The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast
Welcome to The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast! Your trusted source for evidence-based, science-backed information related to menopause.
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness and supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.
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The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast
Episode 022: Exploring Menopausal Hormone Therapy
Unlock the secrets of navigating menopause with confidence in our latest episode featuring Dr. Catherine Hansen, a veteran in the field of OBGYN and menopause care. Have you ever wondered how hormone therapy can impact your overall well-being during midlife? Dr. Hansen, with over two decades of expertise, guides us through the intricate hormonal changes women face during the climacteric period leading up to menopause and underscores the importance of addressing these symptoms early.
We deep-dive into the various types of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), focusing on the key hormones—estrogen and progesterone. From pills to patches to creams, learn about the diverse delivery methods of estrogen and why transdermal options might be the safest and most effective. Dr. Hansen also sheds light on the calming benefits of bioidentical progesterone, especially for women with a uterus, and offers a streamlined approach to kickstarting hormone therapy. Advocating for a collaborative relationship with your healthcare provider, she emphasizes the importance of preparation and self-advocacy.
But what if MHT isn't an option for you? Dr. Hansen discusses the long-term benefits of MHT on bone, cardiovascular, and brain health, and offers actionable advice on non-hormonal alternatives for alleviating symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness. From SSRIs to non-hormonal vaginal treatments, discover a range of options tailored to your needs. This episode is packed with evidence-based insights and invaluable advice, making it essential listening for anyone aiming to make informed choices about their menopausal health journey.
Dr. Hansen is a highly respected physician specializing in gynecology and menopause management. She is a board certified OB/GYN & Menopause Practitioner, Coach, Facilitator and Speaker.With over 20 years of experience and a passion for empowering women through education and personalized care, she has helped countless women manage their menopausal symptoms and improve their quality of life.
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Email Us: info@midovia.com
Welcome to The MiDOViA Menopause Podcast! Your trusted source for evidence-based, science-backed information related to menopause.
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness and supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit midovia.com to learn more.
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Welcome to the Medovia Menopause Podcast, your trusted source for evidence-based, science-backed information related to menopause. Medovia is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness and supporting women in this stage of life, both at home and in the workplace. Visit medoviacom to learn more home and in the workplace. Visit Medoviacom to learn more. I'm one of your hosts, april Haberman, and I'm joined by Kim Hart. We're co-founders of Medovia, certified health coaches, registered yoga teachers and midlife mamas specializing in menopause. You're listening to another episode of our podcast, where we offer expert guidance for the most transformative stage of life, bringing you real conversations, education and resources to help you overcome challenges and reach your full potential through midlife. Join us and our special guests each episode as we bring vibrant, fun and truthful conversation and let us help you have a deeper understanding of menopause. Hey friends, I'm excited to share a significant milestone that you may have heard mentioned Medovia has launched the first ever menopause friendly US accreditation program. This program sets a comprehensive standard overseen by a third-party panel of experts, ensuring air quotes here that menopause friendly is more than just a term. It reflects a real commitment to meaningful, sustainable workplace changes. It's important to us that the Menopause Friendly logo is meaningful and marks a high standard within the menopause space. We hope you'll join us on the journey to becoming menopause friendly as a leading pioneer in the States. You can find more information at menopausefriendlyuscom.
Speaker 1:Today we have Dr Hanson on the show. She is a highly respected physician specializing in gynecology and menopause management. Dr Hansen is a board certified OBGYN and menopause practitioner, coach, facilitator and speaker With over 20 years of experience and a passion for empowering women through education and personalized care. She has helped countless women manage their menopausal symptoms and improve their quality of life. Our topic today is menopause hormone therapy, otherwise known as MHT, but some of you might know it as HRT hormone replacement therapy. It's definitely a subject that impacts so many women and it's surrounded by misinformation and confusion, and to help us navigate this complex and crucial topic in women's health, we are thrilled to welcome Dr Katherine Hansen to the show today. Dr Hansen, thank you so much for joining us today. We have been waiting for this episode for a long time, and I know that our audience has as well. We're so thrilled to have you today.
Speaker 2:I am so glad to be here and just really inspired by you offering this educational topic to your audience. It is really important information for people to arm themselves with to your audience.
Speaker 1:It is really important information for people to arm themselves with Absolutely yes, and to have correct information right. So we're going to. We're going to break down some of the myths. We're going to talk about it in detail, but before we get into any of that, I'm I'm wondering if you can give us a little bit more information about your background and specifically how you became interested in menopause.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 2:So my interest in menopause started way back in residency.
