The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

Dr Katy Munro was a GP partner in a Hertfordshire practice for many years and developed migraine in her 40s, around the time of her own perimenopause. This led to an interest in migraine and her involvement with the National Migraine Centre, first as a patient and then as a doctor.  Katy now works as a GP Headache Specialist at the National Migraine Centre, a charity that raises awareness on migraine, shares information and advises how to manage it. In this podcast episode, she chats to Louise about what migraine is, dispels myths, and explains why migraine is not just simply a ‘bad headache’. The experts discuss the role of estrogen in migraine, other possible triggers, and ways to help minimise the onset, severity and frequency of migraine. This hugely useful conversation is a must-listen if you or a loved one experiences migraine.  Katy has recently written a book on migraine, ‘Managing Your Migraine’, and it is available to buy now.  Katy's 3 reasons to buy her book:  Educate yourself on migraine and take control of it.  There is hope, no matter what you’ve already tried there will be something else – you’re not at the end of the line.  Migraine is genetic. Think about not just who you got it from, but who you’ll pass it on to. We need to learn more about how to help children who go on to develop migraine and there’s a chapter on this in my book.  National Migraine Centre - www.nationalmigrainecentre.org.uk  ‘Managing Your Migraine’, by Dr Katy Munro, is published by Penguin Life Experts and is out now.  

Dr Louise Newson’s new book, ‘Preparing for the Perimenopause and Menopause’ is now released by Penguin Life as part of the Penguin Life Experts series. Health journalist, Kat Keogh, worked with Dr Newson to write the book, and in this podcast episode they discuss the importance of creating factual and engaging information about the menopause, not just for women but their partners, children, friends and colleagues.  Kat Keogh has worked as a health journalist for 15 years and currently writes for a nursing journal. She collaborated with Dr Newson on her first book in 2019, the Haynes Manual on the menopause, and Kat is passionate about writing to not only educate but empower women in their perimenopause and menopause journey. Now that she has all this knowledge from working with Dr Newson, she is better prepared for menopause than her grandmother was, whose only means of coping was to go and shout down a well at the bottom of her garden!  Kat's 3 reasons to buy Dr Louise Newson’s new book:  For women, it's all about empowerment. Have the knowledge to get the best treatment for you.  For men, it’s a great window into understanding what’s happening in a woman’s life at this stage, whether that is your partner, friend or colleague.  For a teenager, it will be an eye-opener. Teenage hormones and menopausal hormones can be an explosive combination. This book is very easy to read and can be digested in small chunks.    'Preparing for the Perimenopause and Menopause' published by Penguin Life, is out now and has reached Amazon's Number 1 Best Seller on its launch day, 26th August.

Journalist, podcaster, and author Lorraine Candy, who is former Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Sunday Times Style, and Former Parenting Columnist for the Sunday Times Magazine. She co-hosts the chart-topping weekly podcast, ‘Postcards from Midlife’, with fellow journalist Trish Halpin. During lockdown Lorraine, 53, wrote the highly successful book, ‘Mum, What’s Wrong With You? 101 Things Only Mothers of Teenage Girls Know’, a family memoir of hilarious personal anecdotes and guidance from experts on adolescent mental health and parenting as a perimenopausal woman. From teenage hormones to menopausal hormones, in this podcast episode Lorraine and Louise discuss the importance of educating women about the perimenopause and menopause, and revisit their experiences of battling the media to help bring the taboo topic to normality. Further in, Lorraine and Louise have an honest conversation about raising teenage girls in particular, and offer advice on how to keep your cool while keeping the channels of communication open. Lorraine’s book is heartily recommended by Louise, a mum of teenage girls herself, and it is available to buy now, published by 4th Estate.   You can find Lorraine Candy on social at: Instagram - @lorrainecandy Twitter - @lorrainecandy Facebook - @sundaytimesLorraine

