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- [00:01]
A
Oh.
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B
Hello. Hello, it's Brooke Devard, and you're listening to the Naked Beauty podcast. What a treat we have for today's episode. I love talking to experts, as we talked about in the last episode, people who really know what they're doing. Nothing is more important than health. And today's guest truly gets to the root of how we can feel our best. Over the past three years, I have seen more doctors than I ever have before in my life. Pregnancy, gestational diabetes, and now some new things that have come up postpartum. And I always joke that what I really need in my life is a bestie that's a doctor, someone I can call and drill with questions. To be quite Honest, I use ChatGPT in between for, like, medical questions. And we have someone way better than ChatGPT for today's episode. Dr. Sharon Malone. She's a nationally recognized expert in women's health. She's the chief medical advisor at Aloy Women's Health and New York Times bestselling author of Grown Woman Talk, your guide to getting and staying healthy. For nearly three decades, Dr. Malone practiced as a board certified, OB GYN and certified menopause practitioner in one of DC's most esteemed medical practices. Today, she's helping to reshape the healthcare landscape for midlife women. I first discovered her when she was talking to Oprah. She's done incredible episodes with Michelle Obama talking about menopause and perimenopause. She knows so much and she makes it so accessible, I had to have her on Naked Beauty. Dr. Malone brings a wealth of knowledge, clarity, and compassion to every conversation about women's health. And I'm so thrilled that you guys get to learn from her on Naked Beauty today. Let's get into the episode. I'm going to start all the way at the beginning. So you grew up in Mobile, Alabama during the tail end of the Jim Crow era. I would love to hear what your experience experience of doctors and health was growing up and even just like hygiene rituals that you may have learned growing up.
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A
Well, you know, I grew up. I was born in 1959. So literally, I started school, I started first grade in 1965 and I am the youngest of eight kids.
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B
So you look amazing, by the way. I just have to say.
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A
Good makeup. You are very kind. So I'm the youngest of eight kids. So imagine this history. My mother was born in 1914. My father was born in 1893. So the south that they grew up in, which was really the rural south, was way worse than what we grew up in in Mobile, because Mobile, believe it or not, was the big city. But I was the first of all of the eight children to ever start school in an integrated school. And it was 1965, and even that was new. So, you know, and to give you an idea of how things were, the school was literally across the street from my house. We sort of lived on the edge of blackness, and then on the other side of the school was where white people lived. And so the school had always been white, but it was 1965. My mother said, hey, go to the school across the street. And the school only stayed open for two years. And then once they realized they really couldn't stem the tide of all the black people, it was closer to get to that Catholic school than it was to get to the black Catholic school. The archbishop closed the school two years later. So that was it. And from that point on, I was in an all black school in. In Mobile until I left.
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B
Okay, what was it like going to the doctor when you grew up? I would imagine that you probably went to a black doctor, and doctor's offices were segregated.
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A
You know, they were segregated. But to be honest with you, I didn't go to the doctor. I mean, my mother, you know, having grown up in the rural south and having no access to medical care, any sort of reliable medical care, they kind of, you know, lived on mother wit and good luck, you know, that you would survive it. And the fact that my mother was able to raise eight kids and have no major illnesses or setbacks and all of us made it to adulthood is actually more a testament to her ability to just sort of to know how to care for things. But we didn't go to the doctor. I mean, prevention was not a thing. She didn't go to the doctor. And if you did, if and when you went to the doctor, it was. It had to be something very, very serious. And I remember I got tonsillitis when I was five years old. And my mother had a home remedy for everything. You know, I don't think I ever took a course of antibiotics in my entire childhood. Just. She figured it out.
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B
Did she give birth at home?
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A
You know, what. Of the. Of the eight of us, only two were born in hospital. I was born at home. And I think that when. When they lived in rural Alabama, there was no hospital to go to. So everybody was delivered by midwives then. And so the first four were born at home, delivered by midwives. And then when they moved to Mobile, the first of my sisters who was born in Mobile. My mother went to this segregated hospital in Mobile. And I think my mother, you know, I don't know why she chose these things. So I'm assuming that she did not like the care in the segregated hospital. So the next child was born at home. The one after that, we moved, and then there was a hospital that was a city hospital that was also segregated. And she had baby number seven in that hospital. But she must not have liked that experience either, because by the time she got to me, she was like, you know what? I got this. And I was born at home. So despite being an OB gyn, I have a lot to thank midwives for because that's how we all got here.
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B
Absolutely. So when did you decide you wanted to be a doctor? What drew you towards this career in medicine?
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A
You know, because really, I had no history and really no experience ever really going to a doctor. And the doctor that I did go to, because, you know, I told you I had tonsillitis at 5 and it was an emergency. It must have been. I don't know, I must have been very, very sick because I went from the doctor's office to the hospital and had a tonsillectomy. And, you know, nobody has an emergency tonsillectomy, so I must have been pretty sick. But that was my only experience. There were white doctors, it was segregated waiting rooms, that whole thing. And I just. I went somewhere about when I was in the third grade, there was a. I'll never forget this little boy in my class, and this was. Now I'm in the segregated third grade, and his dad was a doctor. And I was fascinated by that. I was like, wow, a black person can be a doctor? I had never seen such a thing. So when you are a child and you're modeling, you think about who you are and what's the best thing you can be. You know, I was smart, and I knew I was smart, so I was like, oh, I'm going to be a doctor. So I. That got in my head when I was in third grade. Now, I don't recommend that as a time for making career choices.
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B
But it worked out for you?
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A
You know, it did, but it sort of, you know, I.
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B
It.
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A
That stuck with me, that being doctor is something that smart people could be. And I thought of myself as a smart person. So, you know, who knows, if I had met someone else who was, you know, a nuclear physicist, who knows, I might have been that. But the options about what you could be in that time, you know, everybody was either a doctor. No, no, no. They were Teachers. You know, you could be a teacher, you could be a principal of a high school, and then you could be a nurse. But we didn't really have a lot of role models for seeing black people in any real, you know, positions of authority, even.
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B
Yeah, I can imagine. My mom went to Spelman College. I also did a semester at Spelman College. But one of the things that really struck me about my experience there was everywhere you look in every single position of power is a black woman.
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A
Yeah. Yeah.
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B
And that was really powerful to see.
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A
Where did you grow up?
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B
I grew up in New York City.
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A
You live in New York?
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B
Yes. And then I went to California for college, but Stanford has an exchange program with Spelman that goes back, like, 50 or 60 years.
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A
So, you know, Stanford has an exchange program like. Like going overseas. It's like, oh, go to Canada and see some black people.