Speaker 2:I finished my five-year OBGYN residency actually in Canada and I did a full year after that in relationships and sexual health and, of course, sexual health being so tied to menopause and midlife changes that that was very natural progression.
Speaker 2:I took a waylay, a very hard right turn when I met my husband and I went into rural medicine, but then I spent the last 15 years in Houston, Texas, where I spent a decade at the university there and, knowing that there were so many in the women's health and OBGYN area, there were so many midlife women who were feeling underserved in the aspects of specifically around midlife health and wellness and menopause questions that that became my niche at the university and in the Houston area really there aren't many, if any, providers who are really doing that well according to guidelines at a university level, and so the practice grew very, very quickly and I have since left the university and continue that practice in that area of passion and I find that it is really, I think, what sets women up for living happy, healthy, fully expressed, fully productive lives and it's essential for us to understand that. It is a topic and an area of medicine and health all itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:We're nodding our heads yeah, that can't exactly. So, yes, so why don't you talk to us about what is menopause hormone therapy Like? What is it exactly and how does it work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so probably around 10 years before the actual menopause and we'll just define it as the 12 months with no period, so the anniversary day of your last period, 12 months later, and about 10 years before that we call it the climacteric hormones start to fall off. They start to sort of decline. Things can fluctuate up and down, but ultimately the estrogen and progesterone start to fall a little bit, and when we have a lack or a low estrogen and or progesterone, there are symptoms related to that. And so menopausal hormone therapy is an option with estrogen, progesterone where we get more stable and I would say, probably sort of a younger level of those hormones, so that we can alleviate those menopausal symptoms in the climacteric or the perimenopausal timeframe and then into postmenopause. All the benefits we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and how would someone know that it's time to talk about this, like with their doctor? Like what? What is there? Is there a symptom? Is there a age? Is there a timeframe? Like, how do I even know that this is an option for me and when should I think about it?
Speaker 2:Such an important question, kim, and I believe that we should be talking about this right from the very beginning. It's part of women's health. It's part of one of the transitions that happens in women. We go through puberty, I start to see I have sort of young girls, I start to see young women, and then through reproductive years whether women choose pregnancy or contraception or what they choose around that area of their health and menopause is just a very natural progression of that topic. So the short answer is we should be talking about this with every woman, or everyone who identifies as a woman, everyone that has been born with a uterus and has these questions. But the short answer is when you start to feel a little off and you start to wonder, could this be my hormones? That's when you ask those questions.
Speaker 1:So symptom, symptom management and what I'm hearing here is our symptom tracking, rather is really important. So noticing how your body naturally has performed, how you're feeling, and then and then taking a pause to notice when things begin to look different and feel different, is important. So we have to take the time to notice right and then to track and then seek help. I'm assuming that that's the sequence and not waiting until we hit rock bottom. Right, educating before we have the Mack truck, for lack of a better way of saying that. Come straight at us, notice before and then seek help with a health care practitioner. And, on that note, mht. Thank you for explaining what that is. Can you give our audience just a general sense of the types of MHT that are available, because I'm not sure that everyone knows.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. The types of menopausal hormone therapy are essentially estrogen and progesterone. You have to have progesterone if you have a uterus, so for women who have had a hysterectomy, that's not a necessary part of their menopausal hormone therapy. And then the estrogen comes in various doses and various forms of delivery. So there's patch, pill, cream, and then for progesterone it comes in a pill but can also be combined in a patch, and it can also be combined in a pill. So there's various modes of delivery and various dosages for these two hormones. But that's menopausal hormone therapy.
Speaker 1:What's the benefits of each one? So we have pill form, we have transdermal I think we call that transdermal systemic we have vaginal estrogen. Can you help us understand that a little bit more?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. So. We know that transdermal estrogens are likely safer. So they miss first pass metabolism, they don't go through the digestive system and so they don't create the clotting factors that an oral estrogen does. If people can only take oral, that's okay, but transdermal, either through a patch, cream, spray there's various ways of taking. It is thought to be safer.
Speaker 2:And the benefits of estrogen I mean the list is quite extensive. But the benefits start with symptom relief. So it's on label for things like hot flashes, night sweats, sometimes sleep disturbances, insomnia, and vaginal or vulvar, vaginal or bladder we call it genital urinary syndrome of menopause. But it's on label for those to treat those symptoms and to alleviate those symptoms. The other benefits are things like bone protection and all the other sort of you feel like you've been hit by the Mack truck will often, most of the time, get better as well. Fatigue, joint aches and pains just feeling off, mood instability, anxiety all of those things can be somewhat alleviated by the estrogen.
