The Medical Myths About Women That Are Still Harming Millions w/ Meghan Rabbitt

[SPEAKER_01]: I interviewed preventive cardiologists who said that heart disease needs to be on every woman's radar. [SPEAKER_01]: It is the number one killer of women. [SPEAKER_01]: More than all cancers combined, and most of us are not focused on it. [SPEAKER_01]: Our personal, gynecologic health history may impact our risk of heart disease. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, information is empowerment as women. [SPEAKER_01]: We just don't get an adequate education. [SPEAKER_01]: I interviewed 132 experts to bring women an education about our bodies. [SPEAKER_00]: After talking to all of these experts, what is the one new role that fundamentally shifted for you? [SPEAKER_01]: I learned new rules across every single chapter. [SPEAKER_00]: But I would say overarching is listen to my

body. [SPEAKER_00]: Tell me how your look fits into the course correction that we're seeing. [SPEAKER_00]: The course correction I'm hoping for is... [SPEAKER_00]: The disruptor podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. [SPEAKER_00]: Views expressed by guests are their own. [SPEAKER_00]: Consult your healthcare provider before making any medical decisions. [SPEAKER_00]: Today, I could not be more excited for my guest on the disruptor. [SPEAKER_00]: It is Megan Rabbit. [SPEAKER_00]: She is the kind of journalist women trust with their bodies and their lives, because she spent more than two decades earning that trust. [SPEAKER_00]: She's reported and edited for prevention, health, women's health, and yoga journal, translating complex medical science into [SPEAKER_00]: clean,

clear, practical guidance without the hype. [SPEAKER_00]: She also writes the Gracia Ward-winning newsletter, Be Healthy from Rea Shriver is the Sunday Paper. [SPEAKER_00]: And today we're talking about a book that is not just another health primer. [SPEAKER_00]: This is an open field publication commissioned by Maria Shriver to be the very own manifesto. [SPEAKER_00]: women's health has been missing for so long. [SPEAKER_00]: It's the culmination of three years of research and reporting, including interviews with more than 130 of the world's top female medical experts built to change how women understand their health and to push the entire system to finally take women's bodies seriously. [SPEAKER_00]: on the book. [SPEAKER_00]: That's amazing. [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah,

it's been gosh, it's so wild to hold the book after working on it for so long. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, three years of reporting and writing and fact checking and revising to hold it in my hands has been really fun. [SPEAKER_00]: Um, I am really excited to talk to you because I was like, oh, she's gonna kill me because I For the longest time been telling women they could become CEOs of their healthcare and then I was like, oh, that's one of her rules She's gonna think I'm totally copy [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, not at all, you know, it's funny, the more I'm out in the world talking about the book and talking to women about how important

it is that we take ownership, I am learning that we've been saying this for a while, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Like we have to become, you know, yeah, take ownership become the CEO feel like the president or whatever the words are, I think it says the same thing, right, which is like we have to take the race. [SPEAKER_00]: I never used that until I fundraised and became part of an executive suite because I had to learn what an org structure was. [SPEAKER_00]: Like I, and this is coming from place of humility. [SPEAKER_00]: Like I didn't know the difference between a CEO, a CMO, a CFO, you know what I mean? [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever one did and I had

to learn all of that vocabulary. [SPEAKER_00]: Just like I had to teach them about what it's like to be inside an exam room and an operating room, right? [SPEAKER_00]: So I had to learn the board room vocabulary. [SPEAKER_00]: But then I started telling women, I'm like, be the CEO of your own damn health care. [SPEAKER_00]: Like you're taking care of everybody else. [SPEAKER_00]: Like you need to do it for yourself. [SPEAKER_01]: When I love that you say that in your physician, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's really awesome because I think sometimes our experience as patients is that when we go to the doctor, [SPEAKER_01]: they know everything, they want to be the ones to

tell us everything and I love that you're saying, no, like you want your patience to feel empowered to come to you with questions and requests, right? [SPEAKER_00]: And I want them to challenge me, I want them to keep me on my toes and I want it to be a partnership because I may think it's the best thing ever, but if they're not going to adopt it, use it, they're scared of it, whatever, or they just don't believe in it, [SPEAKER_00]: then it's not going to work for that because I may write for it or recommend it and they're not going to do it. [SPEAKER_00]: So I think it's all about a partnership, but the funniest

thing is, you know, I've been practicing a while, right, two decades, is they tried to train that out of me. [SPEAKER_00]: So my biggest criticisms when I was a medical student resident and even when I became partner was that [SPEAKER_00]: She is, um, uh, what is it two friendly, um, and that I needed to put more of, um, I don't want to say arrogance because that wasn't it, but like more of a distance between me and the patient. [SPEAKER_00]: So it was like, [SPEAKER_00]: I am doctor and you are patient and and even to the point where they picked on my head like don't wear a ponytail you know and how I should dress and

I'm not talking Megan like I was wearing revealing clothing I'm saying they wanted me to be more distant and don't wear a ponytail I was like why when you're delivering babies and operating like stuff gets [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it gets messy. [SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, well, you look too young. [SPEAKER_00]: You look too kittish. [SPEAKER_00]: You look too approachable. [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, well, actually, I said something kind of snarky because then I could pick up on my personality. [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, so do you want me to just go gray? [SPEAKER_00]: Like, all of you. [SPEAKER_00]: And then karma came from me. [SPEAKER_00]: So I started going gray at 20s. [SPEAKER_01]: But what's

so sad about that is that as patients, that's what we want, right? [SPEAKER_01]: In clinicians, we want someone who's approachable and who we can share, [SPEAKER_01]: all of the things with because I think historically that's been such a problem right women as women we want to present to certain way even with our doctors we want the the gold star the straight a or we just don't want to know what the answer is so we keep things to ourselves and I can't tell you how many doctors I interviewed and nurse practitioners and nurses and all every kind of clinician who say you know oftentimes the most important part of the story happens like right before your

the patient is leaving me the exam room. [SPEAKER_01]: And we have to change that. [SPEAKER_01]: We need to start with what's most important, and I think one way we can do that is when our clinicians feel really approachable, right? [SPEAKER_00]: Right. [SPEAKER_00]: And for me, especially in kind of college and menopause and postpartum and OB, like you're talking to women about [SPEAKER_00]: things that are sacred and traditionally have been stigma, taboo, and shame, and to get that comfortable rapport, women will talk to their, you know, their nail texts and their hairdressers and their girlfriends, and I want that same type of approachability, [SPEAKER_00]: In the exam room, now I, but I can turn on a

