a Metabolic Modality for the Prevention and Treatment of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (Nutrients, 2023)Dr. Salcedo is speaking on chronic stress, adversity, and gynecologic health at the Ketogenic Foundation conferenceThe Metabolic Initiative (expert lectures, CME, ad-free episodes, live Q&As; first 7 days free): membership.metabolicinitiative.comIn every episode of The Metabolic Link, we'll uncover the very latest research on metabolic health and therapy. If you like this episode, please share it, subscribe, follow, and leave us a comment or review on whichever platform you use to tune in!You can find us on all your major podcast players here and full episodes are also up on our Metabolic Health Summit YouTube channel!Find us on social: InstagramFacebookYouTubeLinkedInPlease keep in mind: The Metabolic Link does not provide medical or health advice, but rather general information that does not serve as a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional. Never delay in seeking medical advice from an appropriately licensed medical provider for any health condition that you may have.

Perimenopause is basically reverse puberty, and it can run 10 to 15 years before you are on the other side of it. Yep! Lesley and Brad recap the conversation with Dr. Amy Loden, covering what your bloodwork leaves out and why giving birth works like a stress test that reveals the health issues that were already there before you got pregnant. They also spotlight AFSP for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Why women need to pay attention to their bodies during perimenopause.What "you're within range" bloodwork actually leaves out about your health.How pregnancy acts as a stress test that unmasks chronic health conditions.Why frequent hot flashes may signal a higher risk for heart disease.Updated hormone research helps you make decisions without outdated fears.Episode References/Links:upLift Teacher Training Waitlist - https://xxll.co/uwseLevate Live Q&A - lesleylogan.co/elevateOPC Summer Tour (Powered by Balanced Body) - https://opc.me/tourOPC Flashcards - opc.me/flashcardsOPC Posters - https://opc.me/postersCambodia Retreat Waitlist - crowsnestretreats.comPilates on Tour - https://xxll.co/potAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention – afsp.orgCharity Navigator – charitynavigator.orgCharityWatch – charitywatch.orgThe Jed Foundation – jedfoundation.org988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – 988lifeline.orgSubmit your wins or questions – beitpod.com/questionsVitality Medical and Wellness - https://www.vitalitymwc.orgDr. Amy's TEDx talk on pregnancy - https://beitpod.com/amytedxThe Postpartum Pivot by Dr. Amy Loden - https://vitalitymwc.org/read-the-bookWomen's Health Initiative - https://www.whi.orgSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questions If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  What better way to be it till we see it, but to listen to our body? Because it's kind of hard to become the version of yourself you want to be if you're not listening to the version of yourself that you are.Lesley Logan 0:08  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Brad Crowell 0:51  Take it away.Lesley Logan 0:52  Welcome back to the "Be It Till You See" interview recap, where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the informed convo I had with Dr. Amy Logan Tiffany in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to the interview, you missed on some good fucking stuff. Oh my god, I felt like my jaw was on the floor a couple of times. It was so good. But listen to this, then go listen to that. And spoiler alert: I already interviewed her for the second one. Yeah, I just did it yesterday.Brad Crowell 1:16  Wow, awesome!Lesley Logan 1:17  Because I was just, oh great, you're back, and it was really, really. It's a really nuanced conversation. I'll explain more later. But today, Brad's going to tell us what today is.Brad Crowell 1:26  Yeah, today's September 3rd 2026, and it is Merchant Navy Day. What is a merchant navy? You ask. Let's start with what it's not. The regular navy is a branch of the countries of a country's military responsible for national defense and maritime security. In contrast, a merchant navy or the merchant navy is a civilian commercial fleet that transports cargo and passengers globally to support international trade. So effectively, they work for a company that moves products around the world.Lesley Logan 1:53  You could be a merchant navy person and work for multiple different companies.Brad Crowell 1:57  That's right. So it has nothing to do with military. It has everything to do with being a ship pilot on a cargo ship, or even a deckhand, or whatever. If you're working in the ports, I'm not sure if you're on ports, if you're part of the merchant navy, but if you're on the boats that are driving around the world, you're.Lesley Logan 2:12  Like part of the merchant corporate.Brad Crowell 2:17  Sure. Not a pirate. Lesley Logan 2:19  Good, but a pirate.Brad Crowell 2:20  Pirates are real, so yeah, they're definitely not pirates. Okay, yeah, but the merchant navy actually would fight pirates. They're.Lesley Logan 2:26  Like a consumer sailor.Brad Crowell 2:28  Yes, yeah, it's like a, yes, that's right, a commercial sailor.Lesley Logan 2:32  Commercial sailor.Brad Crowell 2:33  Yes.Lesley Logan 2:34  Yeah.Brad Crowell 2:34  Yeah. But it's probably not sailing a boat so much as it is sailing a vessel. Lesley Logan 2:38  Vessel, yeah.Brad Crowell 2:39  Anyway, so Merchant Navy Day sails into view every September 3. Cute, a dedicated time to honor the invaluable contributions of merchant seafarers worldwide. These brave men and women ensure the flow of goods, fuel, and food that powers our daily lives and economies. Take a moment to learn about their sacrifices, support maritime welfare charities, and recognize their often unseen work.Lesley Logan 3:00  I couldn't imagine they're probably on these boats for months at a time.Brad Crowell 3:04  Oh, months.Lesley Logan 3:04  Months.Brad Crowell 3:05  Months. I mean.Lesley Logan 3:06  Months on one plate, and then have to come back. They might not ever see their family.Brad Crowell 3:09  Yes, yeah. So it's absolutely the case. And for example, when I used to work in skin and hair care, we used to manufacture the, the glass was actually manufactured in Korea, and so I would have to organize the factory to take it to the port, and then the port would put it on a, it would be in pallets, and then the pallets would get loaded into a container, those 40-foot containers, and then the container would go on this massive cargo ship, and then it would drive across the ocean. It'sLesley Logan 3:41  Like the size of cruise ships, but just for products.Brad Crowell 3:43  Yeah, and then one year there was a strike for the union workers at the port in Long Beach, and I remember our cargo ship got stuck in a line. Lesley, there was a line of 50 cargo ships.Lesley Logan 3:58  Do you remember? Because during the pandemic, it's even happened. I feel like our friend Joe Lilly had to send a ship out to a ship to get his stuff. It was a whole thing because there's, what the fuck? We got to get these products off the ship.Brad Crowell 4:09  Yeah, and that's very dangerous to do that stuff, you know, on the open water like that because there's just complicated.Lesley Logan 4:14  Yeah, so pirates.Brad Crowell 4:15  Well, not. I mean, when you have 50 boats in a row, there's unlikely that there's going to be pirates because there's also going to be the navy, the military, oh, the military navy, yeah, will be out making sure that everything is safe. But still, regardless, yeah, I mean, so they had to sail across the ocean, and then they turn around and they have to go back. But the company that they work for, they might be in a whole other country. It's like an airline pilot.Lesley Logan 4:37  Yeah.Brad Crowell 4:37  You know, for example, one time we were flying to Cambodia, and we were flying through China. And I think maybe it was just me. I sat next to a guy on the plane who was a pilot, and he's from Brazil, flies for a Chinese airline, and then his Chinese flights would go to Europe. His home is in Brazil. He had to fly to China to get on his flight, his job, to fly to Europe, back and forth to China, you know what I mean.Lesley Logan 5:02  Got to.Brad Crowell 5:03  Move, got to move.Lesley Logan 5:04  Got to move. Anyway, anyway, we have to point out what's going on right now.Brad Crowell 5:09  Yeah, what I wanted to point out right now is that at the time of this recording, there are around 6000 commercial seafarers remaining stranded aboard hundreds of merchant ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz following the sudden collapse of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement, so shipping through this vital energy corridor has ground to a near standstill due to the drones and missiles and all the signs that are goingLesley Logan 5:33  Oh, yeah.Brad Crowell 5:33  So hopefully by the time you're hearing this episode, trade is going to flow again, and there are no more trapped sailors. But it's been devastating. You know, they're not military. They're just trying to do their job, and they're stuck on these ships. And they're not getting food. And if they're getting sick, there's no way to get to them to even give them the supplies that they need. It's quite a problem. And sometimes it feels like it's getting solved, and then it all goes to shit again. So hopefully. Lesley Logan 5:57  I know we're over here talking about our gas prices, but there's literal people whose they're not involved with any country or military, and they're just trying to do their job and they're stuck.Brad Crowell 6:05  Yep. Yeah. So just raising awareness and a big, big shout out to those who do this kind of work for their job. Thanks for doing all that because you make the world go round.Lesley Logan 6:14  Yeah. Well, speaking of the world going round, I started teacher training program.Brad Crowell 6:20  Wow. Yeah.Lesley Logan 6:21  You know, because we got to keep bringing in new people to the Pilates industry. Brad Crowell 6:25  Yes, we do. Lesley Logan 6:25  Because some of us are going to retire someday. So, if you heard the rumor that I started teacher training program, I did. I'm here to let you know it's true, and it's called upLift. Starting early next year, you'll be able to find an epic teacher trainer near you that will host my program. I'm going to work alongside them, guiding them and coaching them and supporting them so that they can support you on your journey. So if you are a new teacher or partially trained Pilates instructor, if you want to study under what I've created and my material, you want to go to xxll.co/uws. That's upLift waitlist student, xxll.co/uws. If you're already a comprehensively trained teacher and you're looking for more of a master's program and you want to learn directly with me, that is going to be our eLevate program. That's lesleylogan.co/elevate. We are filling 2028 as we speak. 2027 is full, and only eLevate grads can apply to be an educator for upLift. So, just some food for thought on that. We have been home from our summer tour for a little bit, and we are hanging out. We're doing some good stuff. I'm super excited to be home because it's going to get real crazy real quick. But we want to say thank you to Balanced Body because they sponsored our tour. We're able to go to some really great new cities on our summer tour, and our winter tour will announce in less than a month. And you want to be on the wait list for that, opc.me/events, because the winter tour always does sell out really quickly, really quick, really quickly because we get to hit a lot of cities, a lot of little cities where stuff doesn't go to like conventions and things like that. We get to hit some of our favorite cities. Shout out to Hershey because you always sell out in some places like that. So make sure you are over there. Supporting this podcast when you listen and you share with friends and you leave reviews is one of the greatest things you can do. It's totally free, and I really, really appreciate it. But if you want to continue support the podcast in other ways, if you are an OPC member, that's one of my ways you can do that. And then you get Pilates, and you get support, and you get community, and you get my feedback on your form. So you can go to onlinepilatesclasses.com, or you can also check out our amazing flashcards. Our flashcards are different pieces of apparatus. They're for anyone who loves Pilates. They can be used in a variety of different ways, and you can go to opc.me/flashcards for that. By the way, when you buy our flashcards, a part of your purchase goes to Nevada SPCA. And you might be thinking, Lesley, I don't live in Nevada. Yeah, well, guess what? We got some dogs and cats and bunnies and chinchillas here. Sometimes some lizards that need a home, and you are helping do that. In fact, our last quarter donation supported 114 shelter animals' food for one whole week.Brad Crowell 8:50  Yeah.Lesley Logan 8:51  114.Brad Crowell 8:52  Yeah, that's pretty amazing.Lesley Logan 8:53  Yeah. So, anyways, you can also get our posters. So there's that opc.me/posters. Okay, this is getting longer and longer every week, Brad. Brad Crowell 9:02  Well, this is just quick. So, our upcoming travel stuff. We've got Cambodia coming up in October. If you want to join us on retreat there, get on the waitlist for next year. Go to crowsnestretretreats.com. Lesley and I are going to be in Sacramento for Balanced Body's 50th anniversary party. They have a POT happening in Sacramento, so you can go to xxll.co/pot for more information on that. Lesley's actually teaching in China. We have no idea how to tell you any more information about that. But that's exciting.Lesley Logan 9:27  I don't have any links. But, I'm teaching in China. The second annual Pilates summit outside of Shanghai.Brad Crowell 9:33  Yeah, that's in November. Then the beginning of December, you're teaching in India in Goa.Lesley Logan 9:38  Yeah, and am I crazy enough to go back and forth? Yes, I fucking am.Brad Crowell 9:41  Because you're flying literally to meet me in Denver, and we go on a winter tour. Lesley Logan 9:44  And also, I can't live in any of these places. I have to come home.Brad Crowell 9:50  Let's roll straight into the charity of the week. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and we're very, very excited to talk about AFSP or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It is the nation's leading suicide prevention organization, founded in 1987, and now working through 73 chapters in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The AFSP funds research into what actually prevents suicide, trains clinicians and everyday people to recognize warning signs, supports survivors of loss, and it pushes for policy change, most of it funded not by big checks, but by hundreds of 1000s of small donors, just like you and I, showing up during their Out of the Darkness community walks nationwide. So they do an event, Out of the Darkness community walks, and that's what helps raise money. So it's about as trustworthy of a charity as it gets. They get a four-star exceptional rating from the Charity Navigator. Over 80% of every dollar going straight to their programs, and they have a top-rated distinction from Charity Watch, which is the toughest watchdog in the space. The AFSP also recently announced plans to merge with the Jed Foundation, becoming the country's largest suicide prevention organization, spanning every age group, so any donation is landing at a moment when their reach is about to grow. Suicide has touched your life or someone you love, and statistically, for a lot of our listeners, it has. Yeah, this is a place where showing up really helps. Find more, find out about your local chapter by going to afsp.org, afsp.org, and you can actually, in the United States, there is a suicide crisis lifeline. Instead of 911, it's 988, so you can call or text 988 for free, it's confidential, and it's 24/7. Yeah, so I didn't actually know about 988. I knew that there were prevention phone numbers you could call, but I didn't realize that it was as easy as that.Lesley Logan 11:39  It's important because we all have, we all have hard times. Mental health is a is something that should not be a privileged thing that some insurance companies cover. And then if you don't have that, you don't have that. We all are, no one is immune. And we had a dear friend who actually used to work for the Nevada chapter of the AFSP, AFSP, and I got to see the work that she did for two years, and it's really quite incredible what they're doing just to support people. And I can't think of, like, if you're needing community, what you can go be community for people who need it, and you'd be surprised how that can help. But if you need their help, definitely reach out or go to 988 because this is real shit, you know. So, anyways, what else, Brad? Oh, you guys can send in the charities you want us to shout out?Brad Crowell 12:21  Yeah, text us 310-905-5534. Yeah, stick around. We're gonna dig into this convo with Dr. Amy Loden. Brad Crowell 12:30  Welcome back. Let's talk about Amy Loden. Dr. Amy Loden, based in St. Louis, Missouri, nearly died from severe preeclampsia with heart failure during a high-risk twin pregnancy, an experience that exposed major gaps in conventional care and reshaped how she practices medicine. She's a physician, entrepreneur, and the founder of Vitality MWC, a practice focused on women's metabolic and hormonal health, guiding patients through postpartum recovery, perimenopause, and long-term hormonal balance. She's a TEDx speaker, and she also is the author of the Postpartum Pivot. I will have the link for her book in the show notes below.Lesley Logan 13:09  Important. If you had a baby, you need the book, and it's not, oh, I've had a baby 15 years ago. I think you need the book still. I think it's about all health stuff that happens if you've had babies.Brad Crowell 13:18  Yeah, and what a revealing conversation, you know, with her about what it does to what being pregnant and going through that does to the body and how it reveals things. I thought it was really interesting. So yeah. Anyway, what's one of the things you love that she said?Lesley Logan 13:34  Oh my God, there's so many good stuff. We talked. I mean, we talked about. You've also.Brad Crowell 13:37  Just blended two conversations. So.Lesley Logan 13:39  I'm gonna work on not doing that. We're gonna work on. I'm gonna. Well, I mean, you had.Brad Crowell 13:43  One yesterday. Forget.Lesley Logan 13:44  The one I had yesterday. So we talked about perimenopause, and it's very interesting because I think the way she talked about us in the past, people have treated perimenopause like yes or no. I don't have this thing. I have this thing. No, I don't have that thing. But actually, the symptoms are a sliding scale for every woman, and we all have to figure out where we are on the spectrum, which means we just have to be paying attention to our bodies, which is not easy to you when you're really busy and you've got a lot going on. But so she also said, you know, you are going to have those unpredictable ups and downs. There are going to be some months where your ovaries are working like fire, and you're just like, I'm amazing. There's other months where you just feel like you got run over by a truck. And I think it's really nice to have a doctor who's a female who says that because usually they're, oh, well, you don't have it that bad or we can give you these drugs to cover up those symptoms, but really she's talking aboutBrad Crowell 14:28  Or she said her own experience was, okay, you're within the numbers, see you next time, and that's it.Lesley Logan 14:34  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and also it's like, okay, well, you're within the numbers, but are those the best numbers for you, you know? And so really filling out, you have to figure out where you are. You, my listener, have to figure out where you are, because that will help you advocate for what you need. And it's really important. I'm really grateful for the doctors that I've had because they can. They have said you are within range, but it's not optimal for you. So they were able to give me support so that I could be optimal for me, and I like how she, you know, perimenopause is like reverse adolescence, and it's like this, you know, you're when you're a young girl, you're going through all the puberty, and you have all the hormonal fluctuations, roller coaster rides, and all of a sudden, hopefully, hopefully you have some. I don't know, that wasn't my experience with periods, but like you have this nice, enjoyable couple decades, and then you reverse back. Yeah, it's like a.Brad Crowell 15:20  Reverse hormone, reverse puberty, reverse puberty. I was like, the word is there somewhere. Yeah.Lesley Logan 15:25  And somebody said, somebody said, who is the asshole who let mothers go through perimenopause when their daughters are going through puberty? And it's like, yeah, but remember, people used to have kids at 16, so that wasn't happening. Actually, but it's here's the thing: if you actually are really into perimenopause and loving women, if you do some historical work on what women's roles were, and I'm not talking about like the assholes or like what the grandma's roles, I'm not talking about that because I'm not a grandma. But the women who get after perimenopause, they became these healers and these doulas for the women who were having the babies and coming up, and they're also the ones that held the history and the stories, and so if we can think of it like that, it kind of makes us feel like we're going into our queendom, you know, like we're going in something cool. So she said, and in case you don't know this, it can run anywhere from 10 to 15 years for you actually go through menopause. And Brad's eyes just lit up, and just and then we've said on the podcast before, but menopause is one day.Brad Crowell 16:21  I was gonna say that. Yeah.Lesley Logan 16:22  It's one day, and then you're like post-menopause.Brad Crowell 16:26  And then.Lesley Logan 16:27  You're on the other side.Brad Crowell 16:28  You're on the other side.Lesley Logan 16:28  Yeah, and then and then if you're lucky, you get two years before you have the shittiest heart like men do. So like it's really fucking awful thing. So ladies, you want to keep your hormones going real well for a long, long time because it doesn't get easier.Brad Crowell 16:44  Yeah, she also did mention HRTs. She kind of didn't actually explicitly say that, but she mentioned that all the hormonal research that had been done in the early 2000s, a lot of that has been disproven and also challenged. And there's a lot more information about it now. So, you know, if you have an assumption that you about that that kind of stuff that you've had with you for a long time, I would recommend it's worth revisiting.Lesley Logan 17:08  I would agree with her. I know I've had women challenge me on this who've had family members with experience of breast cancer, and I understand their experience. But I am someone who has double the risk, and my breast doctor is not opposed to me being on HRT, and my gynecologist is not opposed to being on HRT. I'm not currently on estrogen either. I'm only on two of them, but they're not even opposed to me doing that because the risks of me having heart problems are greater, and I'm on a serious watch. So she.Brad Crowell 17:36  Did also mention that it's not for everybody. It can't be for everyone. Lesley Logan 17:39  No, nothing can be for everybody.Brad Crowell 17:40  Right. Right. So it's something for you to have that conversation with your healthcare provider.Lesley Logan 17:44  But I will also, before we move on, I want to just want to say, if you are worried about the breast cancer risks, there are ways to get tested multiple times a year. So I'm on an every-six-month test schedule, and so I still have decisions I probably want to think about, but also, I'm pretty sure they're going to catch it early because I'm going every six months. So it is a personal decision you must make, but please don't make it out of fear from people saying shit to you on the internet. Talk with your doctors.Brad Crowell 18:15  Yeah, yeah. One thing that I found really interesting about what she was talking about was the way that being pregnant and then going through the process of having a child or giving birth, she said, what it does is it actually unveils what was already there, right? So for her case, giving birth was a stress test on her body, and that it revealed what already was in her body. Yeah, you know, genetically probably.Lesley Logan 18:40  Wasn't coming up on any tests because it was probably in range. Yeah, we've had family members with this, and it makes me go and go, "Oh my God, we need to text them right now." Because there's things you can do when you're younger to take care of stuff that's harder to reverse when you're older.Brad Crowell 18:53  Yeah, sure. But she said that, you know, giving birth is a stress test of a woman's metabolism and cardiovascular system. She explained that culturally we view pregnancy and complications as something that where the answer is into the pregnancy and then it's gone. It happened during the pregnancy only and then afterwards they're all better.Lesley Logan 19:13  Right?Brad Crowell 19:13  Everything's good. It's gone.Lesley Logan 19:14  But it's not gone. The underlying condition still there.Brad Crowell 19:17  Yeah, exactly. She's saying that conditions such as the one she experienced, preeclampsia, it reveals underlying inflammation or insulin resistance that was a previous, you know, something her body was dealing with before. It just all of a sudden was stressed, and that's where something got stuck, right? So she said those conditions are not done after you've given birth. It's just simply something that's been unmasked by the physical toll of pregnancy, and once it's been unmasked, now you can treat it, and it's important to continue to treat it. And I think that's also why Lesley was suggesting at the beginning of the episode that her book is still valuable, even if you've had a child, you know, 15 years ago, because, you know, maybe maybe you did have something that went on. And you haven't looked at it as something that still exists in your body today that you will, you know, hopefully won't have to deal with, but you might have to deal with it as you age.Lesley Logan 20:08  Well, you have to listen to the episode because I have to listen to the episode because, my loves, women's heart conditions, the number one symptom for a woman having a heart problem is sudden death.Brad Crowell 20:20  Sudden death.Lesley Logan 20:21  Sudden death. I like. I think I like peeked the mic when I heard that. Brad Crowell 20:26  Yeah, I heard. I heard you in in my office. What?Lesley Logan 20:29  Yeah, yeah. So and I share that with you because unfortunately there still isn't enough information about women's bodies. A lot of information is still based off of men's bodies, and so tests and studies I've done on men only in the last decade-ish have they said you have to study these things on women, right? But we don't really know a lot of information that we should know by now. There should be information on that, and so why I'm like so insistent on you knowing this information is that when you're younger there are things that might look like they're in range, but if stressed, your body can't handle it. Now, stress is not a bad thing because you can also stress a body, and like your body responds the way it's supposed to.Brad Crowell 21:11  It gets stronger, and it.Lesley Logan 21:12  Gets stronger. Sure, but not every body does that because of genetics, because of too much stress, because of the fuel you're having with the sleep, where you are with your hormones. Did you have those things? And so it's just so important that we advocate for ourselves, my loves. Because, and I know, I know insurance is shit. Still got to do it.Brad Crowell 21:31  Yeah, got to do it. Well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into these be it action items we have with Dr. Amy. Finally, let's talk about those. Be it action items, what bold, executable, intrinsic, or targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Dr. Amy Logan? She advises women to specifically pay attention to whether their vasomotor systems, hot flashes, night flashes, night sweats—sorry—are happening most days of the week or more than 10 times a day. If you hit that threshold and you choose not to take hormones, she warns you actually have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease or a stroke. Now, obviously, she's not your doctor, right, or our doctor, and she's not. This is like something for you to be aware of to take back to your doctor. But effectively, that's, you know, when she's talking with her patients. That's her barometer. That's her measuring stick. Lesley Logan 22:23  Can you imagine 10 hot flashes?Brad Crowell 22:26  I cannot.Lesley Logan 22:27  Because I don't even have them. But I can't even imagine. I saw that woman on Instagram where you could like see the hot flash, the one that went around. She had 10 of those a day. You have to take a shower. I don't even how you. I don't even know how you do it.Brad Crowell 22:38  Yeah. So while it's not a blanket prescription, she says, and not every woman in the category can or should take hormones. She said it's important for you to understand that that, you know, if you're hitting a point like that, you definitely want to seek professional help to get a medical assessment so that you can make a really informed decision about your health for your future. She urges this listeners not to base decisions on outdated fears. The hormones that we take today are different and safer than what was in the Women's Health Initiative that came out in the early 2000s. So, what about you?Lesley Logan 23:11  She said, "Be true to what your body is telling you." And I think this is really key because I think a lot of times we brush off or push things off or think we ate something bad that one time, or blah blah blah. But really, your body is talking to you, and it doesn't have to. We don't want to wait till it's in crisis, and then we don't want to go, "Oh my god, everything is wrong." We actually, if we were, if we're really paying attention to ourselves, we can start to spot patterns because the doctor cannot be with you every single day, so they are not going to spot the pattern. But you can bring them the pattern, and you are paying attention to yourself. You can do that, and so if you are struggling, you're doing all the things to sleep, and you're not sleeping. That is something you have to tell because your body is telling you, "I don't have the hormones and the things to sleep, which then all of a sudden everything is going to start to shut down in a terrible way when that happens. So make sure you're listening to your body, and you'll become more wise, and you'll even become a better version of yourself. And I thought, what better way to be it till we see it, but to listen to our body? Because it's kind of hard to become the version of yourself you want to be if you're not listening to the version of yourself that you are.Brad Crowell 24:12  That's true.Lesley Logan 24:13  Anyways, I'm telling you guys, my mind is blown and.Brad Crowell 24:16  We already had her back for another episode, so that's going to come out in the near future. Here, what was that topic about?Lesley Logan 24:22  It's a nuanced conversation about metabolism, and it's specifically for people who are in more of an insulin resistance. So it's not, it's going to sound like it's a weight loss conversation. We are not advocating that everyone needs to lose weight, but there's. Brad Crowell 24:35  She was talking about how movement is involved.Lesley Logan 24:37  Yes, right.Brad Crowell 24:38  And then movement. How soon after you've eaten should you be moving, and what kind of movement, and then also how often should you be eating?Lesley Logan 24:46  Yes, and all of that depends on your health.Brad Crowell 24:48  Yeah.Lesley Logan 24:48  Right. And your health is any different. The conversation is not about this weight is the healthy weight. It's not that at all, but that weight is one metric in the biometrics, and so we go into if you have this measurement off, what could also be affecting in the other biometrics, and then how do we address that? Because it's all part of the same wheel, right? When we ended the conversation, it's a very difficult conversation because I don't want anyone to be like, "This is for me," or "This is not for me," or "I don't. I can be healthy in sights, of course, and we have to go off of your blood tests and then your weight and your blood tests, and so it's this really interesting thing, and I really appreciate it because there is information. If you don't have any of these problems, you get to do your thing and have fun until hopefully forever. But if you are struggling with certain biometrics in your blood work and your weight is off, then it's not about losing weight, like every doctor tells you. It's about doing these things that she talks about to help you get your metrics to be where they need to be, and then the weight may or may not change, but the metrics will be better. Anyways, it's so good. I'm so excited about it. It's really great. So stay tuned. But until then, make sure that you send this to a woman in your life who needs to hear it because there's some epic medical information that no one has told me shocked the hell out of me. And then you can also reach out to Dr. Amy Loden if you would like to talk with her. If you live in the United States, so share with her what your takeaways were. All right. Until next time, Be It Till You See It.Brad Crowell 26:14  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 26:15  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 26:58  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 27:03  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 27:07  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 27:14  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 27:18  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ladies, if you have ever been told your labs look normal while your body says otherwise, this one is for you. Dr. Amy Loden is a physician who nearly died from preeclampsia and now builds her practice around what medicine misses in women. She breaks down why pregnancy complications are a warning sign, what perimenopause is really doing to you, and why heart disease deserves your attention more than you think. You will walk away knowing what to ask for and why it matters.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How pregnancy complications reveal health risks that were already there.Why perimenopause symptoms get dismissed as normal aging.The heart disease signs that look nothing like the classic ones.Why good quality sleep matters more than hours in bed.How to eat and move to protect your metabolic health.Episode References/Links:Vitality Medical and Wellness - https://www.vitalitymwc.orgDr. Amy's TEDx talk on pregnancy - https://beitpod.com/amytedxDr. Amy Tiffany on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dramytiffanyDr. Amy Loden on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-lodenThe Postpartum Pivot by Dr. Amy Loden - https://vitalitymwc.org/read-the-bookSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsGuest Bio:Dr. Amy Loden Tiffany is a St. Louis-based physician entrepreneur, author, and TEDx speaker dedicated to women's metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular health. After surviving severe preeclampsia and experiencing burnout in traditional, high-volume medicine, she pivoted her career toward a personalized, root-cause approach to patient care. As the founder of Vitality, she guides women through major life transitions—from postpartum to perimenopause—to help them recognize subtle warning signs and prevent long-term illness. Through her clinical work and her book, The Postpartum Pivot, Dr. Loden empowers high-achieving women to listen to their bodies, optimize performance, and take control of their long-term health.  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 0:00  If we're going to call pregnancy a stress test, which is becoming an increasingly common term, is pregnancy a stress test of a woman's metabolism and her cardiovascular system? Then we have to ask, what are we stressing it for? And the way I'm looking at this is a little bit different than how I was trained, which again was if you got the problem, the solution is in the pregnancy. So what if we started looking at pregnancy from the perspective of this is an unveiling, an unveiling of what was already there, and that nothing's actually gone wrong. Lesley Logan 0:29  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:11  Oh my God, Be It babe. Get ready. Get your notepad out. Get ready. If you're driving, listen. You're gonna re-listen. You're gonna share this episode with everybody. I am so freaking stoked about the guest that we have. I fell in love with her with every single answer, and we need women like this in the medical world. So Dr. Amy Loden is our guest today. We're going to talk everything from postpartum to perimenopause and heart health, because ladies, you can't be it till you see it if you get sick, cannot. And I know it's confusing. There's so much information out there in the world, and it's like, who do we trust? What do we do? And I'm just so grateful I found her, and you're gonna love it. So make sure you get ready to hit share on this episode for women in your life and the men who need to know about what women are going through. My mind is blown on the episode. Here's Dr. Amy Loden.Lesley Logan 1:54  All right, Be It babe, I'm excited. I'm super stoked. We're gonna talk about all things women, health-related, with an amazing professional person who actually studies this stuff, not what I've read, and then I'm asserting to you because I don't want to be that influencer. I think those people need to take a little step back and let the professionals do it. We have Dr. Amy Loden here on the show, who's going to tell us everything we need to know. But Dr. Amy, we tell everyone who you are and what you rock at, kind of how you got here.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 2:20  Sure, thanks for inviting me. I'm happy to be here, Dr. Amy Loden. I am in St. Louis, Missouri. I help primarily women over 40, but certainly anyone who's like, "How are my hormones working for my life or not? How is my weight in the mirror matching the weight in my head or not?" And all the things that come with life transitions from postpartum to perimenopause, beyond, my goal is that women who've interacted with our team will have a better care experience because it's the care experience we want each of us to have had ourselves, and because each of us are not only professionals within the medical nursing communities, we're patients too, or daughters and sisters and mothers and neighbors and all the things. We know how much it sucks to be patient, right? And so we've tried to redesign what is the best thing for our ladies. Now, in full transparency, we do have a few dudes, but most of them have had their arms twisted by our rock-star ladies, and they are the ones that are coming because they're forced to. And eventually, they decide they like us, but we're pretty cool too. So that's who we serve, and that's what we do. And happy to go into any detail or rabbit hole you want to chase?Lesley Logan 3:21  Oh my God, Amy! I love that. When people ask about the people who listen to this podcast, we have mostly women and a few good men because there are some men out there, including my husband. They want to be interested. They want to. They want their partners, the women, their lives. They want to get what's going on. They don't want them to feel like an alien or like they're alone in this journey. So I think that's really, really cool. I also just want to highlight. I love that you brought up your patients too, because as someone who I feel very lucky to go through my perimenopause journey in today's time when people actually are talking about it, versus even 10 years ago, generations were not talking about this stuff, and I just feel it's really nice because then there's information I would never have known about HRT unless my girlfriend had told me about it. Oh, that could be going on, and then I could talk to someone. Can we go back though? Yeah, I feel like to be a doctor like yourself, who has empathy and understands, like you must have gone through a journey as well. You don't just want to do this Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 4:13  Because you wanted to do this. That's true. Lesley Logan 4:16  Maybe there are a few. There might be a few, but typically, like there there has there's a story there that got you to be like I want to care about this. So can you tell us a little bit more about that?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 4:24  Absolutely, yeah. So definitely with the traditional college to medical school road, really didn't understand that there's a and I say this with all the love in my heart, but there is a bit of brainwashing to be a good doctor, right? And what is a good doctor was who you've been told it is. It's not necessarily an external criteria. It's who does academic medical center say, and that was very different. I learned through transferring all of my non-medical student fears into the actual application of those fears, and then being a patient and living those fears. That I realized there's a whole lot we're not talking about. There's a whole lot that we're not being told, both as doctors and as women, as patients, and it's hard to realize you don't know what you don't know if you've been told you're the expert and you know everything, right? And most doctors don't go around saying they know everything, but there's enough patients who feel like that's what's communicated, that that's the language I'm using.Lesley Logan 5:18  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 5:19  And that's really frustrating as a patient, so I didn't realize how frustrating though it was until I was a patient, and I'm a mom of five kids, my third and fourth are twins, and really I am so grateful to live in the United States in a time in history where complicated pregnancies does not mean that mom dies, because I developed severe preeclampsia with heart failure, and my twins came 31 weeks instead of at least 37, and I nearly died the night they were born. They nearly died the night they were born, and I just am grateful that God let me be in this situation that I had the help I needed. Historically, these are not good situations. We see this on TV and in movies frequently. And something like 70,000 women a year across the globe die of the same disease I had, preeclampsia. So it's not nothing, even in our day and age, in certain countries, and even in countries where you have advanced medical care and they do everything right. It can still happen. So, that for me was the pinnacle of this isn't working. What we're telling people to do isn't working because I had done all the things.Lesley Logan 6:30  Right, you were a doctor. You did all the things. I did all the things. You enjoyed all the appointments. You were probably doing, and this is your third and fourth. So you knew what it should feel like. You knew what you should be eating. You knew all the vitamins to take.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 6:41  Correct, and it didn't work, right? It didn't work, and so I think that is the fundamental kind of if you place a pivot on why did I change how I think about healthcare as a doctor, it was because of my experience as a patient for myself. My husband had cancer twice, so being the advocate for him in those types of things, guiding my children and now my parents through healthcare, you start to carry a lot of stories, and you start to see, wow, they're not doing what I think is just the bare minimum. And if they're not doing that for me or for my family, I know they're not doing it for everybody else.Lesley Logan 7:11  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 7:12  And then at the same time, holding a ton of grace in my heart because that's—they're doing what they were taught.Lesley Logan 7:17  Right?