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B
It. For me, it was like going overseas because I grew up in a, you know, predominantly white environment in school. So, yeah, being at an HBCU and seeing that campus, that was incredible.
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A
Oh, I understand. I lived in Atlanta, too. I lived in Atlanta a lot. So I. I lived in Atlanta when I was in middle school, my freshman year of college, and I came back to Atlanta after I graduated college. So, yes, I know Atlanta quite well.
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B
Yeah, I do. A special place. One of the things that we get to benefit from in terms of your. All of your medical expertise is you make it accessible to all of us. So I want to dive into your book, Grown Woman Talk, and understand what was your catalyst for writing that book?
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A
Well, throughout the years, and, you know, and I've been doing this for a long time, I have a lot of family members, needless to say, and I have a lot of friends. And so I realized that in addition to my day job, where I was taking care of patients in my office every day, I was navigating a lot for family members, for friends and for friends of friends. And every time you would go someplace and someone realized you're a doctor, they had lots of questions. And, you know, it dawned on me. It's like there's a. A lot about just not just the. The medical questions that they had, but just the logistics of how medicine, you know, how it works now, because it's very different in 2025 than it was when I started back in the early 1990s. And so all of these things, the logistical things, how do you show up for an appointment, what kind of questions to ask? Those were the things that, you know, I sort of focused on in the beginning Because I real still don't know how to pick a doctor or you don't know how to assemble a team. And so the book was really based on that. But I also sort of focused on conditions that really affect women, sort of, you know, that's why it's called grown woman talk, because women at midlife have very different issues. You know, it's not about pregnancy and childbirth and that stuff. That's the first half of your reproductive life. And then you get to be, you know, in your late 30s, early 40s. And then I talk about a lot the common conditions that will affect you going into perimenopause. But I talk about fibroids, I talk about breast cancer, uterine cancer, what to do, how to screen. But then it really takes you through all of that and even beyond because I talk about, you know, how do you age healthfully, you know, and that's really important, even if, you know. So I say my book is for Everybody who's from 30 to 80, because it really touches upon all the things that you need to be concerned about at different times in your life.
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B
Yes. No, it's, it's so helpful. And we're going to get into the perimenopause discussion because I've learned so much from you on that topic. But I want to start with one of the phrases that opens the book where you say you are your primary caregiver.
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A
Right.
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B
What does that mean to you? And how can we take more agency over our own healthcare?
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A
Well, I think that I want. The book was really meant to be empowering for women and to really learn for them, to really learn how to advocate for themselves. Because we are in an environment now medically, where you are unlikely to have the same physician for two years, five years, 10 years. When I practice, I've been in the same practice for almost 30 years. So I had patients that I had taken care of since they were in high school and gone through, you know, childbirth, menopause and, and beyond. I knew your mother, I knew your daughters, I delivered them. And so I had a lot of context around my patients. When I saw them, I, I knew them. I, you know, seen them for years. That's not today's world. You know, you very, you're very likely to come in. You may be seen by a nurse practitioner, you may be seen in urban urgent care, or you may see a different doctor every time you come in. So that continuity and context, whoever is providing your care may not have it. And so that's why I said this is an Opportunity for you because no one is going to know you and know what you, you know, how you're supposed to feel better than you do. So it's more important now than ever that you take charge of your health. Because people don't know you. You know, they have no idea whether you complain all the time or you never do, or if you say, well, it kind of hurts. And you're the person who's a minimizer, they don't know. So this is where, you know, I wanted women to really have the tools to be able to go in there and say, don't take someone's word for it who does not know you. Yes, you have to be in charge of that and you also have to be in charge of making sure that, that when you show up that you know how to make the most of that interaction. Because you're not going to get a lot of time. You know, you get a 15 minute appointment, maybe a 30 minute appointment if you're new, if you're brand new, and I've never seen you before. But 15 minutes is not a lot of time to get all of your questions answered. So it's really incumbent upon you to show up and be very specific and do not leave that appointment. If you come in with a particular issue or a problem, don't be dismissed and walk out of that door and someone tells you, okay, you're fine. Nobody knows you better than you. If you don't think you're fine, then you need to voice that. You need to voice that. And at the very least, even if it's not handled in one appointment, because sometimes things aren't, leave with a plan for how to follow up, okay, well, if I'm not better in X amount of time, what do I do? Don't just walk out there because a lot of people leave going, well, the doctor said I was fine, so it must be fine. And you're still having whatever problem it was that you had that's unacceptable. Sometimes we're a little hesitant, particularly when we're talking to doctors. You feel a little intimidated, but it is really about being just firm about, no, it's not okay, I still feel something. Then, you know, that person, whoever that person is, should have no problem saying, well, you know what, I don't know, let me see if I can get you to someone else who might know.
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B
Absolutely. You give really great practical advice for how we can all just feel better, slow down the aging process. What are 5, 6 healthy habits that we can all introduce into our life to feel our Best.
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A
You know, they are so basic. And I say, and I almost, at the end of every chapter, I probably reiterate the same five or six things and it is. We underestimate the importance of exercise. We as women think of exercise as something you go because you're trying to lose weight. And I tell people all the time you do not lose weight exercising. That's not the point. There's. You have to do something else if you're trying to lose weight, but going to gym is not going to do it. It does so much for your mood, for your health, for maintaining, you know, your muscle mass that you're going to need as you age. So exercise is important, sleep, extremely important.
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B
Yes.
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A
You know, and the basic things, cut down on alcohol. I don't say eliminate it because I mean, come on, this is life, you know, and you got to have some fun occasionally. But you know, minim than the amount of alcohol that you drink. If you smoke, don't, you know, when I say watch your weight, I mean just be mindful of your weight gain. And I don't have a particular weight goal in mind because everybody is different. And you know, what if you are, you know, we, we have a very different standard as women for what we think we want to weigh because, you know, it's concerned. That's the cosmetic part of it. You know, well, I would like to wear a size 8 or whatever, get back in those jeans again. Those are sort of the, the goals that we're looking at when we're talking about weight. And I look at weight very differently. I look at weight from the standpoint of you need to be at a weight where you are not diabetic, you don't have type 2 diabetes, your blood pressure is under control, your cholesterol. So I look more at whatever weight it is to not have those things be problematic because you're going to pay for that down the road. So guess what, you can do that with the things I talked about and you may guess what, and you may wear a size 12 and that's okay too. But you know, so when I talk about weight, I'm not, I'm never talking out about it from an aesthetic point of view and to be quite honest with you, to be able to impact those health parameters like your cholesterol and blood pressure and what we call the metabolic syndrome, to make sure, sure these things aren't out of whack, you'd be surprised. You don't have to lose as much weight as you think you do. You know, it's it's probably, you know, for people who can lose 10% of their body weight, which isn't a whole lot.