dime, Megan, I can, I teach CME courses and I can train providers and I have presented medical posters and I've done research. [SPEAKER_00]: So I can talk in the vocabulary of my audience, but you want to speak the language that people find approachable and safe and understand and actually one of empowerment. [SPEAKER_00]: Like one of the coolest, [SPEAKER_00]: Projects to ever worked on was with peanut and the renaming revolution where we took like harmful medical terminology like poor maternal effort, you know, and turned it into something that number one was more accurate. [SPEAKER_00]: It was like the mom was like, I'm not going to push anymore. [SPEAKER_00]: But number two, that was empowering, right, because

language can be such a powerful tool. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, yes. [SPEAKER_01]: And when I touched into the anatomy chapter, reporting for the anatomy chapter of my book, I talked to an animus, mostly female, who are part of this movement to actually start using, stop using anatomical eponyms. [SPEAKER_01]: So these are names of art organs that are [SPEAKER_01]: And so, philopian tubes, prime example, the philopian tubes were named after an Italian priest whose last name was philopio. [SPEAKER_01]: Isn't that wild? [SPEAKER_00]: And here we are all our lives. [SPEAKER_00]: Not me, something. [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I say, I'm a teacher, but I'm a forever student. [SPEAKER_00]: OK, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So what these new wave of

anatomists are trying to say is, no, they are uterine tubes. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's call them uterine tubes, because that's where they're placed in the body. [SPEAKER_01]: And here's the great thing about that. [SPEAKER_01]: Not only is it a progressive way to talk about the female body, but also it helps those who are going into medical professions, reduce cognitive load. [SPEAKER_01]: Now, philopean tubes is a bad example of that, [SPEAKER_01]: But there's a lot of different organs named after names, you know, again, usually old white men. [SPEAKER_01]: And when we call him by where they're placed in the body, it's easier to remember. [SPEAKER_00]: So this is, you know, yeah, I'm sure McBernie's point tenderness, which

is, you know, a sign of appendicitis was named after McBernie. [SPEAKER_00]: And that doesn't tell a medical student like where that pain is, you know, at all, it's not descriptive. [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's, [SPEAKER_00]: language should be descriptive and like you said, reduce cognitive load, both for the provider, but also for the patient. [SPEAKER_00]: So it's intuitive and it makes sense. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's like, we're already like in the end. [SPEAKER_01]: We're in it. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but I love this. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's, you know, words do matter. [SPEAKER_01]: And I think, you know, one of the north star when I was reporting and writing this book was really to give within

the language we need. [SPEAKER_01]: The education we don't get about our bodies, but also the language we need to have better conversations with our providers. [SPEAKER_00]: No, I agree with you, and I will tell you that project was for me, both humbling but also empowering. [SPEAKER_00]: So I worked with a linguist, myself and a psychologist, and I really didn't understand the power of language until we had those robust conversations. [SPEAKER_00]: someone who has miscarriages, habitual a border, like she's choosing, you know, to do something or incompetent cervix for someone who has second trimester losses. [SPEAKER_00]: But these were like things that I used all the time in the medical chart because when you're picking ICD

10 codes, right? [SPEAKER_00]: You you have to put an accurate [SPEAKER_00]: medical diagnosis so that it's covered, but if a woman saw her chart after I was done with her, she probably would have been like, what is wrong with this doctor? [SPEAKER_00]: Like, why would she use you know, this terminology, but for, you know, we didn't get sensitivity training. [SPEAKER_00]: So for a medical student or resident, they might say, yeah, you have an incompetent cervix, and I knew another woman [SPEAKER_01]: And in this stage, we're seeing it in our portal first, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Because like, and that's really, yeah, I think it's amazing that you're, you're rethinking that. [SPEAKER_01]: Another one that comes to mind

is geriatric pregnancy, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And we don't use that anymore, thankfully, because you're like, wait, I'm 36 years old, and I'm considered geriatric pregnancy, you know? [SPEAKER_00]: And now it's advanced maternal age, right? [SPEAKER_00]: It's advanced maternal age, or even 35 plus pregnancy is what peanut did. [SPEAKER_00]: reason that that even exists. [SPEAKER_00]: I tell people it's not like all of a sudden your eggs go poof we're old now You know, we've turned 35 and that's it. [SPEAKER_00]: It's because the risk of an amniocentesis and losing that pregnancy becomes equivocal to the risk of having a baby with a chromosomal issue. [SPEAKER_00]: And so before that like in a 21 year old mother has a

much lower risk of having that [SPEAKER_00]: And so why would you put her through an amniocentesis? [SPEAKER_00]: So at 35, the risk becomes equivocal. [SPEAKER_00]: So that's it. [SPEAKER_00]: That's the magic boom, like reason. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I can't tell you how triggering that is for women. [SPEAKER_00]: And how many women have said to me that they pulled over and cried after someone said that to them. [SPEAKER_00]: And I had my last baby, I think I was 34. [SPEAKER_00]: And I joked with my partners up to like, if anyone ever tries to even suggest putting geriatric pregnancy in my chart, we will have words because I love that. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, words matter, words matter, and

it affects the way we feel and you're already or so. [SPEAKER_00]: I think the other thing that I learned is, we're already so vulnerable in those states. [SPEAKER_00]: You know, whether it is, you know, we're trying to get pregnant or it's pregnancy or it's postpartum or it's our hormonal shifts. [SPEAKER_00]: You're already so vulnerable. [SPEAKER_00]: You don't feel like yourself. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I feel like the medical language, like, blamed women rather than explaining, it blamed women, you know? [SPEAKER_00]: And for me, that's why I'm telling you, it's one of my favorite projects I ever did. [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so talking about all of this, um, I want to know, um, tell me a little bit

about the book and your journey. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: So I've been a long time health journalist. [SPEAKER_01]: So I got into journalism fresh out of college. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, funny enough when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a doctor. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I find it interesting that I found my way into health journalism. [SPEAKER_01]: I've always been fascinated. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, by. [SPEAKER_01]: our health and how we can take care of ourselves and so after 20 plus years as a health journalist mostly working for magazines and digital news outlets, I started working for Maria Shriver and I work on her digital news magazine, the Sunday paper, doing a lot of health coverage for her.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so about a year into working for her, she said, you know Megan, I want you to write a book. [SPEAKER_01]: for my imprint, a penguin random house, we don't have a really comprehensive, women's health book right now. [SPEAKER_01]: We have our bodies ourselves, which is incredible, and it's been updated for many years. [SPEAKER_01]: But really, when you think about our bodies ourselves, it tackles what we now refer to as bikini medicine. [SPEAKER_01]: It's our best health, our gynecologic health, our sexual health, a really important aspect of women's health, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And we know more now, we know that women's hearts are different than the male heart. [SPEAKER_01]: We know that our brains are