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 7:17  Right. And they can't do differently if they don't know differently. You can't be better if you don't know to be better.Lesley Logan 7:23  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 7:23  So that is a really tight tension. But I thought I would just keep plodding through and just be a better doctor in that context of me being a patient until a little—I guess it was two years later. My daughter at that time, my oldest, was seven, and I had about 3000 patients. I was working somewhere between 65 and 80 hours a week, and had four kids at that time. And my daughter came up to me one night, and I'm opening the computer. I'm doing work like I do every night, and she says, "You're gonna make my birthday gifts. Like, can I help?" Right, totally innocent seven-year-old looking forward to her birthday knows that her mom shops online, right? And so she's like, "I want to pick my birthday presents," and I kind of stared at her. I was like, "No, no, I'm going to work. We'll do that later," and go watch whatever show. It's probably Paw Patrol for all I know, right? That's in the background. Go watch it. It's gonna be bedtime soon. And she just stands there, and I haven't even looked at her at this point. My eyes are on my computer. I'm just telling her this as I'm going. I'm totally not in the moment, right?Lesley Logan 8:19  Of course, because like you have so many, you have 3000 patients and four kids.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 8:23   I can't keep up. I can't keep up. Right? I'm barely getting enough sleep. I'm not exercising, and I'm just trying to survive. And she doesn't move. And so I remember not totally slow motion, but I remember turning to her and feeling like I was going to be like, "What?" Right? What do you need? And she's just got out of the shower, so her hair's wet. She's got her pink pajamas on, bright big blue eyes, and they're full of tears. And there are just silent tears tracking down her face, and I'm horrified. Oh my gosh, what's wrong? Right now, I'm in fix-it mode.Lesley Logan 8:55  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 8:55  And she still doesn't really budge, and she just says in a very sad voice, "Mommy. Why do you love your job more than me?"Lesley Logan 9:05  Oh.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 9:07  Yes. So the twins tried to kill me. She did kill me, right? Like, that was a knife in my heart because nothing ever had I wanted to be better than a so-called good doctor than to be a good mom.Lesley Logan 9:17  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 9:18  And that was for me the moment that I realized I'm not doing either of these well, and I'm not showing up how I want to be personally or professionally. I'm certainly not taking care of my health. I'm not doing the things I'm telling my patients to do. Like, it was a moment where I really felt the failures. I felt all the feelings, and I told my husband that night, "This is not working anymore." And he actually thought I thought was talking about our marriage, and so he was like, "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with our marriage?" Right? No, but I need to, like, redo. We have to redo this. I either have to retire, or I have to do something different.Lesley Logan 9:51  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 9:51  And he was like, "You're not retiring. You will drive me crazy. Go find something different to do, and I will make sure our family is okay." And so I did. And this June will be five years of having Vitality here in St. Louis and serving women and trying to lean into all the pain and the things and the feelings they're dealing with from all the things and the feelings I dealt with having walked that path.Lesley Logan 10:13  Yeah. Oh, Dr. Amy, I love that you shared that whole story because I think there's so many women who are listening here and, like, they don't have, they may have one kid or they have no kids, but, like, I think we can all relate to, like, having just too much on the plate because.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 10:27  Right.Lesley Logan 10:28  Hello, my high-achieving woman. I see you, everyone here listening. We call recovering perfectionists and overachievers. There's nothing wrong with being a high achiever, but what happens is we tend to just keep saying yes to things, and we're like, yeah, we can fit that one more thing in, that one more thing. All of a sudden, it just comes to, like, a volcano breaking point. Yes, and because we don't, we don't see the signs early that we are at the breaking point. We don't, you know, we, it's almost, it's actually proven to be not true. But everyone uses the frog in the boiling water, right? Like, we just kind of, like, you don't realize how hot it's getting until it's until your daughter is crying in front of you. Oh, exactly.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 11:05  Yes, it was awful. I never want to relive that moment.Lesley Logan 11:08  Yeah, but also, like, thank goodness for her because that she felt brave enough to say that. Like, what a badass she is. I mean, she's just going to be, like, she's just going to be a girl who speaks her mind. She does.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 11:18  She's 13 now, and she heard me tell that story once, and now she's like, "Well, you have to credit me for opening your business because I hadn't said what I did." I was like, "Won't you just tone it down a notch, please?"Lesley Logan 11:27  It's called balance, babe. It's called balance. Yes. Okay. So, can we, like, let's get to some of the health stuff that I think our listeners want to—I want to definitely get into perimenopause, but I do want to, because we started with a pregnancy, and I have had family members who, you know, have had preeclampsia in their, and it's scary. So, how are pregnancy complications connected to long-term heart risk? I don't think anyone's thought about that. I just thought, like, if it's because I don't have kids, like it's going to screw up your pelvic floor, and you might have to rebuild your abs and these other things. But I didn't know it can affect your heart long term.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 12:01  I had no idea. I'm so glad you brought that up. So I actually did a TEDx talk on this very topic, where the idea is pregnancy is so much more than just the birth of a kid. That's how we think about pregnancy in our culture. That's even how we think of it medically, right? Like if you have preeclampsia, you have gestational diabetes, you have high blood pressure, whatever in pregnancy, the answer is end the pregnancy, deliver the kid if they're old enough, right? Like, get, move it along and it's gone. But that I strongly believe is not true. We can't test this in a lab, so you have to do a little bit of extrapolation here. But if we're going to call pregnancy a stress test, which is becoming an increasingly common term, is pregnancy a stress test of a woman's metabolism and her cardiovascular system? Then we have to ask, what are we stressing it for? And the way I'm looking at this is a little bit different than how I was trained, which again was, if you got the problem, the solution is in the pregnancy. So, what if we started looking at pregnancy from the perspective of this is an unveiling, an unveiling of what was already there, and that nothing's actually gone wrong. It's scary. It's horrifying. And yes, absolutely, people die. So how can I say nothing's gone wrong? What I mean is nothing has gone wrong in the context of the situation we put your body in. It's exactly responding the way it should for the context it's in. So if I have underlying insulin resistance, and then I put a pregnancy on top of that or perimenopause, and I'm starting to have more insulin resistance. Well, of course I'm going to develop gestational diabetes. If I'm having a lot more fluid retention and I'm putting up a low weight, of course my blood pressure is going to go up, right? If I've got underlying inflammation, of course preeclampsia is going to develop. So I think we need to stop and think about it as it's not done; it is unmasked.Lesley Logan 13:42  Got it. Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 13:42  And then once you know it's unmasked, you treat it.Lesley Logan 13:45  I see. I see. Because again, we think of pregnancy as just the baby, so you have the baby, but it's well, but there's a problem, an underlying problem that the pregnancy revealed is what you're saying. And so great if having the baby is the safest thing for both people, we do that. But also, you still have this underlying issue.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 14:01  Yes, it's still there. Correct.Lesley Logan 14:03  Yes, and I don't think anyone does that. I think they're just, "Okay. Now you don't have gestational diabetes anymore." But I have had clients who had it, and then afterwards, so what do we got? Oh, I'm fine. Are you correct? I don't think so. I'm not a doctor, but they're not fine. Don't just be diabetes. Yeah, for a moment. Yes.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 14:19  So I actually experienced this as a patient too. I went in after my first pregnancy with gestational diabetes. At the time, I was living in New York City. I walked everywhere. I was a normal weight. I ate pretty clean, and despite being in residency, I'd got decent sleep. I didn't have any other kids. It's my first kid, so I got decent sleep. Right, but I had the baby after having had gestational diabetes. I go see my OB, and she's, "Oh, just follow up with your primary doctor." I go see my primary doctor, and he's, "Your weight's normal, your labs are normal. We're done," and that is how I was trained too. So again, lots of love in my heart. They're not; they're just not told. But for more than 10 years, we've known that women who have these high-risk pregnancies are at high risk not just for diabetes, but heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, dementia. Listen, I can't treat dementia well in the clinic, right? So why wouldn't I want all hands on deck trying to prevent it?Lesley Logan 15:07  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 15:07  But that's not how our medical professionals are trained—nurses, advanced practice providers, any of them. And so we're asking people and expecting people to fill in a gap they don't know exists, and so all these reproductive-age women are falling into it. And then where it gets really interesting is some of the same things you have immediately postpartum in all your different types of hormone fluctuations are matched intermittently for 10 to 15 years before menopause when you're in the perimenopausal years.Lesley Logan 15:32  What?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 15:33  Correct, but that's why these women are feeling, "I'm going to my doctor, I'm putting on weight, I'm doing all the things, it's not working," and they're being gaslit, partly because their doctors don't know what they don't know, and partly because we're not acknowledging this is the same physiologic status of hormones that are different than baseline. So we're not in a country, and we don't have the testing that would promote or facilitate checking what is your normal hormone level at 18, so that we know what 18 should look like, and then by 45, you know, we're not. So we're trying to patchwork together a whole bunch of tests, and different labs have different testing, and different people say different things about testing. It's very confusing.Lesley Logan 16:10  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 16:11  And you end up with women suffering. And at the end of the day, that's the problem I'm trying to solve: is how do we stop these women from suffering? Because they are called to live big lives, to be ambitious for a purpose, for a calling. They have a lot to do, and their health is one of their biggest assets. It should not be a liability.Lesley Logan 16:27  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 16:27  And that's what's happening, especially for women who are trying to not work just in the home but outside the home. Right? There's a lot they're carrying. Yeah. So that's, I don't remember. Sorry, I'm having a total perimenopause moment. I don't remember where we started with that question here. I'll stop there. Lesley Logan 16:42  Don't worry, babe. I got my focus meds on the ADHD today, so I'm tracking. So we're good. But we were talking about the postpartum, and then we got into those hormones that switch as, and they can repeat into perimenopause. And I think this is fascinating. I love that you brought up. It doesn't matter if you're in the home or out of the home. We have big lives. Correct. We can't have our health be a liability, and I think for a lot of us, it feels like, like my girlfriend's a weight-loss coach for women over 40 who feel like their body gave a middle finger. That's what her coaching is, and it's all about not going to yo-yo diet. That's not going to work. We have to figure out what is the underlying issues, and it can only go so far because you said we don't test our hormones at 18. We don't do that, so we don't know what is normal for us, and I remember I was having a lot of health issues, digestive issues in my 30s, and no doctor could help me. In fact, one doctor sending me to, I was in this weird part where they study HIV and Ebola in the hospital, and she's like, "Do you know why you're here?" I don't know why I'm here. I don't. This scares the hell out of me. This feels like a department I should not be in. I'm not in any pain. I feel like I'm taking someone's spot, and so because he could, he just couldn't figure out what's going on my stomach. So I found someone who did an actual test of everything. He's so range normal. We don't know what normal is for you. We just know what the average person of this population of people that who knows who they were that were tested. So what is normal for you might not be the average. And I was, "Oh well, that's the first time anyone said anything that makes sense. That's the first time." So you can be in range, but for your hormones, but it wasn't in range for you because maybe you were used to higher testosterone, you're used to higher things. And so I love that people like you exist. I'm sorry for the frustration of your own journey, but also without people like you, women like me wouldn't have someone going, "Hey, actually, maybe you should be on testosterone right now," even though the, this is what it is. Mine was actually zero, but people, you know, we can actually get you help because I feel so much better because someone finally was listening to me and thought, "Yes, we're not going to compare you to a random person. We got to compare you to how you're used to feeling."Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 18:42  Correct. And for most people, that can't happen in the traditional system.Lesley Logan 18:47  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 18:47  You can't do that in a 10-minute visit.Lesley Logan 18:49  Right.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 18:50  You can't do it when your doctor has 3000 patients, 10-minute visits, and they really don't actually know who you are.Lesley Logan 18:55  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 18:56  You just can't. So we've got a little bit of unrealistic expectations as a society, and then you know any women's magazine or journal article you read says, "Talk to your doctor about this." So then you go in, I'm all prepared. I have my list. I've done it too, folks. Right? This is not a criticism, but they, they can't. They don't have the ability to process it, and the way they're paid is based on the questions they ask you for insurance. So every incentive is misaligned, and at the end of the day, women, people are being screwed.Lesley Logan 19:22  Yeah, yeah. No, it's so true. So I'm glad we talked about the postpartum. I want to get into now. We're in the perimenopause, and yep, this is hard because you mentioned the hormone shift of people after postpartum is its own crazy world. I keep checking on my sister-in-law every day. How are you feeling? Are you feeling okay? Right. You feel okay? She's, "I'm fine." Are you fine? Let me just, I just want you to know. It's okay if you feel different, right? I think I'm crazy, but I know that that people don't realize how they're feeling, and it's hard to get to the doctor until it's too late. So I'm just, I'm on her. But for people like me, we didn't have children, so we have never experienced a crazy shift. We just start to experience, "I don't feel like my, anymore," and all the symptoms are so different for every single person. I'm not having hot flashes, but I'm, I got to keep my hair still here. But my inflammation was insane. I was putting on weight and working out and eating the same. And I don't understand what's going on. You know, so can we talk a little bit about what, I don't know where you want to start with that. So you tell me where you want to start with my post, my perimenopausal people who are not necessarily attributing these changes to that.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 20:27  So I think the biggest confusion I see in the exam room conversations is that there's just question of, am I in perimenopause or not? And it's more of a less of a yes-no and more of, are you on the spectrum, and where on the spectrum are you? And so if you think of it as a sliding scale, because some months those ovaries are working really great, and you feel all the feels, and you're 18 again, but a lot of months maybe you're more like 20 or 25, right? And then maybe out of the blue, I feel like I got run over by shock. Nothing's working for two or three months, and then we're back to 25, right? And so it's ups and downs. You're like, what is happening? It is a roller coaster, and it runs anywhere from 10 to 15 years before you actually go through menopause. So I think of it as reverse adolescence, and I think it's completely ironic that God lets us have teenage girls when moms are going through perimenopause because that is just double-adolescence whammy, right?Lesley Logan 21:19  And no wonder, no wonder marriages don't survive certain things. Right, you have a daughter going through puberty and a wife with a pair of menopause. Good luck to the husband. Correct, becauseAmy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 21:28  I want to have sex. I don't want to have sex. I have pimples all over my face. I don't want to go to the house. I do. My belly's bloated. It's not like my mood's up. All the things, and it's all in reverse. So it's a it's a period of a woman's life that I think needs to be acknowledged, and then within the healthcare system, there's more noise about it over the last five years. You're seeing more and more people talk about this, but there's not a lot of standardization, and so you're getting chiropractic, functional medicine, traditional medicine. You're getting all sorts of different recommendations. So my hope is that over the next decade, we start to see some standardization, and we start to say this is what is normal for this population. You still have to apply it to the person. You cannot take population data and apply it to individuals and say that you're going to have good luck, bye. We'll see you in a year. That doesn't work. What I do think is that women need to know what's normal for that time, and then they need to decide, do they want to do something about it beyond what their body is experiencing? And here's some really interesting data that I hope your listeners suddenly stop and listen. If they don't hear anything I've said yet, this will be really important for women who have hot flashes and night sweats. Either one, they're actually the same thing. We call them vasomotor symptoms. When you have those at a certain degree, so that they're happening most days of the week, more than 10 times a day would be an easy target to kind of pay attention to. You have that, and you choose not to take hormones. You actually have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. That does not mean every woman in that category can or should take it. There may be reasons they can't, but the hormones we use today are different than what in the Women's Health Initiative that came out in the early 2000s. So you're getting a lot of confusion because women are reading about data from that, not realizing that it has changed, and that study is not going to be redone. It was a huge study. We're not going to see data like that, so we have to make really informed decisions. But cardiovascular disease, hear me, ladies. Cardiovascular disease, which includes stroke and heart failure, kills more women every year than all your cancers combined. Yeah, I get the women and they come in religiously for their mammograms or their Pap tests, right? But they don't know that the bigger risk is that they're going to die of heart disease, cardiovascular stroke, and we know that one in eight women, roughly, have breast cancer risk, and those women get it. One in two women are getting heart disease. So there's one inLesley Logan 23:50  Two.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 23:51  One in two. So that means there's two of us on this call, right? We already know I'm going to get it because I had preeclampsia. So I'm the one. Lesley Logan 23:56  I was going to say. I hope it's not maybe. I hope it's not you. But, like, thank God you know that because I think it's one and two, especially if you don't know. Because if you know that you're at risk, you do. Then you can you do something. I am. I'm double the risk for breast cancer, so I have to do an MRI and a mammogram every six months, and I have some decisions I might have to make in my life. But because I know.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 24:18  Right, I can take.Lesley Logan 24:20  I can take action. Yeah, correct.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 24:22  And you know, using that same kind of history, if someone comes in my office and says that I don't want to take hormones because I was a breast cancer, I'm like, that's fine. But let's look at all the facts. Let's lay it out like your financial advisor does, and then you can make an informed decision. Because just acting out of fear or reacting is not wise either.Lesley Logan 24:38  I actually really appreciate you mentioning that because it's true. If I'm, I'm very lucky in that I still get to do the HRT that I'm on, even with my risk. But also they're checking me every six months, and I'm checking me. So if anything's going to happen, we're going to catch it so much more quicker. Whereas the hard stuff, there's only so much you can do with that. And so if you're, especially if you're not aware. Say there's all conversations, but I liked the way you laid it out with the wealth manager. I just met with mine. He laid out here's where we're being aggressive. Here's where we're doing this. Here's what's going on here. We're going to move this over here because we're going to risk-manage these risks. And I think that's that's a better way to look at it because we're not going to, every single one of us is unfortunately going to experience something because it's a body. We're not a machine. Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 25:21  It wears out.Lesley Logan 25:22  I did not know it was one in two, girl.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 25:26  Yeah, and what's even more disturbing, you may have heard a lot of women have by now that women's heart disease presents differently than men.Lesley Logan 25:32  Yeah, can you tell us just in case my people haven't heard because I didn't know it was one in two? So let's go over the signs.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 25:38  A lot of times people think of what's the so-called traditional? It's the jaw pain, the radiation of pain from your chest up to your jaw, to your back, down your left arm. Very classic symptoms. Classic because it was studied in men, and then we have these so-called atypical for women because they're not typical compared to men, but they're classic for women. And so, got a little bit of lingo here that it doesn't make total sense. But for women, sometimes it's they just feel a lot more anxious than they've been for unclear reasons. They have this sense that something bad is on the horizon. They can't really place why their sleep is different. Maybe they're having some shortness of breath they didn't used to have. Maybe they go up the stairs in their house, with a laundry basket, and they're huffing and puffing when six months ago they weren't. So it can be very subtle differences. It could be a new fatigue. Check labs are normal, but the fatigue's still there. That worries me when I hear women say this. Unfortunately, the number one sign that you have heart disease is sudden death.Lesley Logan 26:33  Oh.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 26:34  So let that sink in for a second. So we can't always wait on what the signs are.Lesley Logan 26:39  Yeah, we can't fix that. Right. Correct. Okay, so that's hard because our signs are also. I feel like high-achieving women would so easily brush away that anxiety.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 26:51  All the stuff. Correct. Because I have a lot of tabs open.Lesley Logan 26:54  Yeah, I got this going on, or I haven't been working out, so of course I'm out of breath going up the stairs. They would just so easily.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 26:58  It's May, it's graduation season. It's wedding season, right? This is just aging, and that's not the story at all. The problem is 10-minute visit with your doctor who has 3000 patients. They don't know who you are. They're not going to notice that this is different for you.Lesley Logan 27:13  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 27:13  Decreased exercise tolerance is a big one. And so, if you could walk three miles every day in your neighborhood, now you're like, "Wow, I'm really struggling to get through one." I'm worried about that. I want to know what's going on and why.Lesley Logan 27:25  Yeah. So I guess since one getting a 10-minute visit is hard. I, where I live in, I live in Las Vegas. Last I heard, we are short general practitioners by 1400. I don't have one. I go to a women's clinic, and I'm really grateful. It's a, it's also a student-teacher thing. So I actually, they've caught things because the students are asking the questions because they'reAmy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 27:44  Yes, yes.Lesley Logan 27:46  I love them. I'm so grateful for them, but are there things that women can do to check their heart, or is it just being, is it just noticing the one mile versus a three mile? What can we, what are the signs we need to be checking on?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 27:57  Certainly be aware of what your body is telling you. Again, if you have to remember nothing else, this is another one: is that your body is smart; it will talk to you, but you have to listen.Lesley Logan 28:05  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 28:06  So that's really essential. If something's different, say something. You're right. There's a big collapse, if you will, of how much support we have in healthcare, whether it's nurse practitioners or chiropractor or whatever. And the issue is not all of them are trained the same way. So when I worked in the OB/GYN clinic, it became apparent to both of us, on both sides of it, that OBs know stuff about women's health. I don't know, but I know stuff about metabolic and heart health that the OBs aren't taught, and most women use their OBs as their primary care, at least to a certain age.Lesley Logan 28:32  Right.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 28:33  And again, you don't know what you don't know, so you don't realize what you're not looking for that you should be. And our system's not set up for good collaboration. So if I could tell women, here's a checklist of things I want to make sure you get, your doctor is going to give you some resistance, most likely because they don't realize that lipoprotein with a little a, it's like in parentheses at the end of it, not the big A. Lipoprotein little a. If you have that mutation, and 10 to 20% of our population does, you have a different rate of plaque development, at least risk for that than the average risk will miss. If you have high insulin levels, you have a higher risk that you're going to be on a pathway toward diabetes. Those are not things that are standard checks. So knowing that there's other tests you can ask for, and even if your insurance doesn't cover it, they're not expensive tests. Just get it once, right? Have an idea of what's going on in your body once gives you a ton of information. I offer a lot of our patients to wear different glucose monitors, even if they're not on diabetes. And all my physicians who are listening to this are probably like, "You do what?" But the reason is, if you can figure out that your glucose and insulin are high before you develop diabetes or pre-diabetes, if you figured out that insulin-resistant stage, that's a lot easier to fix, and our doctors aren't even taught about what is insulin resistance, what is the criteria for it, and how do we reverse it?Lesley Logan 29:47  Right, because there's some prevention we can do if we have information.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 29:50  There's a ton, and it's things women can do in their homes or their businesses. It's not stuff I'm doing in the exam room.Lesley Logan 29:56  Yeah, and that's also, you know, you're listening to this podcast, you're kind of a go. Anyway, so you're gonna, you'll take the action. Our health insurance is very bizarre. I thought it was crap because, but it has a lot of preventative stuff that goes on with it. Hey, we want to put this thing in your house and check your heart and some other levels every, I don't know, two or three times a week. They keep calling them. I have two adults. We have two ADHD adults in this household. The box is here. One of us will open it when it becomes the pressure. I just have to hang tight. We'll get there. But I'm really impressed by that because we don't have access to a regular doctor. So what information can we gather so we could be watching it and monitoring it? So we can advocate for ourselves if something comes up. So having that prevention is really amazing. Okay, so we talked a little bit about the perimenopause and the different things. What are some simple shifts that women can make now to protect their future? I mean, obviously we have a wide range of women, so the now is different. But what are some things that they could be doing? Because I do think that they are getting information from the magazines and the Instagrams, and we should get it from the person who's experienced it and has seen it. You know, so you.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 31:00  Some easy things, and I say easy relative because they're easy to do, which means they're easy not to do. So acknowledging that, right? It's real. Number one, understanding that just because you get eight hours of sleep, if they're not high-quality hours, you've got a metabolic risk from your sleep not being normal. That's important to understand because you spend a third of your life asleep, right?Lesley Logan 31:19  What's a metabolic risk? Just in case my people. So.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 31:22  If you don't get good-quality sleep, your cortisol goes up. It's one of your stress hormones, and when cortisol goes up, glucose goes up. When glucose goes up, insulin goes up. Insulin's your fat-storing hormone. So even without your sex hormones being involved, or the ghrelin and leptin you're hearing about with weight and GLPs and all that, just those, you're not getting good sleep. It's going to be a problem. Insulin resistance is going to go up. Insulin resistance means your cells are not listening to the insulin your body is giving it, so your body works harder to get more insulin, and the cells work harder to ignore it, and it just keeps going in a vicious cycle. So if we consider that that's the root cause of a lot of these problems we've been talking about, we fix that. Number one is get good sleep, get good-quality sleep, and it's not, not just enough time in bed.Lesley Logan 32:02  Yeah, so.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 32:03  That's important. Number two is most people don't realize that they're doing it backwards. They're, if they're, if they're even able to get exercise in their life right now, right? So we're going to make the assumption that you figured out some exercise regimen you like. We're, we're at that level, but they're doing it at the wrong time, and they're doing it in a way that they're sabotaging their end result. So rather than going to the gym and then going and eating dinner, or going to the gym first thing in the morning and skipping breakfast and all these things, you need to eat protein and fat, and then you need to move your thighs. I don't care if that's jumping jacks, going for a walk, running up the stairs, something where your thighs are moving regularly for 10 minutes. So make it whatever you like doing. This can be the mom at home who's doing all sorts of fun class activity with her kid, right? Like moving the baby around or the teenager can be equally fun to move around for what it's worth. And then it could be the CEO who's getting ready for a meeting and has 10 minutes after eating whatever lunch she had in the five-minute break she did, right? So looking at what makes sense in your life, but 10 minutes of physical activity, ideally after every meal, that's not realistic, but that's ideal. And then you start with the one meal a day you can do, and you do it most days of the week to start with, because most of us have to figure out how to make it a habit.Lesley Logan 33:15  Yeah.Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 33:15  But movement for 10 minutes after eating, it's, it's crucial. I cannot stress that enough.Lesley Logan 33:20  I didn't realize it was. It makes total sense moving your body after eating because I like to go for a walk after I have lunch. Otherwise, I'm tired. Correct. I can't go back to work now. Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 33:30  The reason you're tired though is because your glucose goes up and your insulin went up to match it. When you walk right after you eat, glucose still goes up, but it's less, and so you have less insulin spike. Insulin is the bright driver here, and so you've got to do the movement after. And if it helps to understand why, think back to what our ancestors did 1000 years ago. Right? We weren't checking hormones. We weren't checking insulin. We weren't talking about hacks. We were trying to survive most of the time. Yeah. But the things they did is they, if they, what, after they ate, they moved around. Right? Like they were building their shelters. They were taking care of the kids. They were moving in the community, helping build, create, relocate, whatever. They were always moving, and they did not get the whole three square meals a day. That's bogus. You don't need three meals a day, okay? And most of my ladies don't realize that they're eating their nutrients potentially in the wrong order for their body. That they're eating them in the wrong time for the cycle of the month they're in, they're not getting enough protein, not getting enough fat for their hormones and their brain, and it doesn't happen quickly, right? It's months, years, maybe even a couple decades before they're, I don't know what happened, but my body in the mirror is not the body in my head. This is not who I am. There's a disconnect, and they finally are at that place where they have to do something, where the body is forcing them to stop because they've pushed it as hot as you know.Lesley Logan 34:44  Oh my God, that's a whole episode. We're having you back. I'm just telling you right now because I want to have a whole episode on the whole. Because what I do know is if you eat certain things, if you work out too late, if you get your cortisol up, sleep that. I have been trying to figure out sleep for over a decade, and I, I get good-quality sleep most of the time. But I'm obsessed with it because I'm like, I don't want Alzheimer's. I do not want heart problems. It doesn't really matter what I'm doing at the gym if I'm not sleeping. None of that matters. Doesn't matter what you're, If you don't get good sleep, all the rest is gonna just fall apart anyways. So it's interesting. It makes sense about the food because I remember when I was having problems with my cycle and I had my one of my doctor friends, she said you should try seed cycling because I just, the worst cramps and, like, the worst everything was just the worst in the world, and so I tried seed cycling and my goodness, you know, I'm not a woo-woo girl, but the seed cycling makes, I got, I had no more zits, my boobs didn't hurt as bad, everything leveled out, and I didn't need any extra hormones for it. I was, whoa, so now there must be more. We need to know about it. So we'll have to have you back for that. I can talk to you forever. So we'll just, this is part one of many. I'm just going to take a brief break and then find out if people can find you, follow you, and work with you. All right, Dr. Amy Loden, where do you hang out? You mentioned St. Louis. Can people work with you if they're not in St. Louis? How does this work?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 36:03  Yes, absolutely. Best way to get into contact with our office is just going to our website, www.vitalitymwc.org. They can sign up for a consultation, and we can go through what their options are. There is also lots of opportunity if you don't want to work with us directly, but you want to continue the conversation and hear what we're seeing. I do all the social media I can so that people can hear what's being said in their exam rooms and have it in their real lives too. So you can do that on follow me at Dr. Amy Tiffany, whether it's on Instagram or TikTok or Facebook. You find it where they're also on LinkedIn at Dr. Amy Loden. So lots of places depends on what their needs are. One special offer I do have for your audience: we talked about pregnancy and perimenopausal bit through this conversation, they can contact my office for a free physical copy of my book, The Postpartum Pivot. And before you stop listening, ladies, and you think, "Well, I'm not postpartum." If you've had a baby, you're postpartum even it's 20 years ago. Your body's different than it was before that baby, and so you can understand what does this look like for perimenopause and other types of areas that we go through as we grow less young, but grow more wise.Lesley Logan 37:03  Oh my God! Every one of my female females, that's where your Christmas present is. Sorry, just gonna get a doctor because they don't. It's, if their doctor doesn't tell them, they don't know, right? And then they are just going through it. And I feel so bad because every woman in my life is such a badass, and then they get their body doesn't keep up with what they're wanting to do in life, and then it just becomes not just like a liability, but like this hangup. So you are amazing. Okay, you've given us some great stuff already. I mean, we're gonna have to rewind, and I'll listen to this. I've got, you know, getting my notepad out, but our bold, executable, intrinsic, or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 37:37  I want each one. When you be it as you see it, I want you to be true to what your body's telling you, and recognize nothing's gone wrong. Listen when things are happening and they seem like it's a crisis. Nothing's gone wrong. Your body's talking to you. Listen, and when you listen, you become more wise. You become a better version of yourself.Lesley Logan 37:55  Okay, I really love that. We talked about that earlier, but it's true. Some of us think our body is against us, and it's doing something to us. But really, it's like, hello. The alarm bells. Amy Loden Tiffany, MD, MBA 38:05  It's doing exactly what it should do for the situation we've put it in. That doesn't mean we like it. You get diabetes. No one's like, oh yeah, my body did exactly what it's supposed to do. But if we understand that, then it becomes a neutral thought. It's not bad or wrong. It's I didn't listen, so now I'm going to stop, and the best place to reverse is as soon as you realize you're going in the direction. Right? It's not to keep going in the wrong direction. So nothing has gone wrong. We just need to listen. We need to turn around, create a better story.Lesley Logan 38:33  Love it. Love it. This is and then so enlightening. This is so fun. Thank you so much for being you and your and and the journey that you've been on is something we can all benefit from. So thank you for that, you guys. We all need to share this episode with all the women in our lives, and I would love for you to make sure that Dr. Amy knows your favorite takeaways. Send them to the Be It Pod as well. And since I'm going to have her back, not that I even like asked her beforehand, but I'm just going to tell her she's doing that. You can send your questions, and we'll make sure we get that. So, beitpod.com/questions. Until next time, my loves, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 39:03  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 39:45  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 39:50  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 39:54  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 40:02  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 40:05  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of the DiepCJourney®podcast, we welcome Dr. Ann Chuang, a fellowship‑trained, board‑certified breast surgeon with the Premier Surgical Network in Glen Rock and Westwood, New Jersey. Dr. Chuang specializes in oncoplastic breast surgery, skin‑sparing and nipple‑sparing mastectomies, and hidden‑scar approaches. She joins us to bring clarity to a topic that affects countless breast cancer patients: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). We revisit the landmark Women's Health Initiative of 1991, explore how research has evolved, and discuss what patients and clinicians need to understand today about menopausal hormone therapy after a breast cancer diagnosis. Key Topics Covered Why Women Use HRT We explore the symptoms and quality‑of‑life concerns that lead many women to consider hormone therapy during and after breast cancer treatment. Who Can Safely Take HRT and Who Should Not Dr. Chuang outlines patient profiles, risk factors, and the nuanced decision‑making involved in determining whether HRT is appropriate. Understanding Delivery Methods A clear breakdown of terms like systemic, topical, oral, and transdermal and how each interacts with the body. How Physicians Counsel Patients on HRT Dr. Chuang shares how she approaches conversations with patients who ask whether HRT is safe for them, and what questions patients should bring to their healthcare team. Variability in Physician Messaging We discuss how guidance may differ between gynecologic oncologists, primary care physicians, and breast surgeons and how patients can navigate conflicting information. Why This Conversation Matters As research evolves, so does our understanding of hormone therapy for breast cancer patients. This episode offers grounded, evidence‑based insight to help listeners feel informed, empowered, and supported in their decision‑making. Watch the video version on the DiepCFoundation YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbxDsgpHtMQ&t=67s Connect with Dr. Ann Chuang Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorchuang/ Facebook: Premier Surgical Network