World renowned Consultant Gynaecologist, Nick Panay, of Hormone Health, shares his past and current interests in hormone related issues such as menopause, pre-menstrual syndrome, progesterone intolerance and Premature Ovarian Insufficiency. He describes ongoing areas within women’s hormone health where there continues to be huge unmet need and how, through training, he is seeking to overcome this, not just in the UK but globally through his work with the International Menopause Society. Together, the experts discuss the importance of their roles in empowering women and supporting them to make their own choice about treatments and both agree that as a public health issue, the menopause requires a national approach that focusses on preventative rather than reactive medicine. Nick’s 3 aims for global menopause care: Women have ease of access to information about the menopause Recommendations on hormone therapy and menopause care need to be updated and made applicable, globally, to all healthcare professionals Receive funding for a definitive study on the best way to treat the menopause for all the benefits and no side effects or risks – that is the holy grail.   Find Nick on social media at: Twitter - @HormoneHealth92 Facebook - @HormoneHealthClinics Instagram - @hormonehealthuk LinkedIn - Nick Panay Website - https://hormonehealth.co.uk/

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson talks to Arabella Preston, co-founder of Votary skin company, about her background as a make-up artist and what prompted her to start creating cleansing and facial oils from her kitchen table. Together they discuss how to best care for your skin and how to know what products to buy among the crowded skincare marketplace. Arabella discusses the almost taboo topic of female facial hair and how to deal with it. She also talks openly about recognising her own early signs of perimenopause and what she has learnt about the impact of hormone changes on the skin.   Arabella’s 3 top tips for looking after your skin: Make sure you’re cleansing your skin properly using a non-foaming product and a proper face cloth, every day. The best thing to do for your skin when it comes to anti-aging is to wear a good SPF (suncream) that suits your skin and wear it every day, all year round. Explore active ingredients to help your skin, like retinol and retinoids, they are a vitamin A derivative and great for menopausal skin.   Find out more about Arabella’s cleansing and facial oils or her magic razors at the Votary website www.votary.co.uk

In this inspiring episode, Dr Louise Newson talks to Anita Elawure, a women’s health advocate, who shares her startingly honest experience of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency since she was a teenager. After many years of trying to ignore her situation, she began to look into what it really meant, for her fertility and the impact of living in a postmenopausal state for the rest of her life.  Anita decided to create a platform for her to share her experiences, in the hope that she and others wouldn't feel so alone, and provide a safe place that offered support and learning from others going through POI. Eighteen months ago, Anita founded Blossom Living with POI and, as her page says, “You have me. I have you. Together we blossom.”  Anita’s top 3 tips:  If you’re at the start of a journey with POI, find your support system. Get someone you can rely on emotionally, that can come to appointments with you or help you do research, because it’s so important.  If you know someone facing POI, be there for them, tell them you’re here for them and ask what you can do to help.  Sometimes it might feel like you’re going crazy. It’s OK. You’re not going crazy and your feelings are valid. Find ways to express yourself and take one day at a time. Advocate for yourself, understand your treatments, and know what you need to take care of yourself.  Follow Anita and Blossom Living with POI on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube 

Gordan Lauc is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Chief Scientific Officer at GlycanAge. In this episode Dr Louise Newson feeds her inner geek and enjoys a fascinating conversation with Gordan as he describes his groundbreaking research into glycan molecules and their role in aging and disease processes. Even though scientist's understanding of the biological importance of glycans is still developing, ‘glycoscience’ has now become a vital field in life and medical sciences. Aging is the accumulation of damage in your body over time, caused by a long-term over-activation of the immune system. Analysing your body’s glycan molecules is a way of discovering your biological age and helps you know whether your current lifestyle is optimal for good health as you age. It is possible to lower your biological age by changing your diet, exercise, sleep habits and stress levels. Professor Lauc’s top 3 tips: If you’re interested in finding out more about your biological age and future health, you can get a test from www.glycanage.com that uses a pinprick of your blood and analyses your glycans. You can receive a report that will advise you on healthier changes you might need to make to your habits and lifestyle. Don’t be afraid of finding out more about your future health, it can be a very useful warning signal and potential negative changes to disease processes can be halted and reversed. Nourish your health and take care of it. We were not made to live into our 80s or 90s, so invest in your health and do something about it. Do something today for the good of your health tomorrow.   GlycanAge is giving away a 15% discount to our listeners and donating a further 15% to @themenocharity for every test purchased with the code 'NEWSONHEALTH15'.   You can find Gordan Lauc on social media at: Twitter: @gordanlauc LinkedIn: gordanlauc   You can also find GlycanAge on social media at: Instagram: glycanage Twitter: glycanage Website: https://glycanage.com/