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B
Right.
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A
You can and you can positively affect those things. But let's be clear, there is a weight beyond which it's not good regardless. And because we don't. The other things that we don't think about with weight, it's just like the, you wear out your joints, you know, mobility, all those kinds of things. So again, I'm very clear about what I mean for someone to lose weight. We have an additional very powerful tool that I didn't write about in my book because I did at the time. I hadn't had a lot of experience with them, but we have GOP 1s. I will admit that I was very hesitant about them because I hadn't, you know, I hadn't really had patients on them. But it's. The evidence is becoming clearer and clearer. For people that have those, you know, that their health is, is affected, then GLP1s may be the better course of action because people aren't gaining weight because of lack of willpower. I think we've understood that. You know, it's not that if, if.
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B
I'm tracking all of the suggestions. Eat mindfully, sleep.
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A
Right.
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B
Exercise, anything else, if you have hypertension.
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A
If you have high blood pressure or you are type 2 diabetes diabetic, take those things seriously. Yeah, I mean, you know, we call. Hypertension is called the silent killer for a reason is because, yeah, you don't have any symptoms until you have a stroke. So, you know, take it seriously, get medication and take your medication religiously. And the other thing that is a really big, I say, health booster for women, particularly as we go through perimenopause and menopause. Actually, if you are symptomatic through this process, if you have hot flashes, if you have mood swings, if you're gaining weight, all of that, then hormone therapy is actually beneficial for women because it helps you through all of these things as well. Because remember I told you how important sleep is?
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B
Yes.
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A
If you're having hot flashes all day and night, sweats at night, guess what you're not going to do? Get a good night's sleep, then you're fatigued, then you're making bad choices the next day. You know, you are going to, you're not going to go to the gym because you're exhausted. I get it. You know, and then you make bad choices about food, you make bad choices about alcohol and other things because you're really just trying to Feel better. I get it. So for anyone who is out there, and this message is particularly important to get to black women because black women suffer the most through perimenopause and menopause longer, more severely, and are less likely to be offered hormone therapy and less likely to take it even when it's prescribed. Because we've got to sort of lose some of these misconceptions about hormone therapy and it being dangerous and causing breast cancer. It does not. Yes.
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B
And it's important that people hear that from you because there's so much misinformation on the Internet. There are these milestones in life, like Mary, marriage, babies. Right. But there are also these medical milestones. So I would love to go through different decades with you and ask what we should be mindful of if there are specific tests that we should be doing in these different decades of our life. So in your 20s, what should you be most concerned with?
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A
You know, 20s, this is when you, you know, you are in the free and clear because you are less likely to have a health problem in your 20s, but you should be mindful and paying attention. Establish healthy habits in your 20s. And it gets back to the exercise that I was talking about. It is making sure that you start eating healthfully and exercise. This is when you are building your bone mass, when you are still, you know, you're not growing necessarily, but you're putting on that bone density that you're going to need later in life. So again, it's, you know, establishing healthy habits. Most women today who are in their 20s are not getting pregnant. I mean, the age at first, first birth is going up and up and up. So, you know, in your 20s, you prepare, get those healthy habits, diet, everything, such that when you get to childbearing, if you so choose, you're coming into a pregnancy healthy. Because here's another alarming thing about young women is that as the obesity rates are increasing in this country, we are also seeing, you know, we used to think of hypertension and type 2 diabetes as being things that you get sort of in your 40s and 50s. Well, guess what? It's showing up in young women who are in their 20s.
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B
Wow.
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A
These are all things that are, that will put you at higher risk for heart disease as you age. So this is where, you know, it pays. This is where whatever you do to get healthy in your 20s is going to pay off dividends, double, triple as you get in your 50s and 60s. So that's what I say to my 20s, 20 somethings. If you are. Again, this Is where? Watch your diet, watch your weight, watch your sleep habits. Then you're in your 30s. And when you're in your 30s, most women are thinking about maybe it's time. I didn't have my first baby until I was 34 years old. You know, we're busy, we have things, you know, we're going to school, we've got careers. So, you know, I think that preparing for bringing another human being into the world is very important because, you know, we spend a lot of time, time talking about the maternal mortality crisis in black women.
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B
Okay.
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A
Which is, which is real. But the part that we don't talk about is we don't talk about how many complications in a pregnancy are due to pre existing conditions before you're pregnant.
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B
Sure. So in our 30s, what should we be thinking about health wise?
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A
Same thing. I mean, just the same, you know, when I tell you nothing special, the same basic tenets that we start, but the, the earlier you start them, I told you, the more likely you are to continue them. You know what I mean? Because things are habits, you know, just like you say, you know, good. You know, let's make sure we have good skin care products, you know, that we're making sure that we are using sunscreen. And yes, black people need to use sunscreen too, to avoid skin damage. But all of these things, they're preventative because that's a message that I really give in my book. And it's not like I said, it's not rocket science. It's not like, oh my God, I need to go take, you know, 200 worth of supplements a month. You don't, you know, are you one.
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B
Of the doctors that does not believe in all of these supplements and vitamins? Because I've heard both sides.
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A
I don't. Not really. You know, let me put it this way. Supplements are good for people that have. Let's just say if you had a terrible diet, you know, you're like, oh, I'm eating nothing.
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B
I have a good diet, but I have a vitamin D deficiency which is common for black people. So I have been taking a vitamin D supplement.
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A
All right, but see, that's different. A vitamin, that's. This is what I was going to say. Vitamins and, and supplements that are treating known deficiencies. Yes, you should take those. If you are iron deficient, you need to take. If you're anemic, you need to take iron. But just these things that are out there that are saying, ooh, this supports this, this supports that, you know, I mean, there just know that there's not a lot of data behind a lot of it. And I would say if, you know, save your money, if you want, take a one a day. I mean, it doesn't even have to be, you know, take a one a day. It's important, though, for young women who are considering pregnancy, one of the things that you should take ahead of time and during pregnancy is folate or folic acid. So these are things that, like I said, yeah, that's important. Vitamin D is important. And the thing about vitamin D that hasn't really been recognized is that vitamin D you can make on your own if you're in the sun. Sun. But again, you got. Who spends that much time in the sun? And you've got to be in the sun. You've got to have enough skin exposed. And the darker your skin, the less you're able to. To synthesize your vitamin D because you're just not getting through. So, yes, there's that. So vitamin D have no problems with. But again, just check, have it checked in your doctor's office. And if it's good, continue doing what you do. Because vitamin, if you drink milk, if you have dairy, a lot of it is fortified with vitamin D. But you know, again, a lot of people are lactose intolerant. So you're not drinking milk, you're not getting enough in your diet. Yes, that's a supplement that you need to take to specifically treat a deficiency.