Today, I am thrilled to reconnect with a previous guest, Dr. Mary Claire Haver.  Dr. Haver is a board-certified OBGYN, a certified menopause provider, and the founder of Mary Claire Wellness, a private medical practice focusing on women in midlife. Her best-selling book, the Galveston Diet, and her latest New York Times best-seller, The New Menopause, are fabulous resources for middle-aged women. In today's discussion, we dive into various aspects of perimenopause and the associated challenges. We discuss factors accelerating ovarian aging, the role of contraception, mental health shifts, and the often delayed diagnosis of premature ovarian insufficiency. We examine the differences between hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives, discussing the importance of advocacy for women's health and the benefits of vaginal estrogen. We explore the disparity in federal funding for women's health research, the impact of the Women's Health Initiative, body composition changes, the estrabolome, the 30 Plant Challenge, and the advantages of HRT. Dr. Haver also talks about her preferred supplements.  I'm sure you will find this conversation a valuable resource that you will likely revisit several times. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Why perimenopause is so fraught with chaos Some of the factors that hasten ovarian aging How perimenopause causes significant changes in neurotransmitters, leading to cognitive changes The differences between HRT and oral contraceptives How estrogen loss during menopause affects vaginal tissue The benefits of vaginal estrogen for symptoms of menopause  How women's health research funding prioritizes reproduction over menopause and perimenopause How HRT can help with fat loss and muscle mass in postmenopausal women The emergence of eating-disordered behaviors in menopausal women Some of the lesser-known symptoms of menopause and ways to overcome them How HRT could impact the longevity and cognitive health of women Bio: Dr Mary Claire Haver Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a board-certified OB-GYN who has devoted her adult life to women's health. When she began experiencing the changes of menopause and midlife weight gain, she created her online program, The Galveston Diet, which currently has over 80,000 students. The Galveston Diet is the first and only nutrition program in the world created by a female OB-GYN, designed for women in menopause. As part of her ongoing research, she became certified in Culinary Medicine in 2019, specializing in medical nutrition. In 2021, Dr. Haver opened Mary Claire Wellness; the clinic grew out of repeated requests from Galveston Diet students and Dr. Haver's social media followers for personal guidance.  Dr. Haver lives with her husband and two daughters in Galveston, Texas. She is the author of The Galveston Diet (Rodale; January 10th, 2023). Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website. Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com  Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.  Purchase Cynthia's book, The Menopause Gut. Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with Dr. Mary Claire Haver On the⁠ Mary Claire Wellness website⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠ Books Mentioned Dr. Haver's books, ⁠The Galveston Diet⁠ and ⁠The New Menopause ⁠ ⁠The Menopause Brain⁠ and the⁠ XX Brain⁠ by Lisa Mosconi Previous Episode Mentioned ⁠Ep. 308 Dr. Mary Claire Haver: Weight Gain in Middle Age, Perimenopause and Inflammation