Speaker 2:Now the progesterone. It's interesting. It depends which formulation you take it in. So there's the bioidentical pill form or capsule form which has some calming effects, can sometimes help with sleep and again it's intended to alleviate or it's intended to protect the uterus from uterine cancer, to kind of balance out the estrogen and make sure that that uterus is protected. But it has those added benefits of being sort of calming and helping with sleep. And there are other scientific benefits that are starting to emerge around bioidentical progesterone as well cognitive, brain, health, but not on label, not proven yet, but some other benefits. And then there's other progesterones besides the bioidentical capsule. As I said, we can combine progesterone into a patch, we can take it as a pill and those versions are, we'll call them, more synthetic. They're not the bioidentical versions. And so when we and we'll get to sort of a standard regime for a woman, but when we suggest progesterones we have to be sort of clear about which formulation and also which dose we want to take as a woman who's making a choice and advocating for ourselves.
Speaker 3:It seems like so many choices and options. How does somebody make that decision without the level of? I mean obviously they'd partner with a doctor, but how do they know what the right, how do you know what the right combination of all of those things are when someone's struggling with the symptoms that you know, especially early on, and you don't have information? You feel like you're going crazy. But that seems like a lot of choices to be able to make.
Speaker 2:It is a lot of choices to make and I think that that adds to a lot of women's resistance, reluctance or even potentially delaying treatment or getting hit by the Mack truck at the end, you know, hitting rock bottom. And so it's such an important conversation and relationship to have with a healthcare provider and I absolutely am not giving medical advice to your listeners. But let me just simplify it as I would for people in general. As a provider, as a menopause certified provider, I always start with a transdermal estrogen and, if there's a uterus, a bioidentical progesterone taken at night. I will even go so far as again, disclosure, I'm not providing medical advice but to start with a 0.05 milligrams per 24-hour transdermal is usually a great starting dose, will alleviate symptoms for most people and then we can titrate up and down from there. So a 0.05 patch is usually applied twice per week is usually where we start.
Speaker 2:There are patches that are applied once per week, but I go with the twice a week because the patch that's on once a week is a very different looking patch and it often falls off because it's been on for so long. So the twice a week really small little patch, really nice 0.05, that's where I start. If there's a uterus, I go with a hundred milligrams of rometrium or micronized progesterone, which is that bioidentical progesterone taken at night. Most women who have to take it because they have a uterus find that it also has advantages around calming mood and sleep. And if if someone were to say to me what do I take to my doctor and a lot of times that's the advice I give if I can't be someone's provider is take these two estrogen transdermal patch 0.05 twice per week and the Prometrium micronized progesterone capsule, 100 at night. Take that regime into your provider. Start there if it's appropriate for you, if you've been appropriately screened, and then you can have a conversation from that starting place.
Speaker 3:That's great. I think we often get feedback that the doctors are like no, you're fine, Just suffer through, you know, suck it up, basically, Cause that's what your mom did. And we always say find another doctor that will have a good conversation with you if you're not hearing what you want to hear there. So I like the idea that you would walk in with I've done a little research. Here's what my symptoms are. I've tracked them. Here's what I understand might be a solution for me and here's what I'd like to be able to talk about and hopefully you'd be able to have a good conversation.
Speaker 2:And I'd like to just also add that for people who are still having menstrual cycles, that regime that I just mentioned may create more irregularity, may throw things off. It may not be appropriate for someone if they're perimenopausal, they're still having regular cycles, but things are starting to go awry. For someone, if they're perimenopausal, they're still having regular cycles, but things are starting to go awry. And we see that a lot because younger and younger women are noticing symptoms and wanting treatment. Menopausal hormone therapy is menopausally dosed and it's intended for menopausal women. So when we back that up to sort of early forties, mid 40s, are still having cycles. A different regime, a different cycling regime and or a low dose birth control pill is actually a much, much better way to go.