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B
I want to spend a little bit more time in the 30s because there are certain health things that I think come up for. And I'm 36. So for me and my peer group, one of them is fertility. So I'd love to talk to you about that. Another one is endometriosis, which is something that I've suffered with pcos and fibroids. And I know fibroids, yes. Affects black women. I know, I know. But these are all things that in my 30s are coming up. So I think fertility would be a great place to focus on. Because fertility is not something that you think about until you have to think about it.
- [27:43]
A
Exactly. And I do talk about fertility in my book, in this section, when I'm talking about perimenopause, because. All right, so let me just tell you what happens in your 30s, fertility wise, your fertility at 36 is not what it was at 26. But that doesn't mean it's gone. It just means that it's different and it's less. And if you talk to any of your friends who have been trying to get Pregnant, you'll find that fertility issues start to crop up, up for women in their 30s. And that's just. And you don't rarely hear about anybody having a fertility problem when they're 20. Okay, so there's that. But that is because as women, we are born with all the eggs we're ever going to have. So your eggs are as old as you are, and they've been sitting there waiting. They don't get a refresh. So that's why as you age, your fertility decreases. It's less. But let me be the voice of hope here, because my mother, I'm sure she wasn't expecting it, but she was almost 45 when born. So again, for those of you who think your fertility is gone in your 40s, it's not, so act accordingly. But there is nothing that I can really tell you ahead of time that I can say to you, you know, other than the same, just be healthy. But is even being healthy going to change whatever the composition or how many eggs you have? No, not really. They are what they are. And I would tell. The one thing that I tell young women is I said, this is a time where you need to talk to your mot and you need to say, okay, mom, how old were you when you had your children? Did you have problems getting pregnant, yes or no? Because you need to know when your mom went through menopause, because a lot of women will go through menopause in their early 40s. And if you go. If your mother has gone through menopause in her early 40s, that means that she was perimenopausal in her mid-30s, which again, has an effect on your fertility. So I say that not to scare people, but I say. And I. I would give this to advice to my patients when they would come in, and I would say, you know, and so, well, you know, what are your plans? You're thinking about it. And then they're married and they're, you know, 32, 33. And they said, well, you know, but I'm working on this, or I'm gonna. I need to, you know, do this in my job or finish this and whatever. And I would say, okay, well, that's fine, but this is what the advice I would give you. You sooner is always better than later. If all the things are lined up in your life right, you know, there are a lot of people, you know, that's not an option because you have not met your life partner when you're 32 or 33 years old. I get that you know, do you.
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B
Recommend that women freeze their eggs?
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A
Oh, now, see, I have a. I have a podcast that is called the Second Opinion, and it launched last week and I did a whole episode on freezing.
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B
We will link to that episode, hold.
- [30:48]
A
Episode on egg freezing. So I go through the pros and cons of it, and here's the stuff about egg freezing that I say. You should think of egg freezing as an option. It's a very expensive option, okay? Because you pay as much to freeze eggs as if you had an IVF cycle. So, and again, it. The older you are, the fewer eggs you're going to harvest per cycle. So the recommendation on egg freezing is 38 is probably about the upper limit of when you should freeze eggs, right? Okay, okay. But there's a whole complicated sort of thing that people don't think about. They go, oh, I'll freeze eggs. Well, to be able to have those eggs be viable when you come back for them, who knows, two, three, five years from now, and to have a chance at a pregnancy, they give you really great statistics. However, that assumes that you've won frozen your eggs before age 38, because the ones after don't use as well. And you have to have at least 20 eggs frozen because the likelihood of getting pregnant from any one of those frozen eggs is probably about 2% percent per egg. So it's never 100% never. It's never even close to that. So I say that to say, think of it in terms of the. The expense. And for a lot of young women who are now working in tech, that is a benefit that you get with your job. And I would say, hey, if you got the benefit, why not? But when you're choosing to go out of pocket for it, just know that it's not just the cost of the egg freezing itself, which is about anywhere from 15 to $18,000 for that cycle. A lot of times you need to do two. So you do. All right, so then now it's 36,000. You pay anywhere from 500 to $1,000 a year for storage. Then when you come back for them, you still have to do ivf, right? So that's a whole other. You know what I mean? So when people say, oh, it's only $15,000, it's like, no, it's not just $15,000. And unfortunately, no one should be. Have to have that be the limiting factor about whether or not you have a baby. But that's just the reality. And I want people to be very clear about that up front. That's why I said, if you have the opportunity and you have a partner, do it. Do it the old fashioned way, you know? Yes, that works.
- [33:26]
B
Yes. Or if you have the benefit, use it. All of my friends listening from Meta, Google, Apple. Exactly, Exactly.
- [33:33]
A
I want to benefit. Use it.
- [33:35]
B
Yes. I want to go through the next three. We can do like a lightning round. But I think they're, they're just, they're hot topics. So endometriosis, which I was diagnosed with before my second pregnancy and I was worried about it, like, is this gonna pop? I now post pregnancy, I have a 10 month old, it's gone. Which is like how, I don't know how that happened. But endometriosis, what is it? How do people know if they have it? It.
- [33:55]
A
Okay. Endometriosis is, is the great masquerader, you know, and the, the symptom that, because it can, you can have a lot of endometriosis. And in an endometrioma, like you said, this big cyst on your ovary and have relatively few symptoms, a lot of times it doesn't come up. We may not even find out that you have endometriosis until you're trying to get pregnant. Because sometimes infertility is part of the, the how we discover it in the first place. But you can also have. Can. It is the same tissue that lines the uterine cavity. So that tissue that you get your period from, that gets stimulated and you bleed from every month according to hormones, that tissue, and we don't know how it gets there, but it's outside the uterus, is it? And it's just randomly dispersed in your abdominal cavity. You can have endometrial implants on your bowel, on your bladder, on, you know, on your ovaries. And it's just all out there. So we don't know where, you know, where it can. There are a lot of theories about how it gets there, but it's not, it's out there where it's not supposed to be. So a lot of women will come in with, with pain. It can be painful sex, it could be pain during periods, it can be pain throughout the month. And because endometriosis, they're like little, like, which I say we call them little powder burns are all over. You can't see it on an ultrasound. So you can get an MRI and ultrasound. And unless you have it on an ovary where there's an actual cyst, you can't see it on imaging. So what that means is that oftentimes when your symptoms are such that either pain or infertility, the way it's diagnosed is through a laparoscopy where you actually have to go in and look in the belly and go, oh, well, look at that, there's endometriosis. And unfortunately for a lot of women who have been complaining of pain off and on for years, the diagnosis gets dragged out. And that endometriosis in your cavity can cause scarring. It can really put things where they're not supposed to be, and it does damage. And the longer it's untreated, the more damage is done inside. And that's the unfortunate thing, is that it takes too long for people to realize that it's there. And when it's there, you treat it, you know, and you can treat with medications, plain old birth control pills work. If it's big enough to be removed, you can ruin. And, and the, the reality is that you need to suppress those, those implants, keep them from growing. And that's why back in the old days when women, when we knew they had endometriosis, the doctors used to say, well, get pregnant. Pregnant. Okay, well, what does pregnancy do? Your hormones are so high and you're not cycling, Right. Because those endometrial implants that are in your abdomen or on your bowel, they're cycling the same way as if, you know, it would grow with your hormones and then it would bleed and it was scared. But there's no way for all of that tissue to get out. Otherwise. When you're getting your period, it's coming out with that. But it stuck other places.