different, our immune system. [SPEAKER_01]: We need a lot more research, but luckily we've started to get that research done. [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's what I aim to do in this book is not only talk about all of the traditionally women's health topics, which are all chapters in this book, but also all those other things. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, what do we need to know about our immune systems, our brains, our hearts? [SPEAKER_01]: to really optimally care for ourselves. [SPEAKER_01]: So that's how this book came to be. [SPEAKER_01]: I interviewed 132 all female experts in this book. [SPEAKER_01]: Doctors, nurses, scientists, researchers, to really, [SPEAKER_01]: Gosh, to bring women like an education about our bodies, because I

realized I was surprised that so many points during the reporting of this book, and I'm like, gosh, I've been steeped in health information my entire career. [SPEAKER_01]: If I'm surprised, because I didn't get this education, so many women have to be like, you know, they're gonna learn something here. [SPEAKER_01]: And so, so that's this book, the new rules of women's health. [SPEAKER_00]: I love that so much and you're not even going to believe this because I've never publicly said this. [SPEAKER_00]: So I went to Northwestern to become a journalist. [SPEAKER_00]: So that's the reverse. [SPEAKER_00]: Reverse. [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that so funny? [SPEAKER_00]: And now I'm podcasting. [SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm writing a book. [SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm

using my platform. [SPEAKER_00]: So I came back to that in a different way. [SPEAKER_00]: And look, you came to healthcare in a different way. [SPEAKER_00]: But no, it was when my mother got ill from, like, you talked about cardiovascular disease. [SPEAKER_00]: At that point I had become pre-med because I was always interested in science and math, but I didn't know what my calling was, and when my mother nearly died at the age of 45, 45, because her doctor's in Cleveland, which, you know, Maria has, you know, set up, I've done a lot of work and, but Cleveland, which is a heart center, literally, where people fly in, [SPEAKER_00]: was told too much caffeine it is

your children are stressing you out and my mother ended up I'll never forget the phone rang [SPEAKER_00]: My father said to him, you need to come home and my heart dropped because I knew. [SPEAKER_00]: And he's like, your mother coded on the calf table. [SPEAKER_00]: They're rushing her in for a merger at quadruple bypass surgery. [SPEAKER_00]: She ended up, she's alive to this day. [SPEAKER_00]: But the surgeon came out and said, had the heart attack come, your mother would not have survived. [SPEAKER_00]: Because her LAD was 95% included. [SPEAKER_00]: And, but my mother was thin, [SPEAKER_00]: but what they missed is that her mother and two sisters before her had died of sudden cardiovascular death

before the age of 50. [SPEAKER_00]: Wow. [UNKNOWN]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh my gosh. [SPEAKER_01]: Wow. [SPEAKER_01]: So that's a watch. [SPEAKER_00]: That's a watch. [SPEAKER_00]: That's a wow. [SPEAKER_00]: I literally say the call that became my calling. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh my goodness. [SPEAKER_01]: That is remarkable. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: So then this girl at Northwestern who originally thought [SPEAKER_00]: They came a doctor because I was like, no, this is not going to happen to any more women, but boy was I wrong. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, and that's the thing, like, you know, when I really touched into the research for the heart health chapter, it was a little, um, it was sad because I interviewed, uh,

preventive cardiologists who said, you know, we are not doing an adequate job getting the message out that heart disease needs to be on every woman's radar. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, it is the number one killer of women. [SPEAKER_01]: And most of us, more than all cancers combined, Bingo, and most of us are not focused on it. [SPEAKER_01]: We are focused on, we're terrified of breast cancer, we're terrified of other cancers, and those cancers should be on our radar, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I'm not saying that that's not important, but I think, you know, especially once we hit midlife, we need to be proactively talking to our doctors, about our hearts. [SPEAKER_01]: our cholesterol, all the different

numbers that go into it and our family history, like as you beautifully point it out, we need to know our family history so that we're proactively bringing that up. [SPEAKER_01]: And then outright saying, is my current screening plan for heart health adequate. [SPEAKER_00]: Do you want to know something crazy? [SPEAKER_00]: I have been banging my head against a wall, so I have hyperclistural EMEI inherited the same issue my mother has. [SPEAKER_00]: And Eric Topel got to the bottom of it, finally, for my family, right? [SPEAKER_00]: From Cleveland Clinic. [SPEAKER_00]: And... [SPEAKER_00]: So then and two of my children, unfortunately, have it, but I'm under control, but I literally just this year have finally been able

to establish with a preventative cardiologist because they kept saying to me, well, nothing's happened to you yet. [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, well, the first thing that happens to me may be death because that's what happened to three other women in my family, you know, [SPEAKER_00]: And so now that numbers approaching double digits is to how many women have been affected by cardiovascular disease in my family because obviously they're aging and going into menopause, but I especially as a menopause provider made sure that women knew about the preventative benefits of hormone therapy. [SPEAKER_00]: There's a new study just showed a 60% reduction in cardiovascular disease if we start hormones in parymenopause, so it actually can

be very cardiovascular protective, and that my patients know about their screening. [SPEAKER_00]: Not only their lipids, but what size are your particles and you know your ApoB and your lipoA and are you getting a coronary calcium score and do you know your [SPEAKER_00]: So for me, I talked to them about all of the tools that are out there, so that they know what they should ask for and what they should be screened for, based on their family history and based on their risk factors. [SPEAKER_00]: And so you're right, ignore this. [SPEAKER_01]: You know what's interesting is what I would also add to that, which I'm sure you also talk to your patients about, but it

was a big surprise to me when I was doing this reporting and every doctor said it's a big surprise to most women, which is our gynecologic history, our personal gynecologic health history may impact our risk of heart disease. [SPEAKER_01]: So these are things like pre-clamps you're during pregnancy, gestational diabetes, a history of miscarriages. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, as one cardiologist beautifully put it to me, pregnancy is the heart's first stress test. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And when you have some complications, that's not to say it's a big failure. [SPEAKER_01]: It's just to say, look, this is something you should flag to your doctor in the future. [SPEAKER_01]: Just say, look, this is my, this is part of

my medical history, [SPEAKER_01]: am I on the right screening plan because I know that pregnancy complications can impact my heart. [SPEAKER_01]: Same goes for a history of hot flashes recurrent hot flashes in my cause. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, most women just think, oh well, I've got hot flashes and I'll deal with them or maybe treat hopefully we're treating them now with hormone therapy, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Or non hormone therapies that are available for the treatment of hot flashes. [SPEAKER_01]: But this is something you need to bring up. [SPEAKER_01]: This is not just, it's hot flashes. [SPEAKER_01]: Most women in menopause deal with them, right? [SPEAKER_01]: maybe, but just because their common doesn't mean it's normal. [SPEAKER_01]: And what

you need to do is know, okay, I need to bring this information to my doctor so that I make sure it's on their radar so that we can make sure we have the right screening plan going forward. [SPEAKER_01]: And I just feel like everyone needs to know this. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, severe or persistent hot flashes can be a window to something that is going on with your heart. [SPEAKER_00]: So for anyone who says, menopause can't kill her, guess what? [SPEAKER_00]: It actually can. [SPEAKER_00]: And I tell people hot flashes are not just always hot flashes. [SPEAKER_00]: It can be your body's way of communicating. [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, something is is is wrong here. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, [SPEAKER_00]:

I love the fact that you bring up the obstetrical history, too, because I was trained by the pre-clampsia guru who wrote the chapter on pre-clampsia and a clampsia bahasibai. [SPEAKER_00]: And we always talked about it and took a thorough history because then we knew that it was a risk factor later in life for cardi metabolic disease. [SPEAKER_01]: And when we know this, it's empowering, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Cause it's like, I think sometimes women can be like, oh gosh, should I be scared now? [SPEAKER_01]: No, what it is is information is empowerment, right? [SPEAKER_01]: It's just knowing it, helps us show up toward doctors, visits more informed and feeling like, oh, you know, this is how we

be the CEO. [SPEAKER_01]: When we have the knowledge, we can say, oh, I'm gonna talk to you about this right now. [SPEAKER_00]: See, and so you talked to all the doctors, and I talked to all the women, and that's exactly what they say. [SPEAKER_00]: They say, if I had known, I wouldn't have felt like I got hit by a Mac truck. [SPEAKER_00]: You know, whatever it is, like, you know, whether it's the side effects of chemo or what fibroids are like, or what life would have been like after a historyectomy or perimenopause, if I had just known, Dr. Javade, I feel like this journey would have been so different. [SPEAKER_00]: And so I couldn't agree

with you more. [SPEAKER_00]: So after talking to all of these experts, I'm kind of jealous. [SPEAKER_00]: What is the one new role that fundamentally shifted for you, personally? [SPEAKER_00]: I want to know, like how you view your own body or your own health. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, what a great question and I really think, you know, I learned new rules across every single chapter, right? [SPEAKER_01]: There's new rules I'm following for my heart health, for my brain health, for my bone health, but I would say overarching, one thing that drastically changed and what writing this book and then reading this book helped me do personally is listen to my body. [SPEAKER_01]: So, unfortunately, I feel that as

women, we just don't get an adequate education about how we work. [SPEAKER_01]: Unless, like you, we go into medical school or become a nurse, or actually get an education about this, right? [SPEAKER_01]: As an English major, I took the bare bones biology class, you know, whatever I needed to get me out of college and get my degree. [SPEAKER_01]: And so, how that translated for me is that I didn't [SPEAKER_01]: Well, what I was experiencing was normal for me, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And so I'll give you a very personal example my periods. [SPEAKER_01]: When I was in my, you know, primary productive years, I think they were pretty normal. [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing was, you know, bleeding wasn't too

heavy as I got into my late 30s and my early 40s. [SPEAKER_01]: I would call it like a crime scene period. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I would call it my monthly hemorrhaging, but I just thought that was normal for me. [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't really bring it up with my doctors. [SPEAKER_01]: Finally, a nurse practitioner, I said something about a really big clot that I had passed. [SPEAKER_01]: And she got a little curious as to some more specific questions. [SPEAKER_01]: And come to find out I had a uterus full of fibroids. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I just feel like it's one example of how I ignored my own symptoms for many years. [SPEAKER_01]: Not necessarily just because

I was powering through, although I think as a woman, I can certainly relate to getting that message over the years. [SPEAKER_01]: I've just like suck it up. [SPEAKER_01]: You got this, power through your pain, your tough girl. [SPEAKER_01]: But also I didn't know what to do. [SPEAKER_00]: What you're doing for that is the cultural badge of honor that we think we wear when we [SPEAKER_00]: have this high pain tolerance? [SPEAKER_01]: And that is because I interviewed Dr. Vonda Wright who is an incredible orthopedic surgeon who wrote an amazing book herself who said to me when I interviewed her, she said, you know Megan, when I am at the bedside of patients, it is always the

women who brag about their high pain tolerance like it's a badge of honor. [SPEAKER_01]: And that needs to stop, right, because when we power through pain, our pain gets worse. [SPEAKER_01]: And as women, we are already treated differently for our pain. [SPEAKER_01]: And this story becomes especially important for women of color, who haven't even worse story, who are often dismissed at even higher rates than white women, when they come in with pain. [SPEAKER_01]: And so it is time to drop that pain. [SPEAKER_01]: I've got a high pain tolerance badge of honor. [SPEAKER_01]: No, you know, when you are feeling pain, you have a right to get it treated. [SPEAKER_01]: And in fact, when it's treated,

it can help you from having it spiral into worse pain, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: And so we need to talk about this. [SPEAKER_00]: And there's enough barriers to care with lack of funding and education and data and women, even though we outnumber men in the clinical workforce and have better outcomes with our patients, surgically, you know, and less readmission rates. [SPEAKER_00]: We are still really struggling with being our own barriers by normalizing. [SPEAKER_00]: I talked to so many women who I ask about, you know, the fibroids or the heavy bleeding, which is a vital sign. [SPEAKER_00]: You're bleeding and your sexual health. [SPEAKER_00]: Those are all vital signs we use to assess is that we have

normalized the abnormal. [SPEAKER_00]: And so that leads to even further delays in our own care. [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think it's coming from a malicious place. [SPEAKER_00]: What it's coming from family, our friends are like, oh, all the women are family do that. [SPEAKER_00]: You know, and but then unfortunately some women who present with, you know, 25 fibroids or stage for enemy triosis, then struggle with infertility or chronic paining or unnecessary surgeries or hospitalizations or transfusions. [SPEAKER_00]: We can prevent so much suffering and intervention. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, everything you're saying. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, when my fibroids were finally diagnosed, I had too many to count. [SPEAKER_01]: They were every type they could be in every place

