Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, leaky bladders, weight gain, hair loss, inability to orgasm? Nothing is off limits in these fact filled, solution-driven and often surprisingly funny podcasts that address the specific symptoms women face as they navigate perimenopause and post-menopause. Each segment is like having an in-depth consultation with Dr. Lauren Streicher, a nationally recognized menopause expert and the Medical Director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Meno ...
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S3 Ep137: A Short History of Estrogen Therapy
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“The physician who puts a woman on ‘Premarin’ makes her pleasant to live with once again- something for which husbands are grateful" 1960 Premarin ad The history of hormone therapy goes back over 100 years. And it didn’t start with horses; it started with cows. If there is a theme, it is that history continues to repeat itself, and following the mo…
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S3 Ep136: Muscle Mass and Menopause with Amanda Thebe
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Vaginas are not the only part of the body that change mid-life. With age, muscles start to naturally atrophy- a condition called sarcopenia. Women can lose up to 10% of their muscles mass every decade. In this episode, my guest is fitness expert Amanda Thebe, who addresses the value and importance of exercise, diet, and lifestyle choices to keep yo…
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S3 Ep135: Minimizing the Monotony of Monogamy: How relationships change over time with Dr. Alexandra Solomon
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When there is a lack of lust decades into an otherwise loving marriage or relationship, many, if not most, women assume their indifference to sex is a result of declining hormone levels and that a prescription for estrogen, testosterone or a libido enhancing drug will re-light the flame. A plunge in hormones can be part of the problem, and sometime…
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S3 Ep134: The FACTS on CLOTS and ESTROGEN
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Women who have a history of a blood clot, or a risk factor that makes them at high risk for developing a blood clot are generally told that hormone therapy is not an option. And then there is that terrifying black box warning on every single estrogen product, including local vaginal estrogens, that states, “Using estrogen alone may increase your ch…
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S3 Ep133: Best Breast Advice When it comes to Hormone Therapy With Dr. Corinne Menn
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There continues to be great confusion regarding the impact of hormone therapy on the breast. And despite the known benefits of hormone therapy, and reassuring data regarding the impact of hormone therapy on breast cancer, most clinicians are still reluctant to prescribe it, and most women are reluctant to take it. Even more so if a woman is high ri…
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S3 Ep132: The Itchy Vulva (and Not So Itchy Vulva) with Dr. Jill Krapf
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Men have always had the obvious advantage of inspecting their genitalia with essentially no effort on their part. For women, it’s a little more challenging. Combine that with the recommendation that there is no need for women to have a gynecologic exam as they get older, most doctors are also not looking. Today I am joined by Dr.Jill Krapf, a gynec…
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S3 Ep131: Why You Need to Keep Seeing a Gyne with Dr. Shieva Ghofrany
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More likely than not, if you are over 65, your internist has declared everything between your belly button and your thighs to be the “NO NEED” zone. “NO NEED” for a pap, “NO NEED” need for a speculum, “NO NEED” to remove your underpants, and definitely “NO NEED” to see a gynecologist unless you have a specific problem. But in today’s episode, I am …
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S3 Ep130: Are You Ever Done with Menopause?
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… and how to increase longevity with and without hormone therapy The idea that menopause only lasts for a few years is a common misconception. You may have even been told by a medical professional that when you no longer have hot flashes, you are done with menopause! But menopause means you’re no longer producing estrogen. There are hormone recepto…
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S3 Ep129: PCOS Problems Post Menopause with Dr. Allison Rodgers
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When I first learned about PCOS during my training, I was told that once a woman with PCOS hit menopause, irregular periods, excess hair growth dealing with fertility problems and other manifestations of PCOS were in the rear-view mirror. And that’s true, but we now know that women who had PCOS during the reproductive years, are not entirely off th…
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S3 Ep128: Can you Exercise Your Hot Flashes Away? A Journal Club with Dr. Maria Sophocles
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While not everyone is necessarily good about regular physical activity, no one questions that it’s good for you. Cardiovascular health, weight management, cognitive function, mood, better sleep and even reducing the risk of many kinds of cancer are all established benefits to moving as opposed to sitting on your butt all day. But, when it comes to …
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Have you ever wondered about the history of pubic hair removal, current trends, risks and benefit? In this episode, you will learn more than you ever wanted to know including: The EVOLUTIONARY reason for pubic hair The BIOLOGIC BENEFIT of pubic hair A brief HISTORY of pubic hair removal trends and techniques Current TRENDS in pubic hair styles WHY …
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S3 Ep126: A Deep Dive into RECURRENT UTI-Update!