- [37:16]
B
Yes. For, for me, it was really painful periods and long periods, like people would.
- [37:20]
A
Be like, oh, so you know, I.
- [37:22]
B
Finish in three days and I'm like, I'm on day 10 of heavy bleeding here. There's something is wrong.
- [37:27]
A
Yeah. And you know what this is? I have this conversation with, I just had it with someone a couple of days ago, young woman. And a lot of times women don't know what's normal for a period period. You know, everybody has cramps, you know, some a lot worse than others. Some people have very debilitating cramps. Having periods that last longer than seven days, having pain that makes you stay home from school that you can't take a Midol or an ibuprofen from is not normal. It requires, you know, that being addressed.
- [38:05]
B
Yes.
- [38:06]
A
You know, a 10 day period. I told, you know, I, I'll ask you this question. Over the course of your period, how much blood do you think is normal to lose? Well, you know, Again, whatever was normal.
- [38:19]
B
I was losing two times it. But what, what, tell me, what is normal? I don't know.
- [38:23]
A
A half a cup. Entire. Over the entire period, not a day.
- [38:29]
B
80Ccs.
- [38:31]
A
Anything over 80cc's is considered heavy bleeding.
- [38:37]
B
I was going way past that. Yeah, that's helpful. That's really helpful to hear because too.
- [38:43]
A
Many women walk around bleeding like that and thinking that's normal, because it's normal for you, but it's not normal. And if you don't bring that to your doctor's attention or your doctor doesn't and ask you very specifically, okay, well, how many pads are you using a day? I used to ask that all the time. I'd say, okay, do you ever have, you know, are you worried about bleeding through your clothes? Do you have to, you know, do you bleed through your sheets at night? Not normal. None of that's normal. No one should have to wear two pads and a tampon and be scared that they're going to bleed through their clothes. Not normal. So for anybody who's listening out there, if this is your story, get to a doctor's office and explain that to them, because we have a lot of ways to manage that. And it doesn't have to end up with a hysterectomy. But the, the, you know, what happens is that you get anemic because you're.
- [39:40]
B
Losing so much blood. Absolutely. That's what happened to me.
- [39:43]
A
And for any young woman who is anemic to me, I cannot understand why. If you have anemia and you're. That's not normal, it is incumbent upon the doctor that you see to explain or have a reason for why you are anemic. That means you're, you're either two things are happening. You're either bleeding more faster than you can make blood. Okay, make blood cells, or there's something wrong with your ability to make blood. You know, you. And in your bone marrow. But either way, it needs an explanation.
- [40:20]
B
Yes.
- [40:21]
A
Around anemic forever. No.
- [40:23]
B
And, and having low iron impacts the health of your nails and your hair.
- [40:29]
A
And your hair.
- [40:30]
B
So many women are dealing with hair loss and they just go and buy the sacred drops from Beyonce. But they need to figure out the underlying health condition.
- [40:36]
A
Exactly. That's treating the symptom, it's not treating the cause of it. And so make sure if anybody who's anemic, and there are certain conditions, people who have thalassemia, people who have sickle cell trait. Trait not sickle cell anemia, but sickle cell trait may have but that's an explanation. Okay. If you don't have those things and you're anemic, then please ask your doctor to do a workup and figure out why you're anemic and address the root cause of it.
- [41:06]
B
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. I want it. I want to go deeper on perimenopause. But before we do that, pcos, that's.
- [41:13]
A
Polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is kind of a misnomer because it sort of says polycystic. Mean you have multiple cysts on your ovaries. Well, sometimes, but they're teeny tiny. They may not be cysts that are, you know, the big ones that you would even see on an ultrasound. But it's a syndrome, and it's usually associated with irregular cycles, like very irregular. Some. It may be that you get, you know, two or three periods a year, you're not ovulating regularly. Okay. Which is a problem. There's also associated with weight gain. It's also associated. Because you're not ovulating regularly, you're getting more of the. The male hormone that's made. So a lot of times women will get acne. They will get hair growth. Yeah, hair growth, where you don't want it. And there's another component where you get insulin resistance, where a lot of these women will find that they are, you know, again, not. May not be classically type 2 diabetics, but that all that insulin resistance is also having a problem with your weight. So. So acne, irregular periods, weight gain, hair growth, and as a result, a lot of times, infertility. Because if you're only getting periods two or three times a year, then obviously you've got far fewer times that you even have the opportunity to get pregnant. And that's another one that we have this picture of what we think an overweight person with hair growth and all that. Well, that's easy. But there are women with pcos who are normal, who are normal weight, who don't have the classic symptoms of that. But when you do the testing, you find out, oh, yeah, that. That's what we got here. And again, a hormonal problem, right? You have hormonal problems. You need hormonal solutions.
- [43:06]
B
Fibroids seem to affect black women disproportionately. What is causing the fibroids and how important is it to get them removed?