Dolly Parton's death has sparked a push to make September 25 a national holiday, National Dolly Parton Day, a nod to her song "9 to 5," and Chalene Johnson breaks down the philanthropy behind it, including Jeff Bezos's $100 million Courage and Civility Award and over 300 million books donated through her charity work. Then Chalene explains how she woke up "Under Attack" on TikTok over a conspiracy theory tied to the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, after Patrick Clancy's attorney threatened content creators with defamation lawsuits and a stranger's video twisted what Chalene actually said about the case. Plus, the strange doctor wars breaking out in women's healthcare over HRT and testosterone pellets, why the Women's Health Initiative got it wrong, and a new legging lawsuit involving Buffbunny. Topics discussed: Dolly Parton, National Dolly Parton Day, Jeff Bezos, Courage and Civility Award, Dixie Stampede, Lindsay Clancy, Patrick Clancy, TikTok, defamation, postpartum psychosis, epistemic closure, Midi, Women's Health Initiative, HRT, testosterone pellets, Buffbunny, Vitality, leggings lawsuit. Join Chalene on Patreon her private podcast to hear all the latest on the Penthouse Drama and upcoming episode Session with a Renowned Pet Psychic  

Casey Stumpf is a nurse practitioner and my sister. Years in emergency medicine and hospice, a stretch inside military medicine at Camp Pendleton, and now her own practice in Montana treating hormones full time — perimenopause, menopause, testosterone for men and women. She is one of roughly 4,100 providers in the country holding the MSCP certification. There are 75 million American women in some phase of menopause. The math does not work. She is back to answer listener questions and to explain why estrogen patches are disappearing. The FDA says there is no shortage. Pharmacists say otherwise. Best estimate on a fix is two to three years. She lays out what the 2002 Women's Health Initiative did to an entire generation of women, and why the black box warning finally came off. Testosterone for women, prescribed off-label because no FDA-approved formulation exists. GLP-1s and what they pull out of you besides fat. Hormone therapy after breast cancer. Vaginal estrogen, UTIs, and hip fractures. The suicide risk in perimenopause that standard screening misses. Contact Casey Here: https://theradiantwelltality.com/ Today's Sponsors:  Ethos:  Get your free quote at https://www.ethos.com/clearedhot Cash App:  Download Cash App Today:  https://cash.app/ Terms apply. Bitcoin services by Block, Inc. See the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app/legal/podcast.

How Long Does It Take You to Wake Up? The Cortisol Cheater Question You hit snooze six times. You need two cups of coffee before you can hold a conversation. Or the opposite: your eyes open at a level ten, heart already going, anxiety already running. There is a name for what is happening, and there is a test for it. Dr. Terri sits down with Carrie Jones, ND, FABNE, MPH, MSCP, the naturopathic physician known as the Queen of Hormones, for a conversation about the hormone testing almost nobody is ordering. Not blood. Not saliva. Urine metabolites, which show you not just how much of a hormone you have, but where it goes after your body is finished with it. Because that turns out to be the part that matters. Estrogen can travel down three different pathways, and one of them is protective while another is genotoxic. Testosterone can convert into something far more potent, which is why some women get hair loss and jawline acne on a dose that works beautifully for someone else. Progesterone can knock one woman out in ten minutes and do almost nothing for the woman next to her on an identical dose. None of that shows up on a standard panel. They also spend real time on cortisol, which has become the most misunderstood hormone on the internet. Dr. Carrie makes the case that we are doing to cortisol exactly what we did to estrogen after the Women's Health Initiative: blaming the messenger, missing the message, and reaching for supplements to suppress something the body is doing on purpose. This one is for anyone who has been told their hormones are fine, or who has tried hormone therapy and quit because of side effects nobody could explain. What you'll discover: What urine metabolite testing actually measures, and why hormones have to go somewhere (02:03) The three estrogen pathways, and which one you want to push toward (04:45) The pathway that explains breast tenderness, spotting, and estrogen sensitivity (07:58) Why testosterone causes acne and hair loss in some women and not others (09:23) Alpha versus beta: why two women on the same progesterone dose have completely different nights (11:16) Whether the route you take progesterone changes the effect (14:20) What cortisol metabolites reveal about your thyroid that a TSH will not (19:39) Free T3, reverse T3, and reference ranges that are normal but not optimal (21:39) Poor, poor cortisol: what it is actually doing for you, and why we get it backward (26:29) The everyday medications quietly suppressing your cortisol results (30:11) Serum, saliva, or urine: which cortisol test answers which question (34:57) The cortisol awakening response, and the cheater question you can answer yourself (36:24) When a urine metabolite panel is worth the money, and when it is not (40:22) Cruciferous vegetables, DIM, and the caution nobody gives you before you start (42:39) Supplements that support the DHT pathway, and why sourcing decides whether they work (47:01) Alcohol as a bully: how the liver decides what gets detoxified first (52:55) You are not stuck with the hormone you were dealt. You are working with a pathway, and pathways are modifiable. The Dr. Terri Show is presented by EVEXIAS Health Solutions. For more, visit: https://www.evexias.com Connect with Dr. Terri:

Send us Fan MailJoin the conversation as Dr. Tori Hudson and host Dr. Jaclyn Smeaton discuss the evolution of menopause hormone therapy through the eras: pre-2002, post-Women's Health Initiative, and the current state of menopause hormone therapy, with a particular focus on testosterone therapy. This episode also covers: Testosterone usage and dosing and the correlation with libido, mood, energy, and muscle mass Dr. Hudson's dosing protocols and concerns about supraphysiological dosing Methods of delivery for estrogen therapy Cardiovascular disease as an underappreciated priority in menopause care The importance of individualized care over following hormone therapy trends Show Notes Check out The American Heart Association's PREVENTä Online Calculator mentioned in this episode.Read Dr. Hudson's DUTCH Article on testosterone prescribing in postmenopausal women, and check out the testosterone guidelines discussed in this episode. Learn more about Dr. Tori Hudson and her practice, A Woman's Time! Explore easy at-home collection for patients with DUTCH Direct. Become a DUTCH Provider to get access to peer-reviewed and validated research, comprehensive patient reports, and expert clinical support. 