they could be. [SPEAKER_01]: So they were inside my uterus, in the wall of my uterus, outside my uterus. [SPEAKER_01]: When I, and my only option was historic to me, and so looking back, I wonder, had I talked more, had I known to bring up certain symptoms I was experiencing and not just chalk them up as normal, and had I brought them up to my clinician. [SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if I would have had more treatment options, and so I think for everyone listening, it's like, oh, this is reason to educate ourselves about our bodies. [SPEAKER_01]: to know like to not just assume that pain or heavy bleeding or cramping or bloating or whatever fill in the

symptom you're struggling with is normal because you hear like I'll feel my friends complaining about heavy periods too right now bring it up do some education you know unfortunately we have to be the ones to [SPEAKER_01]: to go seek out information and then take that information to our clinicians often times, you know, if we don't have a doctor who's going to proactively bring that up with us. [SPEAKER_01]: But when we when we do that, I think it opens up a whole new world to us when it comes to treatments. [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the five broids really drives me insane because, you know, I am a minority woman. [SPEAKER_00]: I struggle with five broids myself and they

disproportionately affect my naughty women. [SPEAKER_00]: Although the great majority of us have them after age 50. [SPEAKER_00]: And they can lead to problems, but you cannot imagine how many women came to me for second opinion, because the only option that they were offered once they were diagnosed with fibroids was hysterectomy. [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, did your doctor talk to you about Orian, like an oral medication, did they talk to you about [SPEAKER_00]: you don't artery embolization. [SPEAKER_00]: They talked to you about my amectomy. [SPEAKER_00]: Did they talk to you about senata, which can actually it's radio frequency ablation of fibroids that can is incisionless and can be done in the office. [SPEAKER_00]: In some cases,

did they talk to you about assessa? [SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, they're looking at me like, [SPEAKER_00]: What, what are you talking about? [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, every woman's case is different. [SPEAKER_00]: The number of fibroids, the desire of whether or not they want childbearing or not, other medical problems and medications that they have, size and location of fibroids. [SPEAKER_00]: That's all nuances. [SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, patient after patient, after patient was told, [SPEAKER_00]: hysterectomy or nothing. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And this is why I have an entire section in my book on fibroids. [SPEAKER_01]: And not only that on hysterectomy and the types of different types of hysterectomy you can have because what I want women to

know is like, okay, I was just diagnosed with fibroids. [SPEAKER_01]: Let me research this so that when I go for my follow up visit or when I go see a specialist, I can ask very specific questions, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And [SPEAKER_01]: And so once you, when you have that information, if the doctor is just like, it's just his drug to me or bust, you can say, well wait a second, I read about a medication you can take or, you know, or three other different treatment options. [SPEAKER_01]: Can you explain why I wouldn't be a candidate for some of those? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And I mean, talk about feeling empowered, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I

aim to do because we don't know to ask the questions if we don't have the information. [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that Megan and the anatomy thing that you were talking about. [SPEAKER_00]: You don't know how many women that come to me post-historic to me. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I'm like, okay, so do you still have your cervix? [SPEAKER_00]: Do you still have your ovaries? [SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, I don't know. [SPEAKER_00]: I just had his direct to me. [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, did the surgeon go over it with you? [SPEAKER_00]: But they're like, not really. [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes they did, but they didn't understand. [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't put it in a language that they understood. [SPEAKER_00]: Or they were

just told you need this sign this. [SPEAKER_00]: And they just blindly trusted their doctor. [SPEAKER_00]: So then I'm doing an ultrasound and exam to figure out do still have ovaries, do still have a cervix. [SPEAKER_00]: And I said, I remember from my oral boards. [SPEAKER_00]: So sub-surgical specialties, you have to take a written test and they have to take oral boards too. [SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, I got written up for getting up too many times to go to the bathroom, but I was eight months pregnant. [SPEAKER_00]: And they were like, this is gonna be, this is like, if you wanna talk about not healing our healers, they're like, we have to write this up

as an abnormality. [SPEAKER_00]: And I got up and this big, I'm like, [SPEAKER_00]: go ahead. [SPEAKER_00]: Like as long as I'm finishing the examin time, I promise you I'm not cheating. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm actually going to pee because I have this child sitting on my bladder. [SPEAKER_00]: But I used to do a lot of super-servical, um, hysterectomies, and I used to preserve [SPEAKER_00]: people's services and I remember the oral board examiners really coming after me because you have to defend like you collect cases you have to defend your actions and I said well if they've never had you know HPV they've never had abnormal. [SPEAKER_00]: Pap smears then I like it because it reduces the risk

of prolapse because you're not cutting all of those ligaments. [SPEAKER_00]: And also, I want you to do this with me, Megan. [SPEAKER_00]: So the cervix is key for sexual function. [SPEAKER_00]: It has a lot of innovation. [SPEAKER_00]: So it helps women with sexual satisfaction. [SPEAKER_00]: But feel your nose, because that's what a cervix feels like. [SPEAKER_00]: Versus this, if we remove your cervix and sew the vagina back together, there's a tactile difference. [SPEAKER_00]: And so women are like, [SPEAKER_00]: Like I can't believe that no one ever explained that to me. [SPEAKER_00]: I had a patient who had a large portion of her cervix removed for a lead procedure because she had pre-cancerous cells. [SPEAKER_00]: And

she kept saying that her orgasm was different and that sex felt very different. [SPEAKER_00]: And everyone told her she was crazy. [SPEAKER_00]: And when I told her, I said there are three major groups of nerves that go to the cervix [SPEAKER_01]: She was like, she felt seeing you. [SPEAKER_00]: She felt seeing you. [SPEAKER_00]: And she felt seeing you. [SPEAKER_01]: She felt seeing you. [SPEAKER_00]: And she felt seeing you. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because he was like, there's no way I wasn't any because to him he was like, well, the clitoris is the only organ, we'll slowly dedicate it to pleasure. [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and I love the fact that women have that, but he was like, the cervix

isn't involved in instead of saying, you know what? [SPEAKER_00]: I've never heard of that, but let me, let me look at the data. [SPEAKER_00]: Let me look and see if there's any research. [SPEAKER_00]: Let me see if there's a plausible explanation. [SPEAKER_00]: Let's find out together. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, no, totally, and I love that you're, you bring this up and it's reminding me that I spoke to Dr. Lauren Striker for this section who wrote a incredible book on his tracks me. [SPEAKER_01]: And she dames that. [SPEAKER_01]: She says, look, in some cases, when you remove the cervix, it may impact sexual function. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm here to say, and you'll probably laugh, but because, again,