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The only thing more miserable than a urinary tract infection (UTI) is when it happens again, and again, and again. But, good news, there are ways to prevent post menopause RECURRENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS. But sometimes urinary urgency, burning and that “gotta go” feeling is NOT FROM an INFECTION, and need a completely different kind of treatment…
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S3 Ep125: The Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause with Dr. Vonda Wright
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When one thinks of a medical specialty that is knowledgeable about menopause, usually an Ob Gyn, Family Practice doctor, Internist or maybe a urologist comes to mind. In this episode , I am talking to Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon who has made it her mission to raise awareness about the musculoskeletal changes that occur as a result of me…
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S3 Ep124: All Hormones Are Not Created Equal With Dr. James Simon
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Every available type of hormone therapy will effectively eliminate hot flashes and other menopause symptoms. However, all hormone therapy is not the same. Individual formulations impact bone health, breast health, and cardiovascular health differently. In episode 123, Dr. James Simon and I discussed starting hormone therapy after the age of 60. In …
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S3 Ep123: Hormone Therapy AFTER Age 60 with Dr. James Simon
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While it has been established that the most optimal time to start hormone therapy is within ten years of the menopause transition or before age 60, one of the most common questions that pops up is, “Is it safe to start hormone therapy after age 60?” In this episode I have a conversation with Dr. James Simon to determine WHO is a candidate for a “la…
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S3 Ep122: Navigating Menopause: Celebrity Style- Here We Go Again!
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In 2009 I was invited to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a menopause expert to counter the other menopause “expert”, actress turned author Suzanne Somers. “Dr” Somers is not the only celebrity to help women navigate menopause. Today, Gwyneth Paltrow, Selma Hayek, Naomi Watts, and others are also doling out advice, and in some cases selling prod…
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S3 Ep121: Dr. Streicher and Dr. Mary Claire Haver Respond to a “New” Model to Manage Menopause
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Don't Mess with These Menopause Experts! When The Lancet, one of the oldest, most respected medical journals, published a series of articles saying that “menopause had been over-medicalized”, that many symptoms were “just in her head” and that overall, women should navigate menopause “without the need for medical treatments” a group of furious meno…
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S3 Ep120: Did Your SSRI Make Your “O” Go?
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Up to 50% percent of women who take an antidepressant have sexual problems. By age 60, roughly 1 in 4 women are taking an antidepressant. This episode is all about the science behind WHY SSRIs and other antidepressants can sabotage your sex life, and what you can do about it. Why so many mid-life women take anti-depressants Why perimenopause hormon…
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S3 Ep119: Weighing in on Weight Loss Drugs
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Dr. Kathleen Jordon and I sat down to discuss the two most commonly prescribed GLP- 1 Inhibitors: Semaglutide (Ozempic™) and Terzepatide (Mounjaro™) What are GLP1 Inhibitors? How GLP-1 Inhibitors Who is a GOOD CANDIDATE to take a GLP-1 Inhibitor Who is NOT a GOOD CANDIDATE based on medical conditions Other HEALTH BENEFITS from taking a GLP1 Inhibit…
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S3 Ep118: How Hormones Impact the Gut and GERD
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It was news to me that estrogen levels can impact on the likelihood of reflux, your gut microbiome, and even the frequency and consistency of your poop. It’s complicated, and I had a hard time interpreting the data, so I invited gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Ruchim to help me out. In this episode: How and why GERD is impacted by menopause If Hormo…
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S2 Ep117: Top Tips for Terrific Skin & Hair with Dr. Ellen Gendler
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In this episode I am talking to a dermatologist that has over 100 thousand followers on Instagram. And with good reason. She is funny, she tells it like it is, she is a rock star in the world of dermatology and is my go-to when it comes to mid-life skin care, fillers, Botox, not to mention how to have more hair on your head and less hair on your fa…
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Estrogen is not only good for your brain, your bladder, and your bones, estrogen is also good for your blood vessels. And a lack of estrogen is one of the reasons, that heart disease spikes in women post menopause. Hormone therapy, if started within ten years of the menopause transition, appears to be heart protective. Today I am joined by Dr. Marl…
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S2 Ep115: Do You Have Good Sex? A Visit with Dr. Ruth
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Gynecologists have the unique position that it is appropriate to ask personal, invasive, and otherwise inappropriate questions. One question that is standard when you go to the gynecologist is “Are you sexually active? “This seems like a reasonable question, but is, completely meaningless. In my opinion doctors can learn a lot from Dr. Ruth’s appro…
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S2 Ep114: Is Duavee™ the Ideal Hormone Option? A Collaboration on a Complicated Patient with Dr. Risa Kagan
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Menopause experts rarely see patients with no medical issues. We see the patient with multiple medical problems and concerns. In this episode, I bring in menopause expert Dr. Risa Kagan to collaborate on options for a complex patient. My name is Beth, and I am 51 years old. I’ve been flashing for 2 years with no end in sight. I really want to try e…
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It’s so tempting. His little blue pills are sitting there and seem to solve his problem. Why not take one and see what happens? It did wonders for Samantha on Sex in the City who had earth-shattering orgasms after she took her guy’s Viagra™. Viagra™ is the trade name for sildenafil and is one of a class of drugs known as phosphodiesterase type 5 in…
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S2 Ep112: The Cosmo Report on Sex After 60 with Dr. Rachel Zar
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In the 1960s, under the leadership of Helen Gurley Brown, Cosmo morphed from a “proper ladies' magazine” to a much racier version that was thought of as being a sex manual disguised as a woman’s magazine. The target audience was the young working woman. Women in their 60s were not reading it and were certainly not buying subscriptions for their dau…
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S2 Ep111: BONE UP with Hormone Therapy with Dr. Kristi DeSapri
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While many women are aware that hormone therapy is good for the bones, it is usually thought of as a side benefit. You know, women take hormone therapy because they are flashing or can’t sleep and then are told, are told, by the way ..estrogen will also help prevent bone loss. In the United States, there are 10 million women with OSTEOPOROSIS and 4…
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S2 Ep110: Home Menopause Tests YEA! or NAY?