- [43:16]
A
Well, see, this is one of the things that I. That I'm advocating for is really more research. We don't know why. Well, let. Let me give you some context. About 70% of women have fibroids. Okay, 80% of black women have fibroids. But of the 80% of black women who have fibroids, they're bigger. They start earlier, and they are more symptomatic. Okay, so 80%. I told you. I'm one of. I'm one of eight children. I'm one of five girls. Four of my. The five girls in my family had fibroids. Three had hysterectomies because of their fibroids in menopause. But this was in an era when that was the only solution. They had. Oh, fibroids. Have a hysterectomy. Right. I have fibroids, but I have. They're small, but there is. So we don't really know why it is that. That women have fibroids, and black women are disproportionately affected by the fibroids. But that's an area where we need more research. What is it? Okay, well, what do we have? There are a lot of different solutions, and it depends on where you are in your reproductive life. You know, the myomectomy, just remove the fibroids. You know, we have other procedures, and a lot of it can be done with what we call minimally invasive surgery, where you don't have to make a big incision and go in and, you know, take fibroids out like we did in the old days. That's still an option for people that have very large fibroids. But, you know, again, what to do with them really depends on how symptomatic you are. And you can have fibroids. You don't have to do something just because they're there. If they're bothering you or you have fibroids and you. They're not. You're not particularly symptomatic, but you look like you're six months pregnant of that. It's bothersome. You know, you might want to address those. But there are lots of options. And I go through all of those options in my book, and it's a. There's a whole chapter called female troubles. And we talk about fibroids. But here's the other thing about black women is that they are less likely to complain about them. And so therefore, their fibroids have gotten bigger, you know, because they've been unaddressed for so long. And a lot of times it takes them out of the running for doing the minimally invasive surgery because now they're too big. If you're going to make an incision that's a half an inch, you Know three or four of those. Then how are you going to get a fibroid out that's as big as a cantaloupe? Kind of difficult, you know.
- [45:54]
B
Yeah, yes. Perimenopause, which is how I became familiar with your work, just trying to educate myself about perimenopause. One of these things that we know is coming, or at least for me as 36 I know is coming, but don't know much about what is happening when we go into perimenopause. And what are the signs of perimenopause?
- [46:14]
A
Okay, well, perimenopause, let me just explain what it is. Perimenopause is, is called the menopause, the menopausal transition. And that's going from your peak reproductive years in your 20s and your early 30s. And then eventually you're going to end up at menopause. We all will. It doesn't. That's the part of it that's inevitable. One day your fertility will be over, you'll stop producing, you know, you'll stop ovulating and the periods will stop. Now when is that for the average age for menopause is 50, 51. Black women is earlier than that. It's about 49. But that transition going be from your peak reproductive years to menopause, that transition is called perimenopause and it lasts anywhere from 4 to 10. And guess what? Black women are on the 10 year mark, that those that perimenopause will last before you get to menopause. The first sign that you get is usually menstrual irregularities where you're saying, hmm, didn't I just have my period? Well guess what, it's here again. So Instead of having 20 or 30 day cycles, you may notice they're down to 25 or 24. And if you have long cycles, well, imagine it seems like I'm on my period all the time, you know, like every other week I'm on my period. So that's the first sign. But all of the things that we traditionally think of in menopause, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, mood swings, irritability, depression, changes in your libido, brain fog. And it also one of the things that happens because your hormones are all over the place is sometimes there's hair loss loss. I say hair loss where you want it, hair growth where you don't, you.
- [48:08]
B
Know, and sorry to interrupt you, but all of these things last for 10 years.
- [48:13]
A
Well, it they start, but let me just say not everybody has all of them.
- [48:16]
B
Okay, I'M terrified hearing all of this.
- [48:18]
A
No, no, no, no. Let me just say this. There's a whole list of, you know, 30 plus symptoms. You know, the weight gain, the inability to sort of to, to maintain your weight. You're doing the same thing that you were doing, doing five years ago, and you used to be able to lose £5 in a week. No, ma'. Am. Doesn't work. And your weight really starts to redistribute. And that's where I said your body composition changes. You start to lose lean muscle and you put on fat and it tends to go in the middle where you don't want it. So this is why I said in your 20s, where you want to have as much muscle mass as you have. You know, that's the whole thing. That's where you get a chance to build it. In your 20s and 30s, such that when you get to your 40s and 50s, muscle isn't just, you know, attractive, you know, because you're nice and buff, it is metabolically active. You see? So the more muscle you have, the better you're able to maintain your weight. Because even when you're doing nothing, your muscle needs, you know, it's got to be fed, right? So that's going to take care of it. But fat will just sit there, there. It's doing nothing. And it, that's why it goes nowhere, because it requires so little, you know, it does this, nothing. So all of these things. And, and, and when I say this, not everybody has all of the symptoms. They come and go. They may. You may have two from column one and three from column two, or none of the above. Some women don't have hot flashes at all. That's rare. But about 20% of women will get through menopause and they have never had a hot flash. And they will say things mistakenly like, oh, I didn't go through menopause. And I'm like, yes, you did. You did. You didn't have a hot flash. So. Right, right. But sleep disturbance is a big thing that happens, too. So when you start to experience these things, sometimes the reason why it's confusing is the symptoms will start. Remember I told you it's a whole transition, even while you're still getting your period. So you go to your doctor and you start saying, oh, wow, I can't sleep. You know, I'm gaining weight. I. My, I've got brain fog. And you don't. And you, as long as you're getting your periods, you'll go to a doctor. And doctor said, well, you know it's not menopause. Or they'll check your hormones and they'll go, well, your hormones are normal. And it's like, yeah, my hormones are normal, but I'm not.
- [50:47]
B
Right.
- [50:47]
A
This is what I'm saying. You can be the boss of you. You.
- [50:51]
B
Yes.
- [50:51]
A
And if you were having symptoms, then you treat symptoms. I don't treat. You don't treat lab work. Right. You don't say to someone, oh, well, you're getting a period every month, so therefore this couldn't have anything to do with it. Yes. So if you're between the ages of 35 and 45 and you're having any of those symptoms in any particular order, and you are bothered by them, because I think that's important. If you're like, yeah, you know, it's, I'm fine and I'm living my life and it's not affecting the quality of my life or my relationships, then you can wait. You can say, okay, well, I'll see. I can start treatment if and when I get to be symptomatic. But what is that?
- [51:34]
B
What is that treatment?
- [51:36]
A
It's hormone therapy. It is hormone. Well, commonly known as hormone replacement therapy. But it's a different way. We give it in perimenopause while you're still giving your periods than we give it to you when you're postmenopause. But the concept is still the same. Is estrogen given in some form or fashion. And it's a progestin, a progesterone type medication. But here's the deal. Remember I told you that the reason why we have to be careful in perimenopause because your fertility is less, it's not gone. Because you still need birth control in this time period. So that's why a lot of times we might, if you don't have, have other, not using other birth control. Birth control pills will work well, because what's in a birth control pill? Estrogen and progestin. And it will take care of your symptoms. And guess what? It will also, it will also give you birth control. So you got symptom relief and birth control. But if you had an iud, let's just say you have an IUD and you don't know what's going on with your periods, because the I, the IUDs that have progestin and the them you don't get a period a lot of time.
- [52:47]
B
Right.