because words matter, when I see a new doctor, I say, I had a total hysterectomy with bilateral self-injectomy. [SPEAKER_01]: And they look at me like, are you a nurse? [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, no, I just know the language because I had my uterus, my cervix, and both tubes room, but I have my ovaries, I did not have an uphorectomy. [SPEAKER_01]: And I feel like, you know, I can't tell you how many, mostly medical assistants who are asking me questions, they hear that I had a history act to me, and they just think I'm in menopause. [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, no, I had a total history act to me, but I did not have my oversure move,

but I'm not in menopause at age 47, at least not that I know, I still feel great, you know, and I'm not having any of the symptoms. [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, and I think it's so important to talk about this because, and I feel called to share, I did have my cervix removed, and I have no difference. [SPEAKER_01]: in sexual function, pre-historectomy or post-historectomy. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I'm saying. [SPEAKER_01]: Right? [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I'm saying. [SPEAKER_01]: All the things can happen. [SPEAKER_01]: But as women, we need to know we need to be empowered with the information. [SPEAKER_01]: So we can make decisions that work for us. [SPEAKER_00]: So the WHO. [SPEAKER_00]: I feel

like, you know, doctors have had a disservice done to them. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, as a gynecologist, I didn't learn enough about menopause, perimenopause, sexual function. [SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like, [SPEAKER_00]: You know, the FDA said we have withheld one of the most powerful agents from women because it's shrouded in misinformation, myth of yesterday, rather than the data of today. [SPEAKER_00]: And then women should have choice on whether or not they're going to take hormones. [SPEAKER_00]: Not only for the head to toe visible symptoms of menopause, but to protect bone-brain and heart. [SPEAKER_00]: And so I feel like that press conference was one of the worst things that we had ever done for women's health. [SPEAKER_00]: How

do you feel about the last 20 years of media coverage for women's health? [SPEAKER_00]: Did it oversimplify it? [SPEAKER_00]: Did it cause damage? [SPEAKER_00]: How do you feel media has played a role in the current state? [SPEAKER_00]: I guess, a women's health care. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I think the media is totally to blame for the fall out from the WHO and that arm of the WHO being stopped. [SPEAKER_01]: And when I think it again, it's really important to use language, right? [SPEAKER_01]: The WHO and another self wasn't all bad. [SPEAKER_01]: And in fact, it's proof that the scientists [SPEAKER_01]: doing the research were trying to protect women. [SPEAKER_01]: They started seeing data that was

alarming, and they said, okay, hold on, we're gonna stop this arm of the trial. [SPEAKER_01]: And then what happened is it got picked up and, you know, and, [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to say cherry picks, but it was like the data because journalists aren't always necessarily, you know, getting it totally accurate. [SPEAKER_01]: It became this big thing where if you're on hormone therapy, you know, you're going to get breast cancer, basically, was like the headline, it's scared an entire generation of women out of, and doctors, and their doctors out of prescribing hormone therapy, and it's scared women from taking it, right? [SPEAKER_01]: getting, you know, throwing out their hormones. [SPEAKER_01]: I think finally we are,

so yeah, I think the media played a big role in that. [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, it did a lot of damage. [SPEAKER_01]: I think finally we are unwinding from that. [SPEAKER_01]: Again, 47, I can't go anywhere out to dinner for a walk with a girlfriend, having coffee with girlfriends where we don't talk about hormone therapy now. [SPEAKER_01]: and who's on it and it's so normalized and not stigmatized anymore. [SPEAKER_01]: Thankfully, I think because a lot of physicians like yourself and other clinicians who are doing a lot of health education around it. [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think we finally are at a point where we're back to, let's talk about the benefits of hormone therapy here, you

know? [SPEAKER_00]: It's finally getting better. [SPEAKER_00]: It's nowhere near. [SPEAKER_00]: We're still nowhere near the amounts of women that were taking hormones at the time of WHO. [SPEAKER_00]: And I think the difference was, you know, we didn't report absolute risk versus relative risk. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, yes, that E plus PRM data was kind of blown up. [SPEAKER_00]: And we didn't talk about the benefits of the estrogen only arm, which showed decreased mortality, decreased risk of breast cancer. [SPEAKER_00]: and decrease risk of dying from that breast cancer. [SPEAKER_00]: So we very much sensationalize the bad, like you said. [SPEAKER_00]: And then we studied a much older population. [SPEAKER_00]: We only studied an oral formulation that goes

through the liver. [SPEAKER_00]: And when you look at trans-dermal bioidentical hormones, rather than conjugated, like, you know, Premoran and Prempro were [SPEAKER_00]: You don't see those same risks, and then you see a lot more benefit when you, you know, that hormone window hypothesis ideally when you start, you know, as women are going from parry menopause into menopause, the latest paper just showed if we had a magic wand and could have the date two years before someone goes into menopause, that's when you see that 60% reduction [SPEAKER_00]: with hormone therapy, so I think I agree with you about 5% of eligible women around hormones right now, so we still have a little ways to go, not

only to improve quality of life, but also to protect our, and I know this is really important to Maria, you know, the risk of [SPEAKER_00]: dementia and Alzheimer's and how we see a disproportionate effect in women, we start to see changes in the brain you know this in midlife. [SPEAKER_00]: We think of dementia as a disease of old age, but the changes we start to see in midlife and there's separate and distinct from aging. [SPEAKER_00]: It's because estrogen optimizes our brains use of glucose. [SPEAKER_00]: And when we start to see this [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Work. [SPEAKER_00]: We start to see changes in the brain and it is amazing to me that one study,

I was in training. [SPEAKER_00]: They called us down and basically told us to stop prescribing hormone therapy. [SPEAKER_00]: And then you know what the other problem was, Megan, we all stopped learning about hormones as well. [SPEAKER_00]: And we stopped learning about menopause. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, and this is why, too, and I think it's really important, you know, I mean, again, I am, I am not a clinician. [SPEAKER_01]: I am a journalist. [SPEAKER_01]: So I am interviewing scientists, researchers, doctors for my living, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And when I interview everybody, you know, [SPEAKER_01]: What what I'm one big takeaway is that yes, we did women in a disservice with withholding hormone therapy, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And especially when it

comes to vaginal estrogen, my goodness. [SPEAKER_01]: Like I have interviewed so many people now who are just like, look, this is [SPEAKER_01]: very safe. [SPEAKER_01]: It is very low dose. [SPEAKER_01]: It is local, right? [SPEAKER_01]: It does not go systematically and most women need to at least have a conversation with their doctors about national estrogen and if it's appropriate for the general urinary syndrome of menopause but also for the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infections. [SPEAKER_01]: so this needs to be something that we're talking about. [SPEAKER_01]: But I also think it's important and something that we need more research, right? [SPEAKER_01]: We need more research to show exactly what, you know, like the study