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Pregnancy tests, ovulation tests…and now the latest in tests you can do in your bathroom laboratory- Menopause Tests! Clear Blue™, who sell ovulation predictor kits and home pregnancy tests, has come out with an over-the-counter kit to help women who are “confused and wondering if what you’re feeling is the start of the menopause journey, or perhap…
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S2 Ep109: Don't Retire...Rewire! with Jill Wine-Banks
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Jill Wine-Banks may be known to you as the Watergate Special Prosecutor who famously cross-examined Rose Mary Woods, President Nixon’s secretary, about the 18-minute gap in the Watergate tapes. In addition to multiple other high-profile jobs (scroll down for the list!) decades later, she is now an MSNBC Legal Analyst. In addition, she is the author…
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S2 Ep108: Hot Topics in Menopause with Dr. Terry Gibbs
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A recurrent theme in my podcasts is that most medical students and residents do not get training in sexual medicine and menopause, which is why most doctors are not experts. And why so many women get frustrated that finding solutions for their menopause symptoms is too often a do-it-yourself research project. But today, I am joined by someone who i…
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S2 Ep107: Sex Rx: FDA Approved Drugs to Boost Your Libido
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Consider the “cycle of sex” throughout our lives. In your twenties, it’s all about sex, all the time. Then there’s the baby-making years, where sex has a purpose. And before you know it, the bedroom is a place where all you want to do is get a decent night’s sleep. The years go by, and suddenly it occurs to you that you can’t remember the last time…
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S2 Ep106: It's Time To Redefine Menopause
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In a perfect world, an alert would pop up on your phone announcing, “You are now in perimenopause,” followed at the appropriate time by “You are now leaving perimenopause and entering post menopause.” But it’s not a perfect world, and unless you are thrust into menopause because of ovary removal or chemotherapy, in many, if not most cases, it’s har…
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S2 Ep105: Top Things MEN Need to Know About MENOPAUSE
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If you think you’re having a hard time navigating vaginal dryness, painful sex, insomnia, and hot flashes, I can guarantee that if there is a man in your life, he is also having a hard time. More likely than not, he is completely in the dark about why you are having these symptoms and what he can do to help. In this episode, I sit down with Rachel …
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I spend a lot of time talking about dry vaginas and the impact that genitourinary syndrome of menopause has on your sex life, your day-to-day comfort, and bladder function. But vaginas are not the only thing that gets dry during menopause. This episode is all about another area of the body that biologically has a lot in common with a dry vagina…and…
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The number one complaint during perimenopause and menopause is insomnia. When a woman goes to her doctor and asks for help, she is rarely if ever, told that cannabis may be the answer. But at least one of four women walk out of the office and march right over to a local cannabis dispensary to get some help. Today’s guest, Ellen Scanlon, is the host…
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S2 Ep102: An Insider Approach to Ovarian Cancer with Dr. Shieva Ghofrany
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When someone is diagnosed with uterine cancer, in most cases, their uterus announces there is a problem by bleeding when it is not supposed to, or bleeding too heavily. Breast cancer, in most cases makes itself known by a lump, a nipple discharge or an abnormality on a mammogram. But ovarian cancer is not so accommodating and, in many cases, does n…
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S2 Ep101: 23 Tips to Drop Peri &Post-Menopause Pounds: UPDATE!