Helen is a Functional Imagery Training (FIT) practitioner and weight loss coach who discovered FIT a couple of years ago and has been helping women to achieve lifestyle changes using this effective technique. FIT is a technique that supports behaviour change using mental imagery.   Coming from two decades of research showing that mental imagery is more strongly emotionally charged than other types of thought, FIT gives people a powerful tool to strengthen and sustain motivation to reach goals they value: weight loss, increased physical activity, or better sleep for example, which in turn leads to confidence and increased self-esteem. Women often experience weight gain, lethargy, or low mood around the perimenopause and the menopause which can lead to a negative cycle of poor choices, comfort eating and misery!   Living through the pandemic and associated lockdowns with all the extra stresses it has brought has also made healthy living harder for some. FIT uses mental imagery blended with motivational interviewing (a type of empathetic counselling/coaching) to help clients identify the health and fitness challenges they face now and how they would like to feel in the future. FIT is about mindset change, not a diet technique. It teaches people to imagine in a detailed way what it feels like and looks like to achieve their ideal selves and how that will benefit their health, and also benefit the people closest to them. FIT enables people to imagine in detail the steps they have chosen to reach their ideal selves.    Helen's 3 take-home tips:    Don’t see change in a negative way. We tend to focus on the things we have to give up when thinking about changes we need to make to lose weight, get fitter, have a more balanced sleep, work, or play routine. But if we can look more at the positive benefits to come out of changes to our lifestyle and plan manageable steps that don’t feel like we are denying ourselves everything we enjoy, the changes will be positive and enjoyable.  Weight gain, along with symptoms of the perimenopause and menopause such as poor sleep, brain fog, or lethargy often leave women feeling depressed and self-critical. We can sometimes feel we have little control over the changes and beat ourselves up over what we may perceive as 'letting ourselves go'. Don’t beat yourself up, acknowledge that it can be a difficult time and it is not a weakness of character or an inevitable slippery slope. Talk to someone, a friend, an expert, a FIT practitioner or coach. You are not alone! Prioritise yourself. In the words of RuPaul, ‘if you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love someone else!’ We are used to putting family and others first and sometimes forget (or just don’t consider) our own needs. Try to put some time into your day when you just focus on yourself, take a walk, read a book, listen to music, but above all take a moment to ask yourself, ‘am I looking after myself? What do I need? How do I feel and how do I want to feel?’ After all, no one else can look after you as well as you can look after you.

In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by Professor James Simon as they take a deeper look at our bones and discuss osteoporosis: what happens to your bone strength during the menopause, what are the risk factors for developing osteoporosis and what we can all do to try and prevent it.     Professor Simon's 3 top tips for keeping your bones strong and healthy are:  Have adequate calcium from your diet and if you're lactose intolerant (or vegan) you may need to take calcium supplements spread throughout the day.  Take good care of your skin by using sun block and a hat, but try and get the vitamin D you need through time in the sun and from fortified foods.  Do regular weight-bearing exercise that impacts through your bones as you hold your own body weight during the activity. 

If you have a male partner, this episode is definitely one for them too. Dr Jeff Foster is a GP and Men's Health specialist who shares an interest with Dr Newson in hormones and the effects of them - or lack of them - on our lives and future health.   Together they discuss what makes up the specialities of Men's Health and Women's Health, and explain why seeing the bigger picture - one that looks at the whole person - is crucial to understanding and treating hormone deficiencies. Dr Foster discusses testosterone in men and how symptoms of low testosterone can mirror some menopausal symptoms. They discuss the benefits of testosterone on wider aspects of health, and caution is shared about the worrying popularity in some young men to use steroids and newer unregulated drugs such as SARMs.   Dr Foster's advice to women is to look at the men in your life and see if they're struggling with similar symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, or low libido, and give them a nudge to speak to their doctor.   Dr Foster's 3 tips for men are: If you think you may have low testosterone, fill in the Adam Score which is 10 simple questions that indicate whether this might be a problem. Fill in the Adam Score here. Go and speak to your doctor if you are showing symptoms of low testosterone, don't be tempted to book a testosterone test yourself online. If your test results come back normal but you continue to have symptoms, try and see a Men's Health specialist doctor for further investigation and discussion. Dr Foster's website is www.drjefffoster.co.uk and you can follow him on social media: Instagram @drjefffoster Twitter @doctor_jef   The British Society of Sexual Medicine has some useful guidance for healthcare professionals on managing testosterone deficiency, read this here.