- [52:47]
A
Well, then in that case, you don't need birth control. You already got birth control and you've already got progestin so then we can give you back the estrogen to even you out. But that's the whole. If you just get the concept that these are hormonal changes that are affecting not just your reproductive organs, it's. It's affecting everything in your body. And so when it's a hormonal problem, the best thing for them is hormonal treatment. And women are so bothered by this, and we know they're bothered by it because you can just go on the Internet and see how many people are selling products that are not hormonal, that are saying, oh, take this supplement, drink this tea, have this, whatever. You know, it's all this stuff because they realize that women are vulnerable and they don't know what to do. And you may have gone to your doctor and your doctor has dismissed you and you keep looking for a solution. But the thing that I want everyone to understand is that the most effective treatment for the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause is hormone therapy. And all the reasons that we think that we are not candidates for hormone therapy are, are probably not true. There are only a few. They're only like four reasons why someone cannot take. But other than that, you know, family history of breast cancer, not a re. Not a contraindication. I have high blood pressure. Not a contraindication. Being overweight, not a contraindication. Because they're different things for hormone therapy in menopause than even for birth control pills. Because there are people that can't take birth control pills that can still do hormone therapy later in life. So they're not. Even though they're the same class of things, they're not the same in terms of. Of what the contraindications are.
- [54:46]
B
That makes sense to me. And contraindication, meaning it doesn't mean that you aren't a candidate to take.
- [54:51]
A
Right. Contraindication just means that these are the reasons why you cannot take them. You cannot take them. Like, say, for instance, if you want to take birth control pills but you smoke, okay? If you're over 35 and you can't. And you smoke, you can't take birth control pills. But if you are 50 years old and you smoke, well, you shouldn't, okay? But nonetheless, if you, if you smoke, you're. That's not a contraindication to taking hormone therapy, right? You know, having hypertension is not. You might not use birth control pills for people, but that's for people who have uncontrolled hypertension. Attention.
- [55:28]
B
Yes.
- [55:29]
A
You know, if you're on medication and you're good, then you know you can do it.
- [55:33]
B
Makes sense. I appreciate how you have been again, democratizing your knowledge, your medical knowledge. So there's the book. But now we have this great podcast, Second Opinion that we can listen to. The decision to make a podcast and, and I guess what people can gain from listening to your podcast would be great to hear.
- [55:50]
A
We have been talking about this podcast so long. Michelle Obama and I did a podcast together five years ago when she did her, her first Michelle Obama podcast. And we talked about perimenopause and menopause. And I have to tell you, she's a big champion for women's health. And she said, you know what? We should do a podcast about women's health. And you know, and I said, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so here we are five years later and it's finally out there in the universe. But the point of it is to give women a little bit more in depth information about their health. Health. And we talk about all things. And you know, and the one thing I want to be very clear about it and why it's called the Second Opinion, I'm going to do two things. One, I'm going to share real women stories, you know, so people will come on and we're going to have, we have an episode about fibroids, we have an episode about heart attacks and strokes. And I don't know everything. Let me say I'm a gynecologist. I know what I know. And so I will also have, have experts, you know, so I will have a cardiologist when we're talking about that. I would have an endocrinologist come in and talk about it because I want you to have the best information from people who know what they're talking about. And as I said, because you're so often bombarded with so much misinformation, I mean, now we've got, we used to have no information, now we've got too much. And then you can't, and you can't decide what's true, what's not, not what to believe. And so the guests and the experts will be curated because these are people that I know and respect. And if I were going to send someone to a patient, these are the people that I would have you talk to. And because we are a podcast, we get to talk about it longer than you're ever going to have to talk about in a doctor's visit. So we can really do deep dives into any of these topics. And the one thing that I really want, want, I I encourage my listeners and women to do. Is that to really go to go to my website is Dr. Sharon malone.com just Dr. Doctor, not spell out the word. But then there's a tab for, for tso, which is second opinion because I want to know the things that people have questions about because, you know, you have less and less time in a doctor's office and doctors don't, you know, they're not trying to do a bad job job. It's just that there's only so much you can get to in a 15 or 30 minute appointment and you've got a lot of things to cover. So this is to backfill some of that information such that when you go to your doctor's office again, now you're armed, now you've got a little bit more information so you can ask good questions and you can also know when someone's not doing the right thing because that's important too, you know, to be able to say, okay, this is not serving me or this doesn't sound right. Right. And you know when to go for a second opinion.
- [58:52]
B
Yes, yes, I'm, I'm tuning in and very excited and I will make sure that I put the link in for all of the listeners. I'm going to end on a slightly superficial note, but your makeup is just so gorgeous and I just need to know the products that you've used, like the glam is so good. What, what, what makeup products do you reach for?
- [59:09]
A
See, you are making me happy because I did it myself. Well, you know what, and I really say they're two things that I use that I have been using. You know, I'm the chief medical advisor at Alloy Health and we do perimenopause and menopause care for women and we do hormone therapy and we also have a skincare line, it's called M4. And really it's the same thing. It is using topical estrogen because remember I told you you have estrogen receptors all over your body. So we do the, I do the medical part which is the hormone replacement therapy, but we also have, but they're prescription medication. So it's M4 and it's an estrogen face cream.
- [59:51]
B
Okay. Wow. I have to look into that.
- [59:53]
A
Yeah, it's an, it's an estriol face cream. It's much weaker. It's not, it doesn't treat anything other than your skin, so you don't have to worry about, oh my goodness, I can't take this. So it's a very, so I, I Use that morning and night.
- [60:08]
B
And what does estrogen do for your skin?
- [60:10]
A
Skin. You have estrogen receptors in your skin. You have estrogen receptors in your brain. It thickens. When. After. Yeah, after menopause. You lose collagen. You're losing. You know about. I. I forget exactly what the number is, but you lose collagen in your skin, which is why it thins and wrinkles and you lose the elasticity and moisture in your skin. And that's why. Why people look different at 60 than they do when they're 40. So this sort of just does the same thing, but it's the same concept because we use vaginal. We use vaginal estrogen for people who have vaginal dryness and irritation. Guess what? It does the same thing in your vagina. So we use vaginal estrogen for your vagina. We have that. And then we use topical estrogen for your face. And you just. Morning, night. Don't have to worry about all of the. Any of the contraindications that we normally think of with estrogen. Estrogen, there are. None is far weaker. And it's the type of estrogen that you make when you're pregnant.
- [61:15]
B
Very interesting.
- [61:16]
A
And gets pregnant better. But anyway, so that's. That's just my skincare routine. And then I use. I got some new makeup. So this is Bobby Brown. I have Bobby Gray. Yes, Bobby Brown. And great. I do it myself. So, you know, I don't have anybody to, you know, it's just me. Me. So I just go upstairs and like. Okay.