In this episode of Keeping Abreast, Dr. Jenn Simmons sits down with Dr. Daved Rosensweet for a wide-ranging, deeply informed conversation about menopause, hormone replacement therapy, breast cancer risk, and why so many women have been left without clear, trustworthy options.Dr. Rosensweet shares how the Women's Health Initiative created lasting fear around hormones, why that fear was built on misreported data, and how the conversation around estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone has slowly begun to change. Together, they make the case that hormones are not the enemy of women's health and in many cases, they are central to preserving it. The conversation also turns to safety, testing, individualized dosing, and the role of breast imaging. Dr. Jenn explains why QT imaging is changing the way she thinks about screening, and Dr. Rosensweet reflects on why he has long required imaging before prescribing hormones. The result is an unusually honest, technically rich, and hopeful conversation about how to care for women better at every stage of life.What You'll LearnWhy the Women's Health Initiative misled both the public and providersWhat the data actually showed about estrogen and breast cancer riskWhy many women were taken off hormones unnecessarily for decadesHow Dr. Rosensweet thinks about the safety of hormone replacement after breast cancerWhy estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all matter for women's healthHow hormone loss contributes to sleep problems, brain fog, libido loss, bone loss, and muscle lossWhy the timing of hormone therapy matters, but it may not be “too late”How Dr. Rosensweet approaches individual dosing and hormone testingWhy topical delivery matters when it comes to clotting risk and liver metabolismHow QT imaging fits into a safer, more modern breast-screening strategyChapters00:00Introduction and episode overview09:50Hormone therapy after breast cancer: what the science says12:31The role of estrogen and breast cancer risk14:23Hormones and breast cancer risk: what the latest studies show16:22The lag in medical progress and the 30-year delay in hormone research17:44Why the narrative that estrogen causes cancer persists20:02Recent advances and the future of hormone therapy22:51The importance of provider education and safe hormone protocols25:49Signs you should consider hormone therapy30:44What women can do if they missed their window for hormone therapy33:49Is it ever too late for hormone therapy?36:02Determining the right hormone levels and testing methods37:24How Dr. Rosensweet ensures safe hormone replacement practices44:33Understanding breast cancer cells and hormone receptor sites46:03Hormones as protectors, not causes, of breast cancer47:08The impact of environmental toxins on health48:17The need for testosterone in women and men52:02Addressing the lack of provider training on hormones54:27Empowering women to have informed conversations about hormones55:46Closing remarks and call to actionTo talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-callTo get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuideConnect with Dr. Jenn:Website:  https://www.perfeqtionimaging.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmonsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Dr. Jenn Simmons interviews Dr. David Rosensweet about the history, misconceptions, and latest science of hormone replacement therapy, especially in relation to women's health and breast cancer risk. In this episode, Dr. Jenn Simmons and Dr. Rosensweet explore the science and safety of hormone replacement therapy, the importance of personalized treatment, and innovative breast cancer screening methods like QT. They discuss how understanding hormone levels, testing, and new technologies can transform women's health and cancer prevention.Key Topics in This EpisodeHistory of hormone therapy and misconceptionsImpact of the Women's Health Initiative studyThe safety and benefits of bioidentical hormonesRisks of hormone therapy and how to evaluate themThe importance of early intervention in hormonal declineAdvances in hormone therapy research and future prospects Hormone levels and testing accuracySafety and personalization in hormone therapyThe importance of estriol and receptor sitesNew breast cancer screening technologies like QTThe impact of environmental toxins and lifestyle on women's healthChapters00:00 Introduction and guest background01:56 History of hormone therapy and misconceptions04:07 Impact of the Women's Health Initiative study05:51 Reevaluation and retraction of initial findings06:56 Why false narratives persist in medicine09:59 The science behind hormone safety and breast cancer risk15:00 Studies on hormones and breast cancer recurrence20:12 Progress in hormone therapy acceptance and future outlook25:11 The importance of early hormone intervention29:51 Hormone therapy in aging and longevity34:58 Practical signs and when to seek help40:01 Reversibility of hormone deficiency effects44:53 Risks, evaluation, and safety protocols50:07 Hormone therapy protocols and cycle management55:06 Cell biology of menstrual and menopausal changes59:50 Closing thoughts and future directionsTo talk to a member of Dr. Jenn's team and learn more about working with Dr. Jenn visit: https://calendly.com/stephanie-1031/clarity-callTo get your copy of Dr. Jenn's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Breast Cancer, visit: https://tinyurl.com/SmartWomansBreastCancerGuideTo purchase the auria breast cancer screening test go here https://auria.care/ and use the code DRJENN20 for 20% Off.Connect with Dr. Jenn:Website: https://www.jennsimmonsmd.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennSimmonsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsimmons/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.jennsimmons

Menopause was kept quiet for decades. Alicia J. Rose is done whispering. In this fierce, funny and deeply cathartic conversation, Lisa sits down with the award-winning filmmaker, photographer and musician behind MENOPUNKS—a documentary, podcast and growing movement using punk-rock rebellion to challenge menopause misinformation and demand hormonal justice. Alicia shares her own path from medical dismissal to becoming “hormonally radicalized,” why music remains one of Gen X's most powerful languages, and what happens when midlife rage is channeled into creativity, community and action. Lisa and Alicia also unpack the cultural fallout from decades of fear surrounding hormone therapy, the stories Alicia is hearing from iconic musicians, and the electric energy of Menopunkapalooza. This episode is for anyone who has wondered whether the problem was their body—or a system that never gave them the information, care and choices they deserved. Content note: This conversation contains strong language and discussion of medical dismissal, cancer, dementia, reproductive rights and political systems. It shares lived experience and advocacy perspectives and is not personal medical advice. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your individual circumstances. What we talk about: Alicia's symptoms became impossible to dismiss in her early 50s, but getting informed, appropriate care was anything but straightforward. MENOPUNKS grew from a personal health reckoning into a documentary, podcast and movement focused on misinformation, access and hormonal justice. Gen X's relationship with music matters: for the last analog generation, art did not just entertain us—it helped us define ourselves. Alicia is gathering menopause stories from musicians and artists, revealing common experiences of dismissal, confusion and feeling as though something was seriously wrong. Lisa and Alicia explore the lasting cultural fear created by the early reporting on the Women's Health Initiative and why informed, individualized care matters. Menopunkapalooza put menopause advocacy onstage with music, comedy, clinicians, politicians, resources and joy. Rage can consume us, but it can also carry information. When combined with creativity and community, it can become fuel for change. Listeners can support MENOPUNKS by following and sharing the project, listening to the podcast, buying merch or donating toward documentary post-production. Chapters: 00:01 — Meet Alicia J. Rose and the MENOPUNKS movement 00:57 — When menopause became bigger than Alicia's own body 03:45 — The echo chamber of hormone fear and misinformation 08:22 — Why Gen X may be uniquely equipped to change the story 10:47 — Music, identity and the last analog generation 17:18 — What musicians are revealing about menopause 20:21 — Feminism, cultural backlash and the future women expected 23:30 — The Women's Health Initiative and the consequences of its reporting 30:43 — Menopunkapalooza: reclamation, healing and euphoria 37:12 — Why resistance also needs joy 38:46 — How Gen X wants to age differently 40:38 — Storytelling as an uncensored source of power 41:55 — How to support the MENOPUNKS film, podcast and movement 44:07 — Alanis Morissette, consider this your invitation 45:10 — Uncaging rage and turning it into action MENOPUNKS website: https://www.menopunks.com/ About Alicia and the MENOPUNKS team: https://www.menopunks.com/about-1 Alicia J. Rose: https://www.aliciajrose.com/bio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menopunks/ Email: menopunks@gmail.com Podcast, merch, documentary updates and donations are available through the MENOPUNKS website. The Estrogen Dilemma - Historical Article Connect with Lisa: Lisa Boate | Menopause Consultant, Coach and host of Transforming 45 Website: https://liberatedmenopause.ca/ Email: lisa@liberatedmenopause.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lboate/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does estrogen really cause breast cancer? It's one of the biggest fears women have when considering HRT, and in this conversation, Dr. Lindsey Berkson takes Tara back to where much of that fear began. They unpack the history of the Women's Health Initiative, how the original messaging around hormones shaped medical practice, and what later analyses of the research have shown. Dr. Berkson explains why she believes estrogen has been misunderstood, including the difference between estrogen's effects on different receptors and why "estrogen-positive" breast cancer does not necessarily mean estrogen caused the cancer. They also discuss research involving women with ER-positive breast cancer who received estrogen and what those studies reported. Dr. Berkson then shares her own breast cancer story and why it ultimately led her to spend decades researching hormones. This is a fascinating conversation about how medical messaging evolves, why women need to understand the details behind the studies, and why Tara believes these are conversations women deserve to have. In Part 1:  The history of the Women's Health Initiative and why it was created What the early research was actually showing about estrogen and breast cancer The controversial press release that changed the conversation around HRT What 20 years of reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative revealed Oral vs topical vs vaginal estrogen: why delivery method matters Tara's experience with vaginal progesterone and sleep/anxiety The controversy surrounding oral progesterone The debate around estriol What "estrogen-positive" breast cancer actually means The theory behind estrogen and progesterone fueling breast tumors   Dr. Lindsey Berkson Lindsey Berkson, MA, DC, CNS, DACBN was a Distinguished Hormone Scholar at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR: Tulane/Xavier Universities). She is a leading figure in integrative medicine, renowned for her expertise in hormones, nutrition, digestion, and environmental science. With a background as a clinician, professor, bestselling author, and radio show host, she brings a wealth of experience to her work. At the CBR, she collaborated with pioneers in estrogen and sex-steroid receptor research. Dr. Berkson is also a respected educator, teaching MDs and pharmacists in advanced certification courses. She has developed innovative nutraceuticals, holds patents in bioidentical hormone therapy, and has contributed to groundbreaking research on dialysis/pharmaceutical medications and nutrition. Dr. Berkson consults internationally, focusing on medical nutrition for breast cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, renal problems, and complex health issues. Dr. B's Links: Email - admin@drlindseyberkson.com Webpage - www.drlindseyberkson.com Memberships - www.drlindseyberkson.com/membership Agile Thinking Substack - https://drlindseyberkson.substack.com/ Biotics Products - https://drlindseyberkson.com/bioticsproducts/ Hormones: Vilified to Vindicated (Course) - https://drlindseyberkson.com/v2v/ Oxytocin Medicine - https://drlindseyberkson.com/oxytocinmedicine/ **Get $100 off Dr. Berkson's Everything Breast Cancer and/or Everything Hormones Courses by using the code: PC100TARA https://drlindseyberkson.com/everythingbreastcancer/ https://drlindseyberkson.com/everything-breast-cancer-nonprofessional/ https://drlindseyberkson.com/everythinghormones/ Estradiol vs. Bi-Est Debate, watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-p82VW1weA&t=2508s Watch Tara's Instagram Live with Dr. Berkson here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN6ieQRE0PI/   Fix Your Gut Masterclass Stop Blaming the Food! The Real Reason You've Still Got Bloating and Pooping Problems and How to Fix Your Gut for Good. In this free, live masterclass Tara will walk you through the real reason your gut symptoms keep coming back, no matter what you've tried, and what actually needs to happen to fix them properly, at the root, for good. [Save your spot HERE]  

Is your doctor listening to you?Because you deserve to be heard.In this episode, we sit down with OB/GYN, menopause specialist, and longevity physician Dr. Jila Senemar to discuss how menopause care is changing. The good news? It's NO LONGER something you need to just get through. Wait out. Hot flashes?Weight gain?Poor sleep?Brain fog?Low libido?We have answers. No more merely accepting your fate! In this episode, we talk about:The currency of longevity.GLP-1s and HRTHow to check your body composition.What biomarkers to demand. The surprising leading causes of death among women.How to get your insurance to cover your tests.When to get a DEXA bone density scan and a CAC scan. If you've ever wondered whether you're "too young" for perimenopause, or you've felt dismissed by your healthcare provider, this conversation could completely change how you think about your current and future health. Listen and learn how to build the healthiest decades of your life. Because YOU are in charge!Connect with Dr. Jila Senemarhttps://www.instagram.com/drjilasenemar/Website: https://www.jilamd.com/Her Time, Her Health Podcast(00:00:50) Welcome Dr. Jila Senemar to the podcast(00:04:30) The Women's Health Initiative and why women were told "no hormones"(00:10:33) GLP-1s for weight loss in women in midlife(00:14:33) Body composition vs weight, and the importance of muscle for longevity (00:17:56) GLP-1s, HRT and muscle mass (00:22:42) PMOS and treatment of hormone imbalances with GLP-1s (00:26:07) Visceral fat loss, mortality in women and GLP-1s(00:29:00) Microdosing GLP-1 medications explained(00:34:00) Blood work every woman should ask for(00:39:45) What longevity really means and what to optimize today(00:47:25) Can you naturally boost your own GLP-1s?(00:52:57) When should women start preparing for perimenopause and menopause?(01:00:24) Where to find Dr. Jila SenemarWant to leave the TTSL Podcast a voicemail? We love your questions and adore hearing from you. https://www.speakpipe.com/TheThickThighsSaveLivesPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CVG Nation app, for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠iPhone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The CVG Nation app, for Android⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fitness FB Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Thick Thighs Save Lives Workout Programs⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Constantly Varied Gear's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Workout Leggings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The views expressed are those of the hosts and guests and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical diagnosis, treatment, or advice. Always consult your physician or qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise routine, medications, supplements, or healthcare plan.Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts or producers. 

Should every woman take estrogen? Or should no one? According to Dr. Brendan McCarthy, both extremes miss the point. The best hormone therapy is personalized, evidence-based, and designed around the individual—not headlines or trends. In this episode, Dr. McCarthy explains why today's growing "estrogen for everyone" movement can be just as concerning as the outdated fear created by the Women's Health Initiative study. Hormone replacement therapy isn't about following the crowd—it's about understanding your body, your risks, and your long-term health goals. In this video, you'll learn: Why hormone therapy should never be one-size-fits-all The difference between individualized care and "pill mill" medicine What the Women's Health Initiative actually studied—and how it was misinterpreted Why estrogen helps with some conditions more than others The questions every woman should ask before starting hormone replacement therapy How experienced clinicians monitor hormones to keep treatment safe over time At Protea Medical Center, we believe hormone therapy should be built around you—your symptoms, your lab work, your health history, and your goals. If you're considering hormone replacement therapy, make sure you're working with a provider who takes the time to explain your options, monitor your progress, and adjust treatment as your body changes.  

Heart disease and stroke remain two of the biggest health challenges facing people in Ireland, but early detection can make a significant difference.   Next Tuesday (11th August), the Croí Mobile Health Hub will be in Ennis offering free blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol checks as part of a new community health initiative supported by the Michael Guinee Charitable Foundation. To tell us more about the service and why knowing your numbers is so important, Alan Morrissey was joined by the Chief Executive Officer of Croí, Mark O'Donnell. Image (c) Croí

For decades, women have been told that hormone replacement therapy causes breast cancer, but where did that message come from, and is it the full story? In this episode, Mary Alice Haney is joined by former SheMD executive producer and award-winning storyteller, Ami Armstrong, to unpack the Women's Health Initiative, the landmark study that changed the course of menopause care for an entire generation. Together, they explore how one of the largest women's health studies ever conducted became one of the most misunderstood, and why many experts are working to correct the narrative today.Mary Alice and Ami break down the difference between relative and absolute risk, discuss how media headlines fueled decades of fear around hormone therapy, and explain what today's research says about menopause treatment. They also examine why women have historically been left out of medical research, the importance of personalized healthcare, and how understanding your own risks can empower you to make informed decisions alongside your doctor.Subscribe to SHE MD Podcast for expert tips on PCOS, endometriosis, fertility, hormonal balance, mental health, and more. Share with friends and visit SHE MD website and Ovii for research-backed resources, holistic health strategies, and expert guidance on women's health and well-being.SponsorsK'chava: Treat yourself to a childhood favorite. Go to kachava.com and use code SheMD for 15% off your first order. Midi Health: Book your first virtual visit today at joinmidi.com. Babel: Right now, Babbel is offering listeners up to 60% off. Go to babbel.com/shemd. Rules and restrictions may apply. Osea: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code SheMD at oseamalibu.com. Cash App: Parents and legal guardians can open a managed account for kids aged six through 12. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. Opill: Opill is birth control in your control. Check out Opill to see if it is right for you. You can find Opill at most major retailers in store and online at opill.com. What You'll LearnWhy the Women's Health Initiative became one of the most influential and controversial studies in women's health.The difference between relative risk and absolute risk, and why that distinction matters.How media coverage dramatically changed public perception of hormone replacement therapy.Why today's menopause hormone therapy differs from what was studied in the original trial.How women were historically excluded from clinical research and how that affected medical care.What current evidence says about the timing of hormone therapy and menopause treatment.Why understanding your personal health risks leads to better conversations with your doctor.Key Timestamps00:00 Welcome Ami Armstrong02:57 Ami's own HRT journey & why she made this series05:04 The idea behind "It's Not a Purse" (Magritte inspiration)07:43 "Feminine Forever" and the history of estrogen marketing09:02 Why Ami dug into the Women's Health Initiative11:48 Getting women into clinical trials: the 1990s shift18:43 Placebo, estrogen-only & estrogen+progestin arms20:15 What hormones were actually used in the WHI22:04 The timing hypothesis explained23:14 Inside the July 2002 press conference decision24:53 Breaking down the breast cancer numbers (absolute vs. relative risk)27:06 Why the trial was stopped early & the estrogen-only results32:07 HRT use plummets & what hot flashes really mean35:42 The researchers who fought back42:32 Individualized risk & questioning the headlinesKey TakeawaysThe Women's Health Initiative began as an ambitious effort to better understand disease prevention in postmenopausal women but became defined by a controversial 2002 announcement that dramatically changed hormone therapy use.Headlines focused on relative risk increases without explaining the much smaller absolute risk, creating lasting public fear around HRT.The hormone formulations used in the original study are different from many of today's commonly prescribed bioidentical therapies.Experts now recognize that the timing of hormone therapy initiation plays an important role in determining benefits and risks.Women have historically been underrepresented in clinical research, leading to gaps in medical knowledge that continue to impact healthcare today.Every woman's health decisions should be individualized, based on current evidence, personal risk factors, and informed conversations with qualified healthcare providers, not fear-driven headlines.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode, hosts Heather and Matthew welcome Dr. Susan Wilson, founder of Charleston HealthSpan Institute, to discuss her more than 30 years of experience helping patients navigate hormone deficiencies and menopause-related symptoms. Dr. Wilson shares her perspective on the long-term impact of the Women's Health Initiative study, how the understanding of hormone replacement therapy has changed over time, and why more women are seeking treatment today. We also dive into common misconceptions about hormone therapy and its  potential benefits for healthy aging. Tune in now for an informed discussion on hormone health!