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You are never going to get your 20-year-old body back any more than you are going to return to a wrinkle-free face. In Episode 100, I went through all of the reasons why on average, women put on 5-7 pounds during perimenopause, and are twice as likely as mid-life men to have obesity. So now that you understand why you woke up one day and your scale…
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S2 Ep100: Why Women Gain Weight in Menopause
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On average, women put on 5-7 pounds during perimenopause, and then 1 to 5 pounds every year after. While lifestyle and age are partially responsible, men have the same genetics, lifestyle changes and less than perfect diets as women do. But it is twice as likely- for a midlife woman to have obesity compared to men. So, what’s the difference? The di…
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S2 Ep99: When Perimenopausal BLEEDING is the Problem
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Years before estrogen production completely shuts down, hormone levels start to fluctuate wildly during that special time of life known as perimenopause. Perimenopausal hormonal fluctuations result in the same symptoms that many women experience when they are in full menopause, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and insomnia. But there is a bonus sympto…
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S2 Ep98: Live From THE MENOPAUSE SOCIETY Annual Meeting
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The Menopause Society, formerly known as the North American Menopause Society, or NAMS, is the professional society to which pretty much every menopause expert and researcher belongs. Every year menopause experts from all over the world gather for five days of lectures, symposiums, panel discussions, and presentation of new research at the menopaus…
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S2 Ep97: Are You Laughing at Me or Did You Have an Orgasm?
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If you laugh, weep, or have foot pain when have an orgasm, you are not the only one. But, since it’s not a topic that generally comes up in casual conversation, you may think you are the only one, and end up spending a lot of time explaining to your partner that you are not laughing at them, and if you burst into tears post orgasm, you are not nece…
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S2 Ep98: Is your Lubricant HELPING or HURTING Your Vagina?
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Lubricants can be water based, oil based, silicone based, CBD infused, flavored...not to mention the ones that claim to elevate your orgasm and boost your libido. Not all lubricants are created equal, and the first lubricant you grab, probably won’t get you slip sliding away, and even worse, may end up damaging and dehydrating vaginal tissue. In th…
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S2 Ep95: Herbs, Spices, and Wishful Thinking
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It is estimated that between 50% and 75% of postmenopausal women use complementary and alternative therapies for management of menopausal symptoms. The options are as endless, as are the ads. In today’s episode I’m going to fill you in on which of the over-the-counter botanicals might fix your broken thermostat. This episode is the last segment of …
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Have you ever wondered why so many women professional singers retire in their prime, but the guys keep on going? I googled “musicians over the age of 70 who are still performing” and Paul McCartney, Elton John, Marvin Gaye, Mick Jagger, and dozens of others popped up. The list was really long for guys, and really short for women. One reason is that…
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S2 Ep93: What's Up Down There? Genital Dryness and Misbehaving Bladders- UPDATE!
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Men have always had the clear advantage of being able to inspect their genitals with very little effort on their part. Women’s genitals are not quite as accessible, resulting in a lot more uncertainty about what’s normal and what’s not. No wonder women are frequently blindsided by not only the physical changes that occur with the onset of menopause…
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S2 Ep92: The Estrogen and Cancer Conundrum
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Uterine? Ovarian? Cervical? Lung? Breast? Colon? Hormone therapy really needs a PR firm. Most people think it is right up there with cigarettes and asbestos as something that will more likely than not, give you not only breast cancer, but also other life-threatening cancers. In this episode, I am going to set the record straight and tell you the fa…
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91: Navigating Menopause: Celebrity Style
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In 2009 I was invited to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show as a menopause expert to counter the other menopause “expert”, actress turned author Suzanne Somers. “Dr” Somers is not the only celebrity to help women navigate menopause. Today, Gwyneth Paltrow, Selma Hayek, Naomi Watts, and others are also doling out advice, and in some cases selling prod…
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S2 Ep90: The Connection Between ACHING JOINTS and ESTROGEN
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It’s no secret that there is a connection between menopause and hot flashes, but there are many other symptoms that are consequences of a lack of estrogen beyond night sweats, vaginal dryness, and bone loss. And joint pain is definitely on that list. So, what is the impact of menopause on arthritis and joint pain? Is estrogen therapy the answer? In…
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While not every woman fakes orgasm, and most don’t do it routinely, it’s the rare woman who hasn’t done it at least once. Early research indicated that roughly 55% of women have faked orgasm at least once in their lifetime. This general pattern has since been confirmed in more recent studies, some reporting rates as high as 74%. In this episode I a…
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Not only can you laser your face smooth, laser your pubic hair away, and laser off regrettable tattoos—you can also laser your vagina. But should you? Vaginal laser is highly controversial in medical circles. Here’s why it gets mixed reviews, along with need-to-know info if you do choose to sign up. This episode will include: The science behind the…
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