- [61:36]
B
I love the blush. The blush is so. Is it a powder blush? It's beautiful, that color.
- [61:40]
A
Yeah, it is a powder brush blush. And it is now. And that's something new. And I forgot. I forgot what the name of it is, but it's something that's new. But anyway, everything else is Bobby Brown.
- [61:53]
B
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. And final question that I ask all of my guests, which is, when do you feel most beautiful?
- [62:02]
A
Oh, my. That's a hard one. Because I'm trying to think, when was the last time I felt most beautiful? Probably when my husband and I are out on a date night, you know, because you put in the extra effort, you know, because, you know, he sees me minus the glam, so he's, you know, so I. When we're gonna go out, we're gonna go out to dinner or my favorite date night is going out for music. Oh. And then I'm just totally. I'm totally happy. You know, I'll put on some clothes. Go. Go listen to a little Music, and I'm all good.
- [62:39]
B
I feel like date nights. I mean, my husband and I are 10 years in. I'm sure you're much further along in your marriage, but we. Even with two young kids, we do really try to prioritize date night. It's hard sometimes, but just having that romance with your partner is so important.
- [62:52]
A
It is. You have to remember what it was like before. You know, I have three children, so, you know, it was a whole expanse there where, you know, date night sort of went by the. By the wayside. But this is something I want to tell you that is encouraging. You know, this is the. You're in the hard part right now, you know, and it's. And it's gonna be hard for a while, you know.
- [63:16]
B
Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. You know what it is? I think it's just like with the child care of it all, you have very little time for yourself. And then.
- [63:25]
A
Right.
- [63:26]
B
With each other, it's like, I don't even have time to take care of me. And then us. And. But we just went on our first trip without our kids for 10 days in Spain, which was incredible. But, yes, it's. It's a hard. So it's just a lot to do.
- [63:36]
A
It's hard. But see, this is why I want you to be encouraged, because for all that work that you're going to put in, and that's going to go on for another 20 years worth of, you know, this in high school and college and all this. But the point that I always try to make to women is, like, the reason why you want to be healthy and you want to take care of yourself through this time period. Because there will be a time when it's just the two of you again. It will be. And my husband and I are at that point now, and we're leaving tomorrow. We're going to London. We're going to London and Paris for a week. And when it's just. And when it's just the two of you, wouldn't it just completely really suck if now your children are gone, everything. And then now you can't, you know, somebody can't get out of the bed and someone else has got. You know, you're on this medication when your health impedes your ability to enjoy the time that you've been working for your entire life. And so if that's not incentive for you, I. I don't. I don't know what is. But I also say this to you, is that I tell young women, I said, do not fear, share this part of life, I'm having more fun now than I did 20 years ago. So it's good. Everybody's gone. I'm like, yay, see you. See you Thanksgiving. Okay.
- [64:59]
B
Yes. I love to hear that. I love to hear that. You have been such a joy to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much.
- [65:06]
A
All right. You're so welcome.
- [65:08]
B
Wow. Dr. Sharon Malone was just incredible. I learned so much from that conversation. I hope you all were sitting down taking notes. I learned a lot. But I also left with this feeling and this empowerment when she talks about being your own best primary caregiver, like, you are your primary caregiver. That really hit for me, especially as I have had to learn to continue to advocate for myself in medical spaces. I think it's something that doesn't come naturally, at least for me. It doesn't come naturally for me. And just hearing her say, like, if you know something's off, continue to advocate for yourself. She also talked about healthy eating and exercise. Now exercise. I'm like, I'm good about exercise. Healthy eating, I just don't excel at. If you guys have listened to this podcast for a long time, you know, you know, it's not something I excel at. It doesn't come naturally to me. I like my baked goods. I like my sweets. I like my treats. I love macaroni and cheese. I love, you know, bolognese. I love a baguette, like a sourdough bread with olive oil, like, all of it. And I don't really practice moderation, but I'm going, I'm going to do better. I do these sakara life cleanses that really help to, like, reset my palate and, like, take away the sugar craving cravings. Maybe I need to do another one of those. But I do hear her when she talks about how important it is to eat with health in mind. I also loved what she said about supplements. I didn't get a chance. There was so much that I wanted to get to that I didn't get a chance to ask her about probiotics because that's another supplement that I take in addition to vitamin D. But I had an internist tell me, like, 15 years ago, she said vitamins are expensive. Pee. That's exactly what she said. She's like, eat what you need to eat and, like, don't worry about spending a whole bunch of money on vitamins. So it was interesting hearing that perspective. I loved hearing her talk about endometriosis and, like, how much blood you're actually supposed to lose versus what I was losing before my diagnosis. Just eye opening. And maybe some people listening to this are going to like do a follow up appointment with an OB GYN just because they heard that information. So it was also interesting to hear her kind of POV on GLP1s. Like she was skeptical at first, but now she sees it really, really helps people. I've had someone, I made a video on TikTok about GLP1 usage and Serena Williams and I'd say my take was that I was not for it. I didn't think it was necessarily a positive thing to encourage many women to use GLP1s, but someone commented and said like, I have PCOS and GLP1s have completely changed my symptoms and made my health so much better. So listen, if it helps you, that's great. My whole thing was like, don't just do it because you want to be thin. That's like probably the worst mindset to go into using a specific drug that's like a serious drug. And then of course, last but not least, just learning about perimenopause, knowing that it can last for 10 years. What? That's just incredible to me. She said it can last up to 10 years. Learning about perimenopause, menopause, all of the symptoms that go along with it, and how much hormone therapy can help ease those symptoms and how it's not something that we should be afraid of. So wow, I learned a lot and I am making a commitment to myself after this conversation to really, really just not take my health for granted. I think that's the easiest thing to do is to take your health for granted. You can't take it for granted. The cliche, trite thing that everyone says your body is a temple and you have to treat it as such. But I really felt it coming away from this conversation. Thank you all so much for listening. I have great episodes coming up. I've been interviewing people that have a lot of wisdom and I know you guys are going to love these conversations that I'm rolling out over the next couple of weeks. Thank you so much for listening and I'll be back next week with a new episode. Dreaming of getting the all new iPhone.
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A
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On his.
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C
First day back in the White House, Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order stating that there are only two genders, male and female, and that those genders are tied to biological sex. This statement was simple and devastating, and it signaled that the gender backlash had reached a boiling point. I'm Julie Koehler, the host of White Picket Fence. This season, we're examining the many faces of this gender backlash, how it's showing up in our politics and culture. It's a scary time, but it's also a moment for imagination. What becomes possible when we announce Imagine a Better Future? Subscribe to White Picket Fence. Wherever you listen to podcasts.
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A
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