17/05/2021
S*x, myths and the menopause with Davina McCall
Just wanted to share my thoughts on the documentary. An hour is never going to do the subject justice - there is so much more that needs to be said and explained, like the many and varied symptoms of perimenopause, that this stage can last for years and that we really need to look after ourselves during this transition. Diet, lifestyle and weight bearing exercise are foundation pieces to work on regardless of your view on HRT and it had barely a mention.
That said, because the loss of hormones can have a far reaching impact I understand the need to unpick the Women’s Health Initiative study which has had so many repercussions. 1 million women stopped HRT because of the attention grabbing headlines “HRT linked to breast cancer”. So it’s important we have the facts.
Statistically 23/1000 women will get breast cancer
The risk increases by 4 i f you take HRT
The risk increases by 5 if you have 2 units of alcohol/day
The risk increases by 24 with a BMI of 30+
So lifestyle factors create a far greater risk to our health.
It’s also important to realise that the hormones used in the study were conjugated equine oestrogens (yes that does mean horse wee!) and medroxyprogesterone acete (ie synthetic progesterone). It’s now possible to get body identical hormones prescribed by the doctor, and I agree with Dr Louise Newson that the best combination is topical oestrogen and oral utrogestan.
Did you notice the brain image copywrited to Lisa Mosconi? I mention her in my ebook. Dr Mosconi's groundbreaking research has shown the menopausal brain puts us at an increased risk of Altzheimers. I’m glad this was mentioned by Dr Michael Craig, but please don’t feel despondent. Being better informed about the risks means we can take better preventative action. This was one of the reasons why I created the group WoMenopause Brain – to focus on the brain health aspect.
It’s astounding in this day and age that a transition that half the population go through is still poorly supported, both by General Practice and in the workplace. Programmes like this at least get the conversation going although we've only had this one and the one Mariella Frostrup did for the BBC in 2019. Come on broadcasters, take a chance on the third of the female population that are in menopause and give us a whole series!!
🥰 Finally I must just mention Dr Nighat Arif – what an inspirational doctor, providing menopause education for her community in Urdu on TicTok (there is no word for menopause in Urdu, the closest means “barren”😞).