you just referenced, I think is great, right? [SPEAKER_01]: But currently, it's not sort of a green light indication to take hormone therapy for brain health. [SPEAKER_01]: And even [SPEAKER_01]: to show definitively that taking hormone therapy is going to prevent dementia. [SPEAKER_01]: Same thing for the heart, we've got some great study, but the consensus isn't where right now it's actually a pretty narrow data set that we have like hormone therapy helps with [SPEAKER_01]: But like we need more research and so this is something I'm also passionate about talking about so that joint studies if you can if you're on a patch like Look look for research in your area so that the science is trying to

help the next generation of women get better information [SPEAKER_01]: have that information, right? [SPEAKER_01]: We can all, we can all look to see what we can join to try to help further that research. [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I think the WHO did damage, but not all of it was bad. [SPEAKER_01]: We still learned a lot from it, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And even now, it's like you're talking, like, the timing hypothesis, right? [SPEAKER_01]: You should know that within that 10 years of menopause, you know, you might be a candidate talk to your doctor about it. [SPEAKER_01]: And I think this day and age, if your doctor's like [SPEAKER_00]: Oh no, absolutely, and no bargaining when it comes to

your own health because the cost can be your life. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, and I don't want women to think that, you know, if they're out of that 10-year window, because some women are told that then, because we do make out, we make rules, we draw lines in the sand. [SPEAKER_00]: You know, at some point, like, we say, okay, assist has got to come out, when she gets larger than this amount, but it doesn't mean that you're absolutely not a candidate if you're like 10 or 12 years out. [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and the one other thing I wanted to say about vaginal hormones, that to me is outlandish as a scientist, as a woman. [SPEAKER_00]: There was

not a singular study or data point that [SPEAKER_00]: said any of those things endometrile cancer, dementia, stroke, heart attack can happen from localized therapy. [SPEAKER_00]: They slapped on the systemic warning from the E-plus P-arm on a localized estrogen product. [SPEAKER_01]: And they finally changed that. [SPEAKER_01]: Thank goodness. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes. [SPEAKER_01]: That sucks. [SPEAKER_01]: Warning is gone, right? [SPEAKER_00]: The Blackwife's warning has gone and in the time that the M factor documentary came out, I forgot what year that was. [SPEAKER_00]: We have doubled the amount of women on hormone. [SPEAKER_00]: So it was like 1.8% of the population at that point was on hormone therapy. [SPEAKER_00]: Now it's almost 5%. [SPEAKER_00]: And yes, you were right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now we are, I was watching friends and neighbors and they said, Perry menopause and vaginal atrophy and we're talking about laser therapy for GSM. [SPEAKER_00]: And so we have, and I never thought I remember meeting someone a couple of years ago and she's like, oh, you know, you're perfect. [SPEAKER_00]: I want to put you on TV. [SPEAKER_00]: And then I was talking about all of my areas of expertise. [SPEAKER_00]: And she's like, you can't say men oppose on TV. [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, you know, and what, just a couple of nights ago, Amanda Pete said, Perry, men oppose. [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, all right, we, we were getting there. [SPEAKER_00]: People are definitely discussing

it. [SPEAKER_00]: So, this course correction [SPEAKER_00]: fits into this course correction that we're seeing from this decades of, you know, damage, misinformation myth, whatever you want to call out that we've done. [SPEAKER_00]: Tell me about how the book is, is course correcting. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, evidence, right? [SPEAKER_01]: It's like give women the evidence that we have and be honest about what we don't have so that we can come to our doctor visits, our visits with our healthcare clinicians and say, look, here's what I understand. [SPEAKER_01]: Here's my personal health history. [SPEAKER_01]: Here's my family health history. [SPEAKER_01]: Where do you think this information lands for me? [SPEAKER_01]: Where do you think, how do you think, [SPEAKER_01]:

this works in my specific situation, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think I think that's the course correction I'm hoping for is like as women we deserve information, we deserve more research, but at least when we have the information, we have the data that we do have, we can make more knowledgeable and power decisions for ourselves. [SPEAKER_01]: And feel better when we walk away from those doctor visits, you know, because I think that's the other thing too. [SPEAKER_01]: It's like you say we have to be the CEO of our own healthcare, right, but that really is a new rule because my mother's generation, they went to the doctor and they were just like, I'm in your

hands, you tell me all the things and that's that I'll just do it, you know, and they blindly followed. [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: And that's no longer. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we don't have the same kind of relationship with our doctors, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Any more doctors move. [SPEAKER_01]: They don't have as much time with us. [SPEAKER_01]: We really have to go in armed with not only knowledge, but sort of a plan for what we want to happen in that, in that doctor visit. [SPEAKER_01]: And then in ability to adjust, you know, and if it's your preventive health care visit, you might not be able to cover all of the symptoms that you're dealing with, plus the [SPEAKER_01]:

You know, you're going to have to say, look, I have to show up prepared. [SPEAKER_01]: Like you would go to your hair stylist if you're going to have a totally new color and cut. [SPEAKER_01]: You'd show pictures, right? [SPEAKER_01]: If you're going to go to your accountant, you'd show up with your box of tax documents, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Same with our doctors. [SPEAKER_01]: We need to show up, you know, prepared. [SPEAKER_01]: Which means, here's a list of what's happening for me. [SPEAKER_01]: I've organized this list for you in order of priority, at least according to me, what do you think? [SPEAKER_01]: And what can we cover today? [SPEAKER_01]: And then what can we not cover? [SPEAKER_01]:

And maybe we can do a telehealth visit to cover all of that, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: But that's where my book fits in. [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, it's to help arm women with the information so that we can have those productive doctor's visits, you know, instead of showing up to your annual, your menopause specialist visit, let's say. [SPEAKER_01]: But I just saying, so tell me about the WHO. [SPEAKER_01]: Where did it go wrong? [SPEAKER_01]: Now, that information is easily accessible. [SPEAKER_01]: know that going in and then say, hmm, I don't have a uterus because I had a hysterectomy. [SPEAKER_01]: What do you think about just a estrogen patch instead of estrogen and progesterone? [SPEAKER_01]: Because I know

that I don't necessarily need progesterone if I don't have a uterus. [SPEAKER_01]: That's going to make a doctor's eyes light up and be like, oh, okay, let's have that conversation, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe you don't need progesterone or maybe you do because you've got other symptoms that it might help, but it's like you're going to feel like you get more out of that because you're showing up and forved. [SPEAKER_00]: So I love that because this is all the advice that I give to patients either find a specialist or if they're out of network for you and you can't do it, then be well, do not do it at your preventative because insurance won't cover