Half of the people who show up with a heart attack have completely normal cholesterol. That statistic is exactly why I brought back Dr. Philip Ovadia, a board certified cardiac surgeon who spent years operating on hearts while morbidly obese and pre-diabetic himself. In 2016, before Ozempic or any of the GLP-1 medications existed, he lost 100 pounds and reversed his own prediabetes, and it changed what he believed about the disease he had spent his whole career treating. We get into why insulin resistance carries six times the heart disease risk that elevated LDL cholesterol does, based on the Women's Health Initiative data, and why nearly 90 percent of adults are walking around metabolically unhealthy without knowing it. Dr. Ovadia walks through fasting insulin, a simple and inexpensive blood test that can flag this risk years before a cholesterol panel ever would, and explains why imaging that actually looks at your arteries tells you more than blood work alone ever can. We also talk honestly about statins, what the real numbers behind their benefit show once the marketing is stripped away, and why he now tells patients that meat, not cholesterol, belongs back on the table. It is a conversation that reframes what actually predicts a heart attack and gives you real questions to bring into your next cardiology appointment. Normal cholesterol does not mean a healthy heart. Want more practical health tips? Join my newsletter! https://freechapter.lpages.co/newsletter-opt-in/ Get Dr. E's FREE 5 Red Flag Phrases guide here: https://freechapter.lpages.co/5-phrases-that-are-red-flags/ Check us out on social media: https://www.instagram.com/drefratlamandre https://www.facebook.com/drefratlamandre https://www.tiktok.com/@drefratlamandre #functionalmedicine #drefratlamandre #medicaldisruptor #NPwithaPHD #nursepractitioner #medicalgaslighting Chapters 0:00 - Introduction 2:15 - From obese surgeon to carnivore & "meat is medicine" 8:18 - Insulin Resistance vs. Cholesterol & the $15 Test 19:36 - Why Doctors Miss It: Fasting Insulin, CRP & GLP-1s 23:45 - Gut Health, Fiber, Fermented Foods & ApoE4 31:25 - Fixing the Cardiology Visit & What to Ask Your Doctor Guest Links: FB: https://www.facebook.com/ovadiahearthealth IG: https://www.instagram.com/ifixhearts/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@IFixHearts⁩ Dr. Philip Ovadia New Book: https://stayoffmykitchentable.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brain fog, weight gain, mood changes, disrupted sleep, and a fading sense of feeling like yourself can all become part of the perimenopause experience. But why do these changes happen—and why are so many women still struggling to find informed care? In Episode 347 of Money Matters, Christopher Hensley, RICP, CES, speaks with Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith, a nationally recognized OB-GYN, certified menopause practitioner, author, and founder of Complete Midlife Wellness Center. Dr. Hardwick-Smith explains the hormonal transition from the fertile years through perimenopause and menopause, including how changing estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels may affect the brain, sleep, metabolism, muscle, mood, and sexual wellness. She also discusses the continuing debate around menopausal hormone therapy, why specialized menopause training matters, and how women can begin planning for a longer health span. In this conversation What perimenopause is and why symptoms vary Brain fog, mood, memory, and sleep changes Metabolism, insulin resistance, and midlife muscle loss Sexual wellness and the role hormones may play Questions surrounding the 2002 Women's Health Initiative reporting How to find a qualified menopause practitioner Practical steps women can begin taking in their 40s and 50s Chapters 00:00 Compliance disclosures and show introduction 00:38 Cold open: hormones and brain function 01:04 Welcome and episode introduction 02:46 The three hormonal phases of a woman's life 04:35 How perimenopause may affect the brain 06:14 Why symptoms vary from woman to woman 08:19 Hormone therapy and the 2002 WHI debate 13:03 Metabolism, muscle loss, and midlife weight changes 15:57 Sexual wellness, desire, and testosterone 19:13 Who may benefit from treatment and finding informed care 21:29 Advocating for yourself in the medical system 23:17 Why Complete Midlife Wellness Center was created 24:46 Create Her and planning for a longer health span 27:11 Three practical steps for women in midlife Resources mentioned Complete Midlife Wellness Center The Menopause Society practitioner directory Create Her: Aging Into the Healthiest Version of Yourself by Dr. Susan Hardwick-Smith — book details and preorder information (publishes February 2, 2027) Subscribe to Money Matters for practical conversations about the financial, physical, and personal decisions that shape a well-planned life. This episode is for educational purposes and is not personal medical advice. Treatment decisions should be made with a qualified healthcare professional. Medical interpretations and treatment perspectives expressed in the conversation belong to the guest.

Karen Bigman's path to becoming a menopause sex educator is one of the most unexpectedly compelling origin stories we've heard on this podcast. She started in technology. She raised children. She worked in restaurants. And then, in her early 50s, newly separated after a 25-year marriage and struggling to orgasm with a new partner, she found her way to a sexual medicine practice run by Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus, where a nurse practitioner handed her a little blue bullet vibrator, suggested she try it in the next room, and Karen came back five minutes later saying "you just changed my life". That moment is the seed of everything Karen has built since. Her platform, Taboo to Truth, is dedicated to dismantling the two most pervasive myths she encounters in her work: that sex is something people stop having at a certain age, and that it's a topic too taboo to discuss openly. Her course, Men Meet Menopause, is built on the radical premise that male partners, often the most confused and the most shut out from the conversation, deserve their own education, their own language, and their own practical tools for showing up during one of the most significant transitions their partner will experience. In this episode, Karen joins Jenni and Daniel for a conversation that covers a remarkable amount of ground with warmth, humor, and genuine clinical depth. They dig into why menopause remains under-discussed even in 2026, the lingering shadow of the Women's Health Initiative, the male reluctance to name what they're observing, the shame women carry about bodies that are changing in ways they didn't expect. Daniel introduces the compassion sandwich, leading with care rather than observation, as the reframe that changes how every difficult conversation lands. Karen talks about the five pillars underlying sexual disconnection in midlife couples, and what it looks like when one of them wobbles. Jenni brings in the Cheesecake of Pleasure- her clinical framework for expanding a couple's repertoire beyond intercourse as the only available flavor, and the conversation around grief, creativity, and what it means to look forward to something bigger than what you're losing becomes one of the richest exchanges of the season. Karen's concept of sex snacks sits beautifully alongside it. Both frameworks point to the same clinical truth: when intercourse is temporarily or permanently off the table, the answer is not resignation. It's creativity. It's building a palette of pleasure that belongs to this season rather than mourning the one that's passed. Karen closes with the line that may be the most important thing in the episode: don't give up. Don't accept the myth that this is done. Don't believe that sex is only for young people or for other people or for the version of your relationship that existed before all of this. The research shows that women over 60 can have the best sex of their lives if they want. The invitation: for women navigating menopause and for the partners who love them, is to join the journey together and find out what's on the other side.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is a narrative circulating loudly in certain corners of social media and conventional medicine that what I do is not evidence-based. That functional medicine is supplement selling. That the testing is not validated. That providers like me are operating outside the bounds of legitimate medicine.I want to address that directly. Not because I am interested in a fight. But because the women listening to this deserve to feel certain about the care they are choosing. They deserve not to be destabilized by a confident-sounding voice that has not done the research.This episode is for you. And I am coming with receipts.Inside this episode, we cover:What evidence-based medicine actually means by definition, and why most people using it as a weapon are working with an incomplete version of itWhy the randomized controlled trial is the right tool for certain questions and the wrong tool for others, and what that distinction actually means for root cause medicineWhere the peer-reviewed research supporting functional medicine actually lives: the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, The Lancet, Frontiers in EndocrinologyThe documented blind spots in conventional medical training: four hours or less of nutritional education across an entire medical school curriculumWhy the Women's Health Initiative may be the single greatest tragedy in women's healthcare, and what has changed in the decades sinceThe supplement accusation: what is true, what is misleading, and what the foundation of functional medicine is actually built onWhy the tests I use are not invented by functional medicine, and what the science actually says about cortisol curves, fasting insulin, comprehensive stool analysis, and full thyroid panelsThe story of a patient who came to me skeptical, and what the data said six months laterWhy the patient getting better is evidence, and why dismissing reproducible clinical outcomes as anecdote is a rhetorical position, not a scientific oneConventional medicine saves lives. Functional medicine restores them. Both of these things are true. And the women who need the second one deserve to pursue it without apology.You are not required to defend your healthcare choices to people who have not examined the research, have not sat with the patients, and have not followed the outcomes. The evidence exists. The research is in the journals. And the medicine that is actually restoring function in women who spent years being managed without being healed deserves to be chosen with confidence.Share this episode with one woman who has been made to second-guess the care that is actually working for her. She deserves the language to stand in it.Your next steps are below:✨ Free Guide: 9 Hidden Signs Your Metabolism Is Stuck in Survival Mode www.drkaceywallace.com/hiddenmetabolicmess✨ Adrenal Optimization Test (see your cortisol rhythm + DHEA clearly) www.drkaceywallace.com/innercalm✨ Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis www.drkaceywallace.com/htma✨ The Anchored Journey (application) www.drkaceywallace.com✨ Get the book: You Are Not Fine www.youarenotfine.com✨ Get our weekly newsletter: Dr. Kacey's Cornerwww.drkaceywallace.com/newslettersignupSupport the show

What if everything you thought you knew about menopause was either wrong, incomplete, or decades behind the science?Tammy Hadfield has been a women's health nurse practitioner for over 35 years — 25 of those as a hormone specialist. She was in the field in 2001 when the Women's Health Initiative scared an entire generation of women away from hormone therapy. Instead of backing down, she leaned in. She spent years being called one of the "crazy gals" giving hormones to women when most of the medical community said not to. The science eventually caught up. Her patients were better long before it did.This conversation covers everything you've been wondering about perimenopause and menopause — bioidentical versus synthetic hormones, why your cholesterol and your weight might have more to do with estrogen than your diet, what the hormone cascade actually looks like, and why the annual Pap smear is not the appointment to bring up your hot flashes, your mood changes, or your missing libido.But this episode also becomes something deeply personal. Tammy attended the BEST LIFE Retreat in Sun Valley in October 2025 — and what happened in the months after, including a planning meeting where she took a black Sharpie to her patient load and crossed out the number she'd been chasing, is one of the most honest things Laurie has heard in a recording studio.What we coverTammy's origin story: from postpartum nursing to military service in Alaska to hormone trailblazerWhat happened on the Today Show in 2001 — and how a single news segment derailed decades of women's healthWhy Tammy was considered "crazy" for giving hormones to women — and what the data eventually showedBioidentical versus synthetic hormones: what the difference actually means and why it matters for dosing and side effectsPremarin — the story behind the name, and why Tammy tells patients "I'm not a veterinarian and you're not a horse"Why all your hormones come from cholesterol — and what that means for women who are told their cholesterol is too highWhy your body holds onto fat when estrogen is low — and why estrogen is not making you fat; excessive estrogen isThe full hormone picture: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA — what each does and why all four matterWhy women who've had a hysterectomy are often wrongly told they don't need progesteroneThe difference between progestin (synthetic) and progesterone (bioidentical) — and why they are not the same thingADHD in menopause: why symptoms spike when estrogen and testosterone declineAlzheimer's, brain protection, and why 70% of new Alzheimer's cases are womenWhen hormone deficiencies actually start — and why Tammy says mid-30s, not menopauseWhy your annual Pap smear is the wrong appointment for this conversationTammy's biggest pet peeve: the male testosterone formulation being prescribed to women with instructions to use "a tenth of the packet"The four cornerstones that support hormones: nutrition, sleep, movement, and connectednessWhy Tammy closed her brick-and-mortar practice, stopped taking insurance, and launched Only HormonesHow to work with Tammy — including insurance, labs, FSA/HSA, and what the process looks likeThe BEST LIFE Retreat: what shifted for Tammy, the planning meeting with the blank calendar, and why she took a Sharpie to the patient number she thought she wantedRedefining success: from 30 patients a week to 12 — and why that's the better versionPermission to dream again — and why wanting what you want is not selfishWhat Tammy loves most about being a midlife womanWhat she'd tell her 20-year-old self: glimmers, breathing, and relaxingQuotable moments"I'm not a veterinarian, and you are not a horse — so we're not going to use this for your hormone replacement therapy.""All of your hormones come from cholesterol. Every single hormone.""Estrogen is not going to make you fat. Excessive estrogen will. But we need some estrogen so that our body can actually get rid of fat.""I just do hormones. I love hormones. That's all I wanna do.""Your appointment with me should be the easiest appointment you ever have.""I'm just your girlfriend on FaceTime.""We are taught as little girls not to be selfish — over and over again. And it's not selfish. It is figuring out what kind of life I want.""I took a freaking black Sharpie to that number of patients and said, 'Screw it. I'm gonna see 12.'""It's a redefinition of what I think success is. That's probably the bottom line.""I don't have to accept a smaller version of what I want my life to look like.""I would just tell myself: take a moment for yourself and breathe, girl. Just breathe."Resources + links mentionedThe Menopausal Brain by Lisa MosconiOnly Hormones — Tammy Hadfield's practiceApply for the BEST LIFE MastermindBook a 15-minute call with LaurieConnect with Tammy HadfieldWebsiteEmailInstagram

Welcome to "Thriving in Midlife" - The Women's Guide to Wellness, Longevity & Hormones After 40. This is your trusted space to cut through the noise, ditch the overwhelm, and finally feel extraordinary in your body, mind, and life. Are you ready to stop pushing through life and start living with intention, energy, and ease? Then let's get started. I'm your host, Kellie Lupsha, a high-performance health coach, and I am delighted to be your guide to vitality.In this eye-opening solo episode, we are diving into one of the most important menopause and midlife health conversations every woman over 40 needs to hear: why menopause dramatically changes your heart health and brain health, and what you can do about it.Most women know about hot flashes and night sweats, but very few realize these symptoms may be your body's early warning system for much bigger changes happening beneath the surface. Today, we are unpacking the latest research on estrogen, cardiovascular disease, cognitive health, perimenopause, menopause, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), so you can make informed decisions during one of the most important health windows of your life.If you have entered perimenopause or menopause, or you are approaching it, this episode will help you understand why protecting your heart also means protecting your brain, and why timing matters more than ever.Key Highlights:➡️ Why heart disease remains the #1 killer of women, claiming more lives than all cancers combined.➡️ How your risk of cardiovascular disease increases 2 to 6 times after menopause.➡️ The critical role estrogen plays in protecting your heart, blood vessels, and brain.➡️ Why hot flashes and night sweats may be early warning signs instead of "just menopause symptoms."➡️ The surprising connection between menopause symptoms, blood pressure, cholesterol, and vascular health.➡️ The truth about the Women's Health Initiative study and why it created decades of confusion around hormone replacement therapy.➡️ Why the first 10 years after menopause may be the most important window for considering HRT.➡️ How healthy blood flow supports memory, focus, mood, and long-term brain health.➡️ The relationship between cardiovascular disease, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease.➡️ Why becoming the CEO of your health starts with understanding your hormones and advocating for yourself.Key Takeaways:"Your symptoms are not the problem. They're your body's smoke alarm asking you to pay attention." - Kellie Lupsha"What's good for your heart is also good for your brain." - Kellie Lupsha"Protecting your cardiovascular health today may be one of the most important things you do to protect your future cognitive health." - Kellie Lupsha"The timing of hormone replacement therapy matters. Starting within the right window can completely change the outcome." - Kellie Lupsha"You have to become the CEO of your own health because no one cares about your future as much as you do." - Kellie LupshaYour Midlife Health ChallengeThis week, take one proactive step toward protecting your future.✨ Schedule your hormone testing.✨ Review your cardiovascular risk factors with your healthcare provider.✨ Learn whether you are in the optimal window to discuss hormone replacement therapy.✨ Remember that symptoms are information, not something to ignore.Small decisions today can create healthier decades ahead.1️⃣ Take The Activated Woman Quiz: Why Do I Still Feel Off No Matter What I Try?Finally discover what's really going on. Take this personalized quiz to uncover the system driving your symptoms and the strategic shift your body needs to respond again.2️⃣ JOIN US IN THE WOMEN'S LONGEVITY & WELLNESS HUB! Offering a 14-day trial for only $11A Functional Wellness and Coaching Membership designed just for women over 50. The Hub is a monthly membership and supportive community where we combine science-backed protocols, natural healing tools, and expert coaching to help you finally get real answers and real results.

Bone health is one of those midlife topics that many women don't think about until a DEXA scan shows osteopenia or osteoporosis — and suddenly they're handed a prescription, told to take calcium, and left wondering, "Wait… is that it?" In this episode of Living Life Naturally, Lynne is joined by functional medicine nutritionist Cindy Dupuie for an eye-opening conversation about bone density, menopause, estrogen, DEXA scans, osteoporosis medications, and why women need to become stronger advocates for their own health. Cindy brings more than 20 years of experience in functional medicine, nutrition, digestion, thyroid health, lab work, and menopausal support. Together, Lynne and Cindy discuss why waiting until age 65 for a first DEXA scan may not be ideal for many women, especially because significant bone loss often occurs in the first decade after menopause. They also explore important risk factors for early bone loss, including family history, low body fat during key bone-building years, eating disorders, intense athletic activity, long-term steroid use, low vitamin D, and other pieces that are often overlooked. In This Episode: Lynne and Cindy talk about why bone density matters so much for long-term independence, mobility, and quality of life. They also discuss why Cindy recommends women consider getting a baseline DEXA scan earlier than the standard recommendation, especially if they have risk factors. You'll also hear about two important bone-turnover markers — CTX and P1NP — and how they may help provide a clearer picture of whether bone loss is being driven more by breakdown or lack of formation. Cindy shares why resistance training, muscle maintenance, and certain types of movement can be so important for bone strength. Lynne and Cindy also discuss estrogen's role in bone protection, why the Women's Health Initiative study created lasting confusion around hormone therapy, and why individualized conversations with a knowledgeable provider matter. This episode also includes an honest conversation about osteoporosis medications, including bisphosphonates, how they work, why they're commonly prescribed, and why women may want to ask informed questions about risks, benefits, duration of use, and monitoring before making decisions. Most importantly, this conversation is a reminder that you deserve more than rushed answers. You deserve to understand your options, ask better questions, and participate fully in decisions about your bone health, hormones, and future mobility.  

In our first summer series episode, we review a topic that keeps coming back. Hormone therapy for menopause. It was a thing, then it stopped being a thing, now it's a thing again.   Become a supporter of our show today either on Patreon or through PayPal! Thank you! http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/ https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE   Email us your questions at thebodyofevidence@gmail.com.   Editor:    Robyn Flynn Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl Rod of Asclepius designed by Kamil J. Przybos Chris' book, Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: https://ecwpress.com/products/does-coffee-cause-cancer   Obviously, Chris is not your doctor (probably). This podcast is not medical advice for you; it is what we call information. References:  Geographic variability of menopausal symptoms   1) Nappi RE et al. Global cross-sectional survey of women with vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: prevalence and quality of life burden. Menopause. 2021 May 24;28(8):875-882. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001793.    2) Nappi RE, et al.  Prevalence and quality-of-life burden of vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause: A European cross-sectional survey. Maturitas. 2023 Jan;167:66-74. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2022.09.006.    What's the normal duration of symptoms   3) Avis NE, et al. Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms over the menopause transition. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Apr;175(4):531-9. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8063.  The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies   Rossouw JE et al. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results From the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002 Jul 17;288(3):321-33. doi: 10.1001/jama.288.3.321.    Anderson GL et al. Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy: the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004 Apr 14;291(14):1701-12. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.14.1701.   Decline in HRT after WHI studies   Sprague BL, Trentham-Dietz A, Cronin KA. A sustained decline in postmenopausal hormone use: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2010. Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Sep;120(3):595-603. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e318265df42.   Danish Osteoporosis Prevention Study Schierbeck LL metal. Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial. BMJ. 2012 Oct 9;345:e6409. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e6409.   Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) Harman SM, et al. Arterial imaging outcomes and cardiovascular risk factors in recently menopausal women: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2014 Aug 19;161(4):249-60. doi: 10.7326/M14-0353.   Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) Hodis HN et al. Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol. N Engl J Med. 2016 Mar 31;374(13):1221-31. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1505241.    Stopping hormonal therapy   Berman RS et al. Risk factors associated with women's compliance with estrogen replacement therapy. J Womens Health. 1997 Apr;6(2):219-26. doi: 10.1089/jwh.1997.6.219.   Grady D, Sawaya GF. Discontinuation of postmenopausal hormone therapy. Am J Med. 2005 Dec 19;118 Suppl 12B:163-5. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.09.051.   Tapering vs. abrupt stop or hormonal therapy   Haimov-Kochman R et al. Gradual discontinuation of hormone therapy does not prevent the reappearance of climacteric symptoms: a randomized prospective study. Menopause. 2006 May-Jun;13(3):370-6. doi: 10.1097/01.gme.0000186663.36211.c0. PMID: 16735933.

