In this episode, our own Dr Beth Thomas talks about how best to talk to your GP (and what to do if you feel that you're not getting anywhere); the different types of HRT and risks vs protective benefits (especially regarding breast cancer); the difference between body identical and bio identical HRT; how to assess your osteoporosis risk; how and why your GP might prescribe testosterone; and why hormone testing is not helpful if you are over 45. We also talk about the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in perimenopause.

In this episode I talk with Caroline Nokes, current Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in Parliament. We discuss the government's lacklustre (and late!) January response to the recommendations in the WESC's 2022 report, why menopause training for GPs needs to be mandated, the current HRT shortages, the failure of the UK government to engage with manufacturers appropriately ahead of the introduction of the Pre-Payment Certifcate on 1st April, and why we need a National Formulary for HRT.

We also cover the Committee's recommendations around changes to the Equality Act to provide increased protection for those going through a difficult menopause, and why Caroline believes a pilot on menopause leave would have been a useful and insightful experiment. 

In this episode, I chat to Dr Nichola Conlon - a scientist specialising in the study of healthy aging.  We talk about the science behind some pernicious perimenopause symptoms – brain fog and fatigue – how and why our diminishing oestrogen levels play havoc with our many millions of mitochondria which then leads to a drop in our energy levels. Did you know our hormones are responsible for creating neural connections in the areas of our brain involved in memory and learning?

We dig in to why our chronological age and our biological age might very well be different. Shockingly research has shown that in just six months of perimenopause our biological age can increase by up to nine years – and by the end of perimenopause our biological age may have jumped up by a total of 20 years! (Published November 2022)

In this episode I talk to Kate Muir - author of Everything you need to know about the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask) and producer of the Channel 4 documentaries with Davina McCall: ‘Sex, Myths and the Menopause’ and ‘Sex, Mind and the Menopause.’  

Kate and I are both ‘daughters of Alzheimers’ (Kate’s mother passed away from this cruel disease and my own mother is now in the later stages) and we kick off by discussing some of the research into the impacts of HRT on Alzheimer’s risk and cognitive decline. Kate is a vocal proponent for HRT and we delve deep into Kate’s own experience (which included taking 5 years to get her HRT settled and stable), the various health benefits that HRT can confer, the different HRT types (including progestins vs progesterone), and the ongoing struggles of accessing appropriate treatment on the NHS. 

We talk - of course, how could we not! - about the Channel 4 documentaries, which were turned down twice “because menopause is boring and for old women” before being commissioned by Dorothy Byrne as her final project before stepping down as Head of Current Affairs. Since the first programme aired, half a million more women are now taking HRT - often dubbed the ‘Davina Effect’ - but despite (or perhaps related to) this increased awareness and uptake, there continue to be HRT shortages.