it and the doctor or provider won't have time. [SPEAKER_00]: Prioritize list out your symptoms because no one knows this is all about becoming the CEO of your own health, no one knows your body better than you including a physician. [SPEAKER_00]: I may be know the anatomical terms, but I don't know what's quote-unquote normal for you and what's atypical and what is your highest priority. [SPEAKER_00]: So this is all gold and the advice that you are in, you and I are in complete alignment. [SPEAKER_00]: And I love also your mindset shift. [SPEAKER_00]: I call it from moving from chasing disease to preventing it. [SPEAKER_00]: It's very important to me, especially because I've lost so many women

in my family. [SPEAKER_00]: And you call it shifting from sick care to longevity care because we both know women live longer, but we live those years in poor health. [SPEAKER_00]: So do you want to talk about that a little bit that mine set shift you talk about? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I think really this was another big takeaway for me after interviewing so many experts, which is, and you brought it up before. [SPEAKER_01]: Women in midlife have this window of opportunity, right? [SPEAKER_01]: We have a window of opportunity to make changes that really do move the needle in the right direction when it comes to optimizing our health later on. [SPEAKER_01]: You brought up dementia

Alzheimer's. [SPEAKER_01]: This is a disease that disproportionately impacts women. [SPEAKER_01]: And it is a disease now that we're talking about, yes, symptoms show up later in life, but they start in midlife. [SPEAKER_01]: And so if we do things like exercise, [SPEAKER_01]: right. [SPEAKER_01]: Even things like, I interviewed Dr. Jessica Caldwell who says, even assessing your mental load, your cognitive load and how much stress you're dealing with and what you can take off your plate can impact the physiology in your brain. [SPEAKER_01]: in positive ways, you know, when you get rid of some of that cognitive load. [SPEAKER_01]: So a lot of times, you know, we sort of roll our eyes at these like, you know,

basic lifestyle habits that we hear about all the time, but the truth is we hear about them all the time because they work. [SPEAKER_01]: And the more we can look at midlife as an opportunity to make some of those changes, the better health will have later on, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Because that's just it. [SPEAKER_01]: It's like we don't want to live longer in poor health. [SPEAKER_01]: break into hip. [SPEAKER_01]: We want to be lifting grandkids and traveling and enjoying our lives. [SPEAKER_01]: And so yeah, you know what I finished the menopause chapter of this book. [SPEAKER_01]: It was interesting. [SPEAKER_01]: I sent it into my two editors who were like gosh, there's so much great information

in here and I have so much more knowledge, but I'm feeling a little depressed like gosh, like right. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think because in the first draft, [SPEAKER_01]: I talked about all the real symptoms that oftentimes we didn't talk about or we brushed under the rug or we just thought we had to suffer through. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's also in here because as women we need to know what we might be dealing with and what the treatments are for those symptoms. [SPEAKER_01]: But what I did then was I interviewed more clinicians who started talking about the upsides of menopause. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that deserve airtime, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: This is not like once you hit

mid-life, it's all downhill from here. [SPEAKER_01]: No way. [SPEAKER_01]: Like in so many ways, we are coming into our own. [SPEAKER_01]: I see women in their 40s and 50s who are stronger than ever before because we're finally talking about strength training and how important it is for our muscle health and our bone health. [SPEAKER_01]: We're talking about the importance of eating well not only for our future health, but how it just makes us feel better at getting enough protein and fiber and and so I really do think that Yeah, this this window of opportunity man if you open it and start making some changes you're not only going to feel so much better now, but

definitely down the road it is going to pay off [SPEAKER_00]: And some of those, you know, neurologic changes that we talk about, it's not all doom and gloom. [SPEAKER_00]: Our emotional regulation improves and we get through that zone of chaos and then we're not so worried about nurturing and childbearing. [SPEAKER_00]: And so all of a sudden, the biggest subset of entrepreneurs and creators that you're seeing now are women 45 to 55. [SPEAKER_00]: Because I think it's, you're finally what we perceived as selfish is not selfish. [SPEAKER_00]: and you're allowed to take care of yourself. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, I, your empathy centers increase. [SPEAKER_00]: And so, I think it is a wonderful opportunity. [SPEAKER_00]: Like, yes,

there are a lot of symptoms, but if you arm people, like you have with your book, with knowledge and the right terms, and we educate people, they won't be afraid, and it can be an era and a phase of our lives where we feel very empowered to live longer and stronger [SPEAKER_00]: truly thrive, you know, just not survive, so thank you for this gift of this book. [SPEAKER_00]: Tell our listeners, by the way, we were nominated for a webbie award, so people are love, I know first season, this is our second season, but yeah, no, that's yeah. [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. [SPEAKER_00]: So tell us where we can find you and follow your great work. [SPEAKER_01]:

Thank you. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you can find the book anywhere books are sold, but also you can learn a little bit more about the book and about me at new rules of women's health.com. [SPEAKER_01]: And [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm so excited. [SPEAKER_01]: I just hope it helps women, you know, that really is my only wish for this book is that someone picks it up. [SPEAKER_01]: It's a big book, so it is definitely, um, it's a thick book. [SPEAKER_00]: I love it. [SPEAKER_00]: I love it. [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, my gosh. [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. [SPEAKER_00]: Perfect. [SPEAKER_01]: And so what the, you know, really had to use this book is not, it's not necessarily the kind of book you're going to,

you know, cozy up with and read cover to cover, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And less, you know, in less big, like textbook style books or your thing. [SPEAKER_01]: but it really is like tucking and tuck out when you've got something going on, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: And I will add, it's a great book to give a partner, a husband, for, you know, just say, just read the breast health chapter because I've got my annual mammogram coming up and my mammos usually end up in me needing an ultrasound or maybe even a biopsy and I'm gonna need your support, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, that's my hope is that it not only helps you but helps you feel

supported and just get the care you deserve. [SPEAKER_00]: I love that so much. [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for being such a badass disruptor and for helping women. [SPEAKER_00]: I know that my patients are looking for resources like that. [SPEAKER_00]: So thank you so much for writing a book and doing the work and taking the time to talk with me today. [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much, Dr. Javid. [SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate being here. [SPEAKER_00]: This is more than a conversation. [SPEAKER_00]: It's a call, a call to build something better. [SPEAKER_00]: Subscribe, share, and bring more disruptors into this room. [SPEAKER_00]: For unfiltered insights and bold ideas, go to drsomeet.com to sign up for the monthly disruptor newsletter

and follow us on social at drsomeet. [SPEAKER_00]: We're not waiting for a seat at the table. [SPEAKER_00]: We're building our own table.