Your Hormones Are Killing You: Oxytocin, FSH, and the Anti-Aging Protocol Most Doctors Ignore Your hormones are running your love life, your intuition, your longevity, and your brain, and most doctors are getting it completely wrong. Host Dave Asprey sits down with triple board-certified OBGYN Dr. Anna Cabeca to break down the clinical science of oxytocin, female pleasure, hormonal optimization, and why fixing your hormones can make your 70s the best decade of your marriage. Dr. Anna Cabeca is a triple board-certified OBGYN and fellow of gynecology and obstetrics, integrative medicine, and anti-aging and regenerative medicine, with additional board certifications in functional medicine, sexual health, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. She is the bestselling author of The Hormone Fix, Keto-Green 16, and MenuPause, and has spent decades researching the clinical intersection of oxytocin, cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone on women's hormonal health, metabolism, and longevity. Her work on keto-green nutrition, vaginal and bladder microbiome health, and bioidentical hormone replacement has made her one of the most credentialed and clinically experienced voices in women's functional medicine practicing today. Dave and Dr. Anna break down the real pharmacology of oxytocin, including its role in muscle regeneration, cortisol suppression, mitochondrial signaling, and vagal tone optimization. They expose the toxic ingredients hiding in mainstream lubricants and vaginal hormone creams, including aspartame, parabens, and petroleum derivatives, and explain why the vaginal microbiome is a frontline organ for women's metabolism and anti-aging. They get into the neuroscience of orgasm, pineal gland activation, endogenous DMT release, and the neurochemical cascade behind peak altered states. Dr. Anna also breaks down the Women's Health Initiative disaster, the FDA's recent reversal on bioidentical hormone replacement, and why FSH is a critical and widely overlooked longevity biomarker. High post-menopausal FSH drives neuroinflammation, accelerates bone loss, and degrades brain optimization outcomes, and most physicians are not testing for it. This is essential listening for anyone serious about biohacking, longevity, anti-aging, functional medicine, human performance, brain optimization, and taking full ownership of their biology. You'll Learn: Why oxytocin functions as a regenerative hormone that rebuilds muscle, suppresses cortisol, and supports mitochondria signaling What toxic chemicals are hiding in standard lubricants and vaginal hormone creams and what to use instead How orgasm activates the pineal gland and triggers endogenous DMT release and altered neurological states Why female intuition may be directly linked to mitochondrial density concentrated in the ovaries How elevated FSH drives neuroinflammation, bone loss, and accelerated brain aging in post-menopausal women Why the FDA reversed 30 years of flawed guidance on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy How four days of sensory deprivation supercharges melatonin, oxytocin, and endogenous DMT production Why oxytocin combined with ketamine is being used clinically to break trauma patterns and rewire neural pathways How polyphenols, CoQ10, carnitine, and vagal tone training protect cardiovascular health and support longevity Why polypharma accelerates decline and what functional medicine does differently Thank you to our sponsors! - KILLSwitch | If you're ready for the best sleep of your life, order now at https://www.switchsupplements.com/and use code DAVE for 20% off - Gatlan | Book your free consultation at www.gatlan.com/DAVE - Redmond Real - Leaf Toothpaste | Go to https://redmond.com/asprey and use code ASPREY for 15% off your first order. - Neuronic | Go to www.neuronic.online Code DAVE for $100 off Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade brings you the knowledge to take control of your biology, extend your longevity, and optimize every system in your body and mind. Each episode delivers cutting-edge insights inhealth, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, biohacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living. New episodes are released every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (BONUS). Dave asks the questions no one else will and gives you real tools to become stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Keywords: Dr. Anna Cabeca, The Girlfriend Doctor, oxytocin, bioidentical hormone replacement, FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone, vaginal microbiome, Velve lubricant, Julva, Mighty Maca, cortisol suppression, pineal gland, DMT, neuroinflammation, broken heart syndrome, NT-proBNP, vagal tone, dark retreat, orgasmic meditation, Women's Health Initiative, perimenopause, postmenopause, yoni massage, oxytocin nasal spray, cabergoline, prolactin, Pitocin, CoQ10, carnitine, Arterosil, polypharma, keto-green, The Hormone Fix Resources: • Get An Exclusive Offer On Dr. Anna's Products At: dranna.com/tribe • Get My 2026 Clean Nicotine Roadmap | Enroll for free at https://daveasprey.com/2026-clean-nicotine-roadmap/ • Dave Asprey's Latest News | Go to https://daveasprey.com/ to join Inside Track today. • Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/discount/dave15 • My Daily Supplements: SuppGrade Labs (15% Off) • Favorite Blue Light Blocking Glasses: TrueDark (15% Off) • Dave Asprey's BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com • Dave Asprey's New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated • Join My Substack (Live Access To Podcast Recordings): https://substack.daveasprey.com/ • Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com Timestamps: 00:00 – Trailer 01:37 – What Is Oxytocin? 07:38 – Clean Lube Launch 09:11 – Toxic Lube Ingredients 17:08 – Oxytocin Prescribing 18:58 – FDA Reverses HRT Warning 26:50 – Dark Retreat & DMT 32:15 – Orgasmic Meditation 42:06 – Female Intuition 46:21 – Broken Heart Syndrome 51:15 – FSH & Hormone Monitoring See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I am honored to connect with Dr. Stacy Sims today. She is a forward-thinking international exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist on a mission to revolutionize exercise and nutrition performance- particularly for women. In our conversation, we discussed the exclusion of women from research in the modern science era and how gender differences begin in utero. We look into the importance of tracking our menstrual cycles, the differences between follicular and luteal phases, and problematic ovulatory cycles, exploring the current research on oral contraceptives, the impact of the Women's Health Initiative, and the kind of training that is essential for women in perimenopause and menopause. We also cover the physiologic changes that occur in perimenopause and menopause, and Dr. Sims shares her thoughts on weight loss resistance, SECO, undereating, the importance of protein, and essential supplements for middle-aged women. I know you will love this invaluable conversation with Dr. Stacy Sims. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Why are women still excluded from many studies? How the physiological differences between men and women begin in utero and continue through adulthood How stress during pregnancy affects the developing fetus How the muscle morphology of women differs from that of men  Why girls need to learn new ways to move and build strength during puberty How tracking menstrual cycle phases helps women optimize their training The potential long-term effects of using oral contraceptives Why a diverse diet is essential for supporting gut health Common misconceptions surrounding hormone therapy Why Dr. Sims recommends creatine for women in perimenopause and menopause Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website. Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com  Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.  Purchase Cynthia's book, The Menopause Gut. Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with Dr. Stacy Sims  On her⁠ website⁠ Instagram⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠TikTok

Menopause doesn't have to be miserable. Yes, we're going to age, and yes, our hormones are going to change, but we do not have to feel old, exhausted, foggy, and brushed off. In this solo episode of the Medical Disruptor, I walk you through how to actually balance your hormones through perimenopause and menopause, in the order your body actually works. Most women get handed estrogen and sent home, and I'm going to show you why that approach so often misses the real driver, and what you need to address first. I start by clearing up the difference between menopause and perimenopause so you know which stage you're really in, and then I explain why your sex hormones aren't the right place to begin. From there I walk through it in the order that actually matters: first insulin and blood sugar, which almost everyone skips, then cortisol and your stress system, which can quietly hog the raw ingredients your sex hormones need, and then your thyroid, where I explain why a single TSH number is not enough testing. Only after those foundations do I get into sex hormones and hormone therapy, including the real difference between HRT and BHRT, what you're actually being offered, and why the type, dose, and route of delivery matter so much. I also unpack the truth behind the Women's Health Initiative studies, the myth that menopause is simply estrogen deficiency, what estrogen dominance really means, and why testosterone matters for women too. You're not stuck, and you don't have to push your way through this. I'm Dr. E, the NP with the PhD, and I help humans go from medically gaslit to medically empowered. Want more practical health tips? Join my newsletter! https://freechapter.lpages.co/newsletter-opt-in/ "Fine" isn't the same as well. Stop waiting to collapse before someone listens. Build your case: https://freechapter.lpages.co/how-to-build-a-case-for-yourself/ Check us out on social media: https://www.instagram.com/drefratlamandre https://www.facebook.com/drefratlamandre https://www.tiktok.com/@drefratlamandre #functionalmedicine #drefratlamandre #medicaldisruptor #NPwithaPHD #nursepractitioner #medicalgaslighting Chapters 0:00 - Introduction 1:25 - Defining Menopause, Perimenopause & Hormones 3:06 - Why Insulin Comes First 5:38 - Cortisol & Your Stress System 7:21 - Getting Your Thyroid Tested Right 9:15 - Sex Hormones, HRT & Finding Balance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Confessions of a Male Gynecologist, Dr. Shawn Tassone takes on one of the most confusing and controversial areas in women's health: hormone therapy. From menopause myths and fear-based medicine to wellness industry scams and influencer-driven misinformation, Dr. Tassone breaks down what women need to know before blindly following advice online — or accepting outdated medical opinions that don't match their symptoms. For decades, women have been told to fear estrogen, ignore symptoms, accept "normal labs," or believe that menopause is simply something they have to suffer through. But the truth is more nuanced. Hormone therapy can be life-changing when it is personalized, monitored, and based on the individual — not just a protocol, a trend, or a sales pitch. Dr. Tassone discusses the lasting impact of the Women's Health Initiative study, the rise of bioidentical hormone marketing, the misuse of testosterone in women, and why both conventional medicine and functional medicine can fall short when they stop treating the person in front of them. This episode is a call for critical thinking in women's health — because women deserve education, not fear. Options, not shame. And care that goes deeper than "your labs are normal." In This Episode, Dr. Tassone Covers: The biggest myths about hormone therapy and menopause care Why estrogen has been unfairly blamed and misunderstood What the Women's Health Initiative got wrong — and why it still impacts care today The difference between evidence-based hormone therapy and marketing-driven hormone trends Why "bioidentical" does not automatically mean better or safer How wellness scams target women who feel ignored by conventional medicine The problem with influencer-led menopause and hormone advice Why testosterone therapy for women needs nuance, context, and proper monitoring How telehealth hormone clinics can oversimplify care Why treating labs alone is not the same as treating the patient How women can identify credible hormone health information online Hormone therapy is not one-size-fits-all. The goal is not to chase perfect lab numbers, follow a trending protocol, or fear estrogen because of outdated headlines. The goal is to treat the individual woman — her symptoms, history, risks, goals, and quality of life. Episode Resources: Work with Dr. Tassone | Tassone Advanced Gynecology Dr. Tassone's Book | The Hormone Balance Bible Dr. Tassone's Integrative Hormonal Archetype Quiz | Learn Your Hormonal Archetype Medical Disclaimer This podcast and website represent the opinions of Dr. Shawn Tassone and his guests. The content here should not be taken as medical advice and is for informational purposes only. Because each person is so unique, please consult your health care professional for any medical questions.

On this episode of Our Better Half, we enjoy an in-depth conversation with Dr. Sarah Girardi, a trailblazing urologist and female sexual health specialist with over 25 years of experience. Together, we unpack the often-neglected world of older adults' sexual health. Dr. Girardi connects the physical and urological realities of aging to the broader relational and emotional aspects of intimacy, drawing on her extensive clinical background to bust long-standing myths and advocate for the well-being of her patients. A primary focus of the discussion revolves around the biological realities of aging and the critical importance of proper anatomical education. Dr. Girardi emphasizes that recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women—regardless of whether they are 20, 60, or 90 years old—are frequently tied to sexual activity, making sexual health history a vital component of standard urological care. Furthermore, she addresses the widespread misconception that painful sex or a compromised sex life is just an inevitable part of growing older that women must accept. Through her practice, Dr. Girardi uses direct, empathetic tools—like using a mirror during exams—to help women understand their own changing bodies and reclaim their sexual vitality. She notes that while physical intimacy changes over time, a lack of compliance from one's anatomy doesn't mean intimacy has to end; rather, partners can discover new ways to pleasure each other beyond standard penetration. The episode also highlights major medical milestones and clarifies the science behind female sexual health treatments. Dr. Girardi discusses the historic November 10, 2025, FDA announcement that officially removed the decades-old black box warning on topical vaginal estrogen, a decision rooted in safety data reviewed during an intensive hearing in September of that year. She explains that topical vaginal estrogen is not absorbed systemically, but instead safely restores a low pH and healthy lactobacillus to the vaginal ecosystem, serving as a powerful defense against life-threatening conditions like urosepsis in older women. Shifting the conversation to non-hormonal desire medications like flibanserin, Dr. Girardi clarifies the public discourse surrounding the "Female Viagra" misnomer. She notes that while Viagra works on a purely physical level by maintaining blood flow to an erection, female arousal and desire operate through complex neural pathways in the brain. Ultimately, Dr. Girardi urges both patients and practitioners to reject a compromised quality of life, navigate past historical fears like the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study, and embrace the healthcare solutions women rightfully deserve. If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show! As always, thanks for listening!  

Dr. Lisa Larkin, doctor of internal medicine and 35-year women's health specialist, joins Jon and Will to explain what men need to know about menopause and perimenopause. She covers why women age completely differently than men (fits and starts vs. gradual decline), the biological reasons behind declining libido, sleep disruption, mood changes, and body changes in women's 40s and 50s, and why communication is the single most important thing couples can do during this transition. She also breaks down breast cancer risk assessment (25% of women are high risk and don't know it), the history of hormone therapy from the 2002 Women's Health Initiative scare to where the science stands now, why she opposes high-dose testosterone pellets for women, and why lifestyle beats supplements every time. Dr. Larkin is a breast cancer survivor herself and past president of the Menopause Society.Full episode: https://podfollow.com/mentalkingmindfulness/episode/03387a9002dca750859496876727425e576ad645/viewFull video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gSueDpfWYFree A2A course access: use code FREE at https://men-talking-mindfulness-a2a.circle.so/checkout/free-accessFree Awareness assessment and Focus app: https://mentalkingmindfulness.com/linkinbio or text MTM to 33777 GET MORE FROM MTM:Text MTM to 33777 — free weekly newsletterSubscribe & Episodes: mentalkingmindfulness.comFREE APP: https://focusnowtrainingapp.com/FREE Assessment: https://focusnowtraining.com/assessment-pageA2A COURSE:12 modules on attention, presence & performance. Self-paced. Built for people who hate the word mindfulness.focusnowtraining.com/a2aBRING FNT TO YOUR TEAM:Custom training for your organization. In-person or online.focusnowtraining.com/contactCo-produced by Robert Lopez | cratesaudio.com

Are hormones really just about hot flashes and libido?In this eye-opening episode of the Wise Divine Women Podcast, Dana Irvine sits down with functional medicine practitioner, yoga instructor, and menopause educator Cindy Dupuie to discuss one of the most important—and misunderstood—topics in women's health: hormone replacement therapy, bone health, brain health, and aging well.Cindy shares her personal journey into early menopause at age 43 and how her experience led her to become passionate about helping women navigate perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. Together, Dana and Cindy explore the evolving science around hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the lasting impact of the Women's Health Initiative study, and why so many women are still struggling to access informed care today. In this conversation, you'll learn:✨ Why estrogen affects every organ system in the body✨ The connection between hormones, metabolism, inflammation, and gut health✨ How hormone health influences bone density, cardiovascular health, and cognitive function✨ Why osteoporosis prevention must start before symptoms appear✨ The importance of strength training, protein, and lifestyle habits during menopause✨ Common misconceptions about hormone replacement therapy✨ How to become a stronger advocate for your own health care✨ Why women need to understand their lab work and ask better questions✨ The role of functional and integrative practitioners in supporting healthy aging✨ How community and education empower women through menopause and beyondDana and Cindy also discuss the importance of personalized care, looking beyond symptoms, and creating a strong foundation through nutrition, movement, stress management, sleep, and hormone balance.Instagram @cindy_dupuie https://www.instagram.com/cindy_dupuie/Website alivingbalance.net https://alivingbalance.netYouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@alivingbalanceFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/cdupuie/Course: Grace In Transition for Women Of A Certain Age https://alivingbalance.net/course/Download Lab Checklist for The Pause Years https://mailchi.mp/ec838eef0e74/lab-checklistTimestamps:00:00 - Introduction to women's health, menopause, and hormonal balance02:00 - Cindy's journey from dietetics to functional medicine for women's wellness05:00 - How estrogen impacts cell function and overall health08:00 - The gap in conventional hormone management practices11:00 - The Dutch Test and hormone monitoring innovations14:00 - The critical connection between gut health and hormones17:00 - Why HRT is like the “icing on the cake” in a foundation of health20:00 - Navigating conversations with healthcare providers about hormone therapy23:00 - The importance of baseline blood tests for preventative health26:00 - The impact of hormones on bone density and osteoporosis risk30:00 - Common barriers in accessing hormone care in the U.S. and Canada33:00 - Strategies for women over 60 to maintain vitality and independence37:00 - The role of lifestyle factors (stress, sleep, exercise) in hormonal and bone health41:00 - Key lab markers to assess bone health and inflammation44:00 - The importance of multifaceted approaches: diet, sleep, stress, and hormones48:00 - Community programs and online courses for women of a certain age“Take a breath and stay curious” — Embrace continuous learning and compassionate advocacy for your health.

