The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

In a departure from our usual format, as we reach the end of 2024, Dr Louise looks back on her highlights of this year, including her recent theatre tour, her education work and the work of the Newson Health research team. She looks at some of the key developments for menopause in 2024, and busts some myths around hormones and hormone replacement therapy. Plus, she’ll be looking forward to 2025, and sharing details of some exciting work for the year ahead. For more information on Newson Health, click here.

Joining Dr Louise this week is Louise Mulley, who shares her experience of anxiety and menopause. Louise shares the importance of speaking openly about menopause and mental health, and how a conversation with a close friend helped her recognise her symptoms and find the right support and treatment. She also shares her top three tips on helping friends or loved ones who may be struggling with their mental health during perimenopause and menopause: Help your friend unburden: ask them ‘would you like to talk to me about it?’. Make it clear they can talk to you with no judgement and in confidence. Share your own menopause story to encourage your friend to open up about what they may be going through. Keep an open mind: if you’re a woman of menopausal age and experiencing mood changes, consider that it might be your hormones. For more information on Newson Health, click here.

On this week’s podcast, Dr Louise Newson is joined by Dr Rebecca Walker, a GP who specialises in headache medicine and migraines. In this episode, Dr Rebecca and Dr Louise (who suffers from migraines herself) get back to basics, looking at what migraines are, why they can occur and management approaches, from lifestyle measures to medication. They also talk about how hormone changes during perimenopause and menopause can impact the frequency and severity of migraines, and bust some myths around taking HRT if you have a history of migraines. Follow Dr Rebecca on Instagram @dr_rebeccawalker. For more information on migraines, visit the National Migraine Centre here, and you can find resources about migraine and menopause on the balance website here. You can also listen to an earlier episode of the Dr Louise Newson Podcast with Dr Katy Munro, author of Managing Your Migraine, by clicking here or searching for episode 115 on your favourite streaming app. For more information on Newson Health, click here.

Joining Dr Louise Newson on the podcast this week is Jen Moore, a campaigner dedicated to raising awareness of endometriosis and adenomyosis. Jen started experiencing endometriosis symptoms at the age of 11, but it took her 22 years to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis, adenomyosis and fibroids. By this stage organ failure was a risk and she required multiple surgeries, including a hysterectomy. She has since become committed to helping other women – from speaking out to creating research projects. Here, she shares three things she believes women with endometriosis can do to make a difference to their future health: Find a specialist – someone you can ask as many questions as you want, because if they are genuinely a specialist, they will not be afraid of answering questions. Don’t feel like you have to do it alone. You have your medical team, but you also need a team outside of the hospital. It doesn’t matter who it is, even if it’s somebody online, just reach out. There are so many of us who are just happy to help even if it’s just to talk. Keep going. When you get your diagnosis, you can think awesome, everything’s going to change. But then you realise, that’s just the start of it – you’ve got this wait list to get treatment and it can be a long slog. It’s exhausting, but it’s important that we do. You can follow Jen on Instagram at @jen.dometriosis and find out more at www.jenmoore.co.uk For more information on Newson Health, click here.

This week, Dr Louise is joined by Nicola McFarlane, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2023. Nicola shares the story of her MND diagnosis, as well as the barriers she faced in accessing treatment for perimenopause symptoms – including low mood, anxiety and recurrent UTIs – to improve her quality of life. Nicola talks about how health professionals often put her perimenopause symptoms (which pre-dated her MND diagnosis) down to her MND, and why she is sharing her own experiences to help other women living with MND and facing hormonal changes. For more information on Newson Health, click here.

On this week’s episode Dr Louise is joined by Dr Marty Makary, Johns Hopkins professor, member of the National Academy of Medicine and bestselling author. Together they discuss the impact of the Women’s Health Initiative study on women’s hormone health, menopause education for healthcare professionals and the importance of patient-centred care that focuses on root causes, rather than just symptoms. Dr Marty talks about his new book Blind Spots, and the importance of asking big questions in medicine. You can follow Dr Marty on Instagram @martymakary, and TikTok @marty.makary For more information on Newson Health, click here. Dr Louise Newson’s first-ever live theatre tour, Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate, runs until 12 November. For more information and tickets, click here.

Dr Tash Mirando and Dr June Tan Sheren, GPs at Osler Health International, share insights on lifestyle medicine's role in menopause care. They discuss crucial aspects like nutrition, sleep, and exercise for women’s health, emphasizing holistic approaches. The duo debunks myths about menopause across different ethnicities and share the importance of empowerment in making informed health choices. They also highlight the evolution of menopause care in Singapore with a focus on patient-provider rapport as key to successful health transformations.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women and this risk increases after the menopause, and a woman’s risk of heart attack is around five times higher after the menopause than before*. Joining Louise on this week’s podcast is Dr Jeremy London, a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon based in the US, to discuss heart health, hormones and menopause. They discuss the role of oestrogen in reducing inflammation in the body, why women typically present with different heart attack symptoms compared to men – and the signs to look out for – and the crucial role of nutrition and exercise in maintaining good heart health. Finally, Dr London shares his top three tips on what women (and men!) can do to help their future cardiac health: Don't smoke: it is the single worst thing you can do for your health in general. From a cardiac standpoint, from a blood vessel standpoint, for the risk of lung cancer. Nutrition: avoid processed foods and eat real, whole foods. Exercise and recovery: look to incorporate resistance training and some aerobic training, and don’t forget about recovery and prioritising sleep. *El Khoudary, S.R. et al. (2020), Boardman, H. et al. (2015). Follow Dr London on Instagram @drjeremylondon For more information on Newson Health, click here. Dr Louise Newson’s first-ever live theatre tour, Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate, runs until 12 November. For more information and tickets, click here.

In a special episode to mark World Menopause Month, and ahead of World Menopause Day on 18 October, Dr Louise is joined by Dr Rebecca Lewis, co-founder of Newson Health. Together they cover some of the most frequently asked questions about perimenopause, menopause and HRT, including: When should I expect symptoms to improve after starting HRT? How long can I take HRT for? Plus advice on taking a holistic approach to menopause, tracking your symptoms, and talking to your healthcare professional. Dr Rebecca also suggests three things women and healthcare professionals should consider about hormones: Know there is a difference between older synthetic hormones and body identical, natural hormones Be aware of the health benefits of HRT  The importance of shared decision making and patient-centred care. You can download the balance app here, and the Easy HRT prescribing guide mentioned in the episode here. For more information on Newson Health, click here. Dr Louise Newson’s first-ever live theatre tour, Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate, runs until 12 November. For more information and tickets, click here.

Joining Dr Louise on this week’s episode is Victoria Faulkner, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes in childhood. Victoria talks about day to day life managing menopause and diabetes, as well as her experiences of a surgical menopause due to treatment for endometriosis. Finally she shares the three things she thinks women with type one diabetes should know about hormonal health, and what has helped her personally: Familiarise yourself with the NICE guidelines on diabetes and see what you can access to monitor your diabetes Use a body map to track your symptoms ahead of any appointments you have to help discussions on any symptoms you might be experiencing Ask your healthcare professional for a continuous glucose monitor to help monitor your blood sugars and spot any patterns, and if possible, push for a sensor augmented pump system to monitor any highs or lows. For more information on Newson Health, click here. Dr Louise Newson’s first-ever live theatre tour, Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate, takes place 27 September to 12 November. For more information and tickets, click here.