Hi, it's Heather and I'm so glad you're here! Welcome to the newly renamed Health, Harmony and Heather podcast! This space is dedicated to exploring social phenomena, the human condition, and how we can better connect with ourselves, each other, and the planet. In this episode, I'm thrilled to welcome back my personal clinician and friend, Lauren Rosenberg. Lauren is a highly experienced physician associate, internal medicine expert, and the founder of Vent Health, a practice dedicated to shifting the medical focus from disease treatment to true preventative care and health optimization. Today, we are stripping away the stigma and diving deep into the raw science, truth, and real solutions for perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. The days of women suffering in silence are over. The "One Day" Truth: Why menopause is actually just one single day in your life, and what it means for your timeline. The Hormone Rollercoaster: A breakdown of how estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone behave during your cycle—and what happens when they plummet. Symptoms Beyond Hot Flashes: From brain fog, joint pain, and "frozen shoulder" to anxiety, weight gain, and urinary changes. The WHI Study Debunked: The real story behind the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study that scared a generation away from life-saving hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The Power of Peptides: How cutting-edge tools like GLP-1s, Tirzepatide, Retatrutide, and cellular repair peptides can be paired with HRT for total vitality. At-Home Longevity Habits: The non-negotiable lifestyle habits—including grip strength, Zone 2 training, lifting weights, protein intake, and specific magnesium variations—to help you thrive. Connect with Lauren Rosenberg: Learn more at myventhealth.com or follow her on Instagram @MyVentHealth. Virtual Menopause Care: Check out Midi Health (joinmidi.com) for accessible, insurance-based virtual menopause care. Trusted Supplement Brands: Designs for Health, Pure Encapsulations, Thorne, and Metagenics. AirDoctor.  Head to www.AirDoctorPro.com  and use promo code HEATHER to get $250 off select AirDoctor air purifiers, including the 3500, 4000, and 5500 models. Plus, you'll receive a free 3 year warranty, an $84 value, and AirDoctor's 30-day money back guarantee. This is an exclusive podcast only offer, available now! Don't forget to LIKE this video, SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode. Let's live the last third of our lives with vitality, strength, and harmony! #Menopause #Perimenopause #HormoneReplacementTherapy #HealthyAging #Peptides #Longevity #WomensHealth #HealthHarmonyAndHeather Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This powerful clip is from episode 356.In this Microsode, I sit down with Dr. Lorna Brudie—former GYN oncologist and Medical Director at Excel Medical to talk about the Women's Health Initiative, the decades of confusion around hormone replacement therapy, and what happens when women are dismissed instead of investigated. But underneath all of it is something deeper: the danger of disconnecting from your body long enough that exhaustion, brain fog, anxiety, poor sleep, and burnout become “normal.”This episode is a reminder that prevention requires responsibility. No one is coming to advocate for your health harder than you.Missed the Full Episode? Check it out here:LISTEN TO EP 356 ON APPLE PODCASTLISTEN TO EP 356 ON THE SPOTIFY PODCASTWATCH EP 356 ON YOUTUBE⭐️YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS: Please: Subscribe + leave 5⭐️Star rating +review HEREEnjoy! xRxFIND ME ON:️INSTAGRAMSUBSTACKYOUTUBETWITTERTHREADSFIND DR. LORNA ON:IGWEBFREE RESOURCES:

In this episode, we're diving into the complex and often misunderstood topic of menopause and perimenopause. Despite affecting every woman who lives into late life, menopause has long been underfunded, understudied, and minimized both culturally and medically. Today, we'll explore why clinical care for women in the menopause transition has lagged behind, examining the deep historical roots of gender bias in research, the fragmentation of women's healthcare, and the profound impact of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, which triggered decades of fear and misinformation about hormone therapy. Enroll now in: Under-Recognized, Under-Treated, and Misrepresented Realities of the Perimenopause and Menopause Transition, with Leslie Fuller, ND and Jillian Moehle, ND at https://pages.kharrazianinstitute.com/fuller-moehle-perimenopause00:00 Historical oversight in menopause care06:00 Women's Health Initiative study flaws08:29 Impact of WHI study miscalculation10:28 Misinterpretation of breast cancer risks13:44 Correcting hormone therapy myths17:23 Podcast resources and educational coursesSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/solving-the-puzzle-with-dr-datis-kharrazian. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For far too long, many women have been told their symptoms were normal, exaggerated, or simply something they had to live with—treated as isolated problems instead of part of a much larger hormonal transition happening inside the body. On this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show, I'm joined by Dr. Sharon Malone, host of The Second Opinion podcast and Chief Medical Advisor at Alloy Women's Health. We discuss how menopause and hormone therapy became so misunderstood, the real story behind the Women's Health Initiative study, and why a more individualized, prevention-focused approach to women's health is long overdue. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. We explore: Why so many women enter perimenopause completely unprepared—and how symptoms can begin years before menopause officially starts What the Women's Health Initiative actually found, and how one medical narrative reshaped women's healthcare for decades How menopause affects far more than reproduction, including the brain, heart, sleep, metabolism, and bone health What you should know about hormone therapy today, including timing, individualized treatment, and understanding risk in context The daily habits that still matter most for healthy aging, whether or not you choose hormone therapy Midlife health should never be reduced to “just deal with it.” The more women understand what's happening inside their bodies, the earlier they can take steps to protect their long-term health and quality of life. View Show Notes From This Episode Sign up for Dr. Hyman's Brainshaping Academy to learn how to nourish the biological systems that support your mental, emotional, and cognitive health - ⁠Click Here⁠ Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman https://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman's Weekly Longevity Journal https://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Health https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Join the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Results https://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by Paleovalley, Pique, Perfect Amino, Rho, Sunlighten and BIOptimizers. Head to paleovalley.com/hyman to save 15% off your first order today. Secure 20% off your order plus a free starter kit at piquelife.com/hyman. Go to bodyhealth.com and use code HYMAN20 to get 20% off your first order. Head over to rhonutrition.com and use code HYMAN to get 20% off their entire product line. Visit sunlighten.com and use code HYMAN to save up to $1600 today! Head to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use promo code HYMAN at checkout to save 15%. (0:00) Introduction, survey on hormone use, and Dr. Sharon Malone's expertise   (4:04) Importance of women's health research and historical neglect   (5:35) Lack of education and preparation for menopause   (6:28) Societal and historical biases in women's health   (9:05) Observational studies vs. randomized controlled trials   (13:30) Life cycles, hormonal changes, and stages in women   (19:26) Detailed stages of hormonal changes and perimenopause   (23:00) Misdiagnosis and definition of menopause   (25:02) The term "postmenopausal" and its significance   (26:34) Impact of menopause on organ systems and major symptoms   (31:19) Lifestyle factors and hormone therapy options   (39:25) Black box warning, Women's Health Initiative, and therapy timing   (45:00) Women's Health Initiative findings and breast cancer risk   (47:57) Reinterpreting breast cancer risk and black box warning   (53:21) Personalized hormone therapy and clinical diagnosis   (59:55) Importance of estrogen and bioidentical vs. synthetic hormones   (1:03:35) Addressing sexual health and testosterone use for women   (1:08:05) FDA-approved peptides for women's arousal disorder   (1:09:57) Long-term benefits of hormone therapy   (1:12:43) Early menopause, hormone therapy, and health impacts   (1:15:07) Estrogen's role in brain health and dementia prevention   (1:16:22) Alzheimer's risk in women and hormonal 

Episode 2805 - Vinnie Tortorich and Anna Vocino discuss a cholesterol conundrum regarding CAC scores, numbers, and how to naturally balance those numbers. https://vinnietortorich.com/2026/05/a-cholesterol-conundrum-episode-2805 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Pure Vitamin Club Pure Coffee Club NSNG® Foods VILLA CAPPELLI EAT HAPPY KITCHEN YOU CAN WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE - @FitnessConfidential Podcast Vinnie's workout videos are available to purchase! Choose from a 2-day, 4-day, or 6-day workout–or buy all three at a discount! TO PURCHASE VINNIE'S WORKOUT VIDEOS, CLICK THIS LINK: https://vinnietortorich.com/workout A Cholesterol Conundrum Vinnie recently posted on social media about the Women's Health Initiative. (3:00) The problem with Google is that you can "Google yourself right," so you can always find confirmation bias. There is a growing awareness of what constitutes a "clean" product. (17:00) For example, Anna's spices do not have fillers, preservatives, or anti-caking agents. Vinnie shares a story about a recent consultation. (28:00) CAC scans (calcium score test) are a great guide to see if heart disease will be an issue for you. Repatha was recommended even though the patient's numbers were great, and his calcium score was zero. Consider exploring natural supplements and lifestyle changes to manage cholesterol. The Cholesterol Code movie by Dave Feldman provides good information on cholesterol levels and the benefits of a low-carb diet. Anna goes over some bloodwork numbers and wants to discuss with her doctor. (50:00) Remember that the number ranges given in the results are representative of the general population. (52:00) It is often recommended to take CoQ10 alongside a statin. Statins deplete CoQ10, which can lead to muscle damage. Anna's products are now linked to PureVitamin Club's website. Look under the "Food and Snacks" section so that you can purchase them there, too. (58:30) https://purevitaminclub.com/collections/food-and-snacks The NSNG® VIP GROUP IS NOW CLOSED AGAIN AS OF SUNDAY, MARCH 15TH Anna's next cookbook, Eat Happy Cocktail Hour, is filled with cocktails, mocktails, and appetizers and is available for pre-order right now. If you pre-order, you'll get bonus goodies! You can preorder from a wide variety of booksellers at https://eathappycocktailhour.com/ Save your receipt from wherever you preorder, you'll need it for your bonuses! Physical Release Date is October 2026 A New Sponsor Jaspr Air Scrubbers has a discount code, VINNIE, that gets you $200 off for a limited time. Jaspr offers a lifetime warranty. Go to Jaspr.co for more information or to purchase. (1:05:00) You can book a consultation with Vinnie to get guidance on your goals. https://vinnietortorich.com/phone-consultation-2/ More News Serena has added some of her clothing suggestions and beauty product suggestions to Vinnie's Amazon Recommended Products link. Self Care, Beauty, and Grooming Products that Actually Work! https://www.amazon.com/shop/vinnietortorich/list/3GPVU29UHHPMY?ref_=aipsflist Don't forget to check out Serena Scott Thomas on Days of Our Lives on the Peacock channel. "Dirty Keto" is available on Amazon! You can purchase or rent it here.https://amzn.to/4d9agj1 Please make sure to watch, rate, and review it! Eat Happy Italian, Anna's second cookbook, is available! You can go to https://eathappyitalian.com You can order it from Vinnie's Book Club. https://amzn.to/3ucIXm Anna's recipes are in her cookbooks, on her website, and on Substack —they will spice up your day! https://annavocino.substack.com/ PURCHASE DIRTY KETO (2024) The documentary launched in August 2024! Order it TODAY! This is Vinnie's fourth documentary in just over five years. Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries Then, please share my fact-based, health-focused documentary series with your friends and family. Additionally, the more views it receives, the better it ranks, so please watch it again with a new friend! REVIEWS: Please submit your REVIEW after you watch my films. Your positive REVIEW does matter! PURCHASE BEYOND IMPOSSIBLE (2022) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries FAT: A DOCUMENTARY 2 (2021) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries FAT: A DOCUMENTARY (2019) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries

Today, I'm thrilled to connect with Dr. Jordan Emont. He is a board-certified OB-GYN with specialty training in menopause medicine, integrative hormonal care, and sexual health, and is one of fewer than 5,000 physicians worldwide who hold the Menopause Society-certified practitioner designation. In this conversation, we unpack the fear narrative surrounding HRT and clarify the distinctions between estrogen, progesterone, and cancer risk. We explore the impact of the Women's Health Initiative and discuss why rigid dogmatism has no place in women's health, the risks associated with early menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency, individual risk stratification, and contraindications to HRT. We also examine the connection between gut health and colorectal cancer, metabolic health as a modifiable cancer risk, and the emotional side of middle age and hormone replacement therapy. Stay tuned for one of the most important and thought-provoking conversations we've ever had on the podcast. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How fears about hormone therapy are often based on outdated or misinterpreted data The difference between physiologic hormones and synthetic hormone formulations How the Women's Health Initiative's messaging that HRT causes breast cancer comes from an oversimplification of data How the fear-driven WHI headlines continue to impact women's and clinicians' thoughts about hormone replacement therapy  How women's concerns about menopause, sexual health, and menstrual symptoms are often dismissed The health risks associated with early menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency How declining estrogen levels affect multiple body systems, including gut-related and immune-related pathways Why is insulin resistance a major concern?  True contraindications for avoiding HRT Bio: Dr. Jordan Emont Dr. Jordan Emont is a board-certified OB/GYN and Menopause Certified Practitioner who specializes in menopause care for women who've been dismissed, undertreated, or told their symptoms are just part of aging. He's here to change that conversation. He trained at Yale, Brown, and Columbia, and is now an adjunct clinical faculty member at Stanford. He works at a community health center in the Bay Area, providing care to underserved populations, and runs his own private telehealth practice focused on complex menopause care. Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website. Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com  Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow.  Purchase Cynthia's book, The Menopause Gut. Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book. The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with Dr. Jordan Emont On his website Instagram and Substack

For decades, women and their doctors have been wary of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), especially after menopause, largely due to fear-mongering surrounding breast cancer risk. But what if I told you that much of this fear is based on flawed data, misinterpretations, and sensationalized media reports? In this episode, I dive deep into the truth, myths, and misconceptions around HRT and breast cancer. I'll unpack the infamous Women's Health Initiative study, exposing its significant design flaws and the detrimental impact of its media interpretation. Grab your seat for the Advanced Practice Nutrition Intensive!⁠Topics discussed: - The real story behind the HRT breast cancer scare- Relative vs. absolute risk- Synthetic vs. bioidentical hormones- New science- Beyond symptoms- Navigating your HRT journey

What if the years where you feel less rested, less resilient, less yourself aren't burnout or bad parenting — but a hormonal transition no one prepared you for? This episode tackles a question every woman asks herself: am I losing my edge, or is something actually happening to me? I'm joined by Dr. Mary Claire Haver — the OB-GYN whose work has reshaped how an entire generation of women, doctors, and families talk about midlife, and the first person who made me feel sane in my own body when symptoms started showing up in my early 40s. We talk about why perimenopause is landing earlier than most women expect, why it gets misread as postpartum lag, work stress, or just "getting older," and why so many plugged-in women hear from their doctors that everything looks fine when nothing feels fine. What you'll learn: Why perimenopause is a brain event before it's an ovary event — and the symptoms (brain fog, mood swings, sleep disruption, weight changes, even a frozen shoulder) that can show up years before your periods get irregular, and almost never get connected back to hormones, even by your own doctor The real story of the Women's Health Initiative: what scared a generation of clinicians away from hormone therapy, what the evidence actually says now, and how to think about menopause hormone therapy, vaginal estrogen, and testosterone for women without the fear and without the scams (looking at you, vaginal lasers and pellet pushers) The non-negotiables to start in your 30s and 40s if you can — sleep, protein, lifting heavy, vitamin D, and finding a menopause-certified clinician — plus the five buckets of female sexual function Knowing what's happening inside your own body isn't extra. It's how you stop feeling crazy, find a clinician who actually believes you, and protect the version of yourself who gets to enjoy the decades still ahead. Great Wolf Lodge: Bring your pack together at a Lodge near you. Learn more at GreatWolf.com Merit Beauty: It's time for your makeup and skincare to meet the reality of your daily routine with Merit Beauty.com The RealReal: The most trusted name in authenticated luxury resale. Get 25$ off your first purchase when you go to The RealReal.com/humans

In this episode, Lisa welcomes back Dr. Jerilynn Prior, endocrinologist, UBC Professor Emerita, and founder of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), for a thought-provoking conversation that challenges mainstream narratives about perimenopause and hormone therapy. Dr. Prior shares her research-backed perspective on why perimenopause is often characterized by erratically high estrogen rather than low estrogen, and how this physiological reality reshapes the conversation around symptoms like night sweats, sleep disturbances, heavy flow, and sore breasts. She discusses her randomized controlled trial demonstrating that progesterone is effective for night sweats and sleep in perimenopausal women, and explains why approximately 30% of perimenopausal women experience symptoms severe enough to warrant treatment. Lisa and Dr. Prior also explore findings from the Women's Health Initiative, the difference between treating symptomatic women and prescribing hormones preventively, and why the cultural framing of menopause as a deficiency disease misrepresents what is, for most women, a normal life transition. Tune in as Dr. Prior shares decades of research on the menstrual cycle, ovulation, and the often-overlooked role of progesterone in women's health across the lifespan. Follow this link to view the full show notes page! This episode is sponsored by Lisa's new book, Real Food for Fertility, co-authored with Lily Nichols! Grab your copy here!

Episode 369: Dr. Kelly Casperson, interviewed by Sara Reardon What happens when a urologic surgeon who has spent years treating women's bladder and sexual health sits down to answer every question she wishes her patients had asked sooner? You get this episode. In a role reversal from her usual hosting chair, Dr. Kelly Casperson is interviewed by Sara Reardon for a wide-ranging, myth-busting conversation on perimenopause, hormone therapy, and what it actually means to advocate for yourself in a medical system that has historically under-served women. No gatekeeping. No fear-mongering. Just the science, the nuance, and the permission to want more. Perimenopause is not just hot flashes. The hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause affect your bladder, your sleep, your joints, your skin, your mood, and your sex life — often years before your period stops. Kelly breaks down what's actually happening biologically and why so many women are told their symptoms are "just aging." Local estrogen and systemic HRT are not the same thing — and you may need both. Vaginal estrogen treats the tissue. Systemic hormone therapy treats the whole person. Kelly explains the difference, who benefits from each, and how to have an informed conversation with your provider about what's right for you. DHEA and testosterone belong in the conversation. These hormones are not just for men. Kelly covers the evidence for testosterone and DHEA in women's health — including delivery methods, indications, and why so many women are never offered them. Finding a knowledgeable provider is hard. Here's how to do it. Not every clinician is trained in hormone therapy. Kelly talks about how to identify providers who are, and how to self-educate enough to advocate effectively in any appointment. Gut health, exercise, and alcohol all matter — but not instead of hormones. Lifestyle strategies can amplify hormone therapy; they're not a replacement for it. Kelly cuts through the supplement noise and explains what the evidence actually supports. Gender bias is real, and naming it is the first step. From the Women's Health Initiative fallout to the way women's pain is routinely minimized, Kelly addresses the systemic forces that have shaped (and limited) what women are offered — and how to push back. Listen to my Tedx Talk: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Why we need adult sex ed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Take my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adult Sex Ed Master Class:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in my sexual health and hormone clinic? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waitlist is open⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about Via vaginal moisturizer from Solv Wellness, visit ⁠⁠via4her.com⁠⁠ and get 20% off your first order. For an additional $5 off, use coupon code DRKELLY5. Clinicians can request patient materials or samples at ⁠⁠hcp.solvwellness.com⁠⁠. Thanks to our sponsor ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Midi Women's Health⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Designed by midlife experts, delivered by experienced clinicians, covered by insurance.Midi is the first virtual care clinic made exclusively for women 40+. Evidence-based treatments. Personalized midlife care.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.joinmidi.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 369: Dr. Kelly Casperson, interviewed by Sarah Reardon What happens when a urologic surgeon who has spent years treating women's bladder and sexual health sits down to answer every question she wishes her patients had asked sooner? You get this episode. In a role reversal from her usual hosting chair, Dr. Kelly Casperson is interviewed by Sarah Reardon for a wide-ranging, myth-busting conversation on perimenopause, hormone therapy, and what it actually means to advocate for yourself in a medical system that has historically under-served women. No gatekeeping. No fear-mongering. Just the science, the nuance, and the permission to want more. Perimenopause is not just hot flashes. The hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause affect your bladder, your sleep, your joints, your skin, your mood, and your sex life — often years before your period stops. Kelly breaks down what's actually happening biologically and why so many women are told their symptoms are "just aging." Local estrogen and systemic HRT are not the same thing — and you may need both. Vaginal estrogen treats the tissue. Systemic hormone therapy treats the whole person. Kelly explains the difference, who benefits from each, and how to have an informed conversation with your provider about what's right for you. DHEA and testosterone belong in the conversation. These hormones are not just for men. Kelly covers the evidence for testosterone and DHEA in women's health — including delivery methods, indications, and why so many women are never offered them. Finding a knowledgeable provider is hard. Here's how to do it. Not every clinician is trained in hormone therapy. Kelly talks about how to identify providers who are, and how to self-educate enough to advocate effectively in any appointment. Gut health, exercise, and alcohol all matter — but not instead of hormones. Lifestyle strategies can amplify hormone therapy; they're not a replacement for it. Kelly cuts through the supplement noise and explains what the evidence actually supports. Gender bias is real, and naming it is the first step. From the Women's Health Initiative fallout to the way women's pain is routinely minimized, Kelly addresses the systemic forces that have shaped (and limited) what women are offered — and how to push back. Listen to my Tedx Talk: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Why we need adult sex ed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Take my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Adult Sex Ed Master Class:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Interested in my sexual health and hormone clinic? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waitlist is open⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about Via vaginal moisturizer from Solv Wellness, visit ⁠⁠via4her.com⁠⁠ and get 20% off your first order. For an additional $5 off, use coupon code DRKELLY5. Clinicians can request patient materials or samples at ⁠⁠hcp.solvwellness.com⁠⁠. Thanks to our sponsor ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Midi Women's Health⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Designed by midlife experts, delivered by experienced clinicians, covered by insurance.Midi is the first virtual care clinic made exclusively for women 40+. Evidence-based treatments. Personalized midlife care.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.joinmidi.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Karen is joined by future Itchy and Bitchy hosts Stephen Miller, an acute care nurse practitioner specializing in cardiovascular disease, and Dr. Keith Hnilica, a veterinary dermatologist, for a wide-ranging conversation about estradiol and hormone replacement therapy. They discuss the recent removal of the FDA black box warning from most menopausal hormone therapy products and the long shadow of the Women's Health Initiative study.Visit our website itchyandbitchy.com to read blog posts on the many topics we have covered on the show.