Speaker 1:Interesting I'm going to ask that question to Dr Hansen if someone that is in perimenopause could start MHT, and you just answered that question. So yes, but perhaps in some situations and it's case by case I assume, because everyone is individual and they'll experience menopause differently that the birth control pill might be a better option, but the can start MHT in that perimenopause stage when you still have a menstrual cycle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, most of the time. If someone is already skipping cycles or cycles are starting to go away, that's a much better situation to be starting menopausal hormone therapy. But there is a way to prescribe that micronized progesterone or prometrium cyclic fashion that would sort of replicate a cycle so that the bleeding is predictable. But there will still be bleeding and a lot of women that try to go on menopausal hormone therapy too early end up with really wacky cycles and honestly don't feel much better. So I would say if cycles are still happening regularly, it's probably better to have a low dose birth control pill. But the answer to your question is yes, there are situations in that perimenopausal range where menopausal hormone therapy can be explored.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, it was a scary topic for me to consider with my medical practitioner and there was a lot of press that said it wouldn't be the right, it was not healthy or safe, and I still think that that's something that people are hearing, due to some research that happened in 20, 30 years ago. What would be your answer to? I'm hearing that it's not safe and that it might cause breast cancer and other symptoms if I'm taking it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so crazy to me that we're still talking about the Women's Health Initiative. That happened in 2001. I was just graduating there's my age. I was just graduating OBGYN residency at that time and we used to have graphs and charts to show the increased number of strokes, the increased number of breast cancers per women. Those numbers in the Women's Health Initiative were still low. But the Women's Health Initiative average age was 63 years old, so the women were in that much older category and it did show some increased risk of stroke and breast cancer.
Speaker 2:The hormones that were used in the Women's Health Initiative were also those more synthetic versions. It was a conjugated equine estrogen which is from pregnant horse's urine, which, by the way, is a natural derivative. So if people want natural sometimes natural is not necessarily the best but Premarin. And then it used a different progesterone which is a more synthetic progesterone. So different drugs, different age ranges than we're talking about now, and the adverse effects were higher.
Speaker 2:What we know now when we go to that younger age range, that it's very safe, very healthy, with way more benefits than disadvantages to be taking a menopausal hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause and preferably under the age of 60. There is also really good literature now showing us that women who have started and want to continue beyond the age of 65 in a reasonably dosed fashion, fda approved regimes, can continue much beyond the age of 65 and continue to have added health benefits from that. We've also reanalyzed I say we, but the scientists have reanalyzed data and shown that, for example, with estrogen alone, breast cancer risk was lower and with the bioidentical versions and forms in a younger age category, breast cancer risk is very, very low for menopausal hormone therapy. So the stroke risk, the breast cancer risk, the things that we were originally worried about, have pretty much been reduced to a very reasonable level if we re-look at the data.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thanks for that.
Speaker 1:You mentioned just a moment ago some of the long-term benefits of taking MHT and I'm wondering if you can just address that for just a moment and unpack that a little bit more moment and unpack that a little bit more. Bone health, you mentioned, can be protected with MHT cardiovascular benefits. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the way I like to look at it without digging into all the data and odds, ratios and confidence intervals et cetera is when we replace or we supplement or we take our hormone levels kind of where they have been and we keep them there as we approach menopause, all of the estrogen receptors in our body, in all of the organs of our body, continue to have estrogen and progesterone at that level. Now if we go for a long period of time without and we go through menopause, for example, with bones as one organ example, as soon as the estrogen starts to fall off, the bone mask starts to fall off. So if we have that time frame where there's no menopausal hormone therapy and we're lacking estrogen and progesterone in our own body, the changes start to happen in our body. But if we keep it and we start around the age of 50 or around the time that our cycles go away, we start our menopausal hormone therapy.
Speaker 2:Every organ system maintains that level of estrogen and progesterone. That's the way I talk about it with my patients. So we're talking about your bones, for sure. We're talking about brain and heart and skin and nails and hair and all of the organ systems in our body are therefore sort of maintained at that hormonal level, with all of the advantages that go along with that. So, without digging into all of the details, we're protecting our brain, our heart, our bones, our organ systems.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So it feels like a no brainer for me now that when I have all that information but there are people that don't want to or can't take hormone therapy and what, who are those people and what are some non hormonal alternatives to help manage some of these symptoms?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so earlier April mentioned systemic versus local estrogen. And so systemic would be any way that we're putting it into our body where it goes through our whole body. So systemic would be any way that we're putting it into our body where it goes through our whole body. You know, whether it be a cream spray, patch pill. Local is where we're putting a treatment estrogen, as an example, in the vagina or in local areas, and so vaginal estrogen is not systemically absorbed. And so, just to be clear, vaginal estrogen is a way of managing the symptoms around vulvar vaginal health, around bladder health, genital urinary syndrome and menopause that isn't systemically absorbed, so therefore safe for almost everybody and that obviously needs to be in discussion and people who should not. So, coming off of that, people who should not be taking menopausal hormone therapy would be people who have a really strong risk of stroke, really strong personal, even really strong family risk of stroke, and that again depends on the age of the person, the history that they have and the reasons are not necessarily that menopausal hormone therapy is going to cause stroke. But if you have a really high risk of stroke, you want to be cognizant of any increased risk. I say to patients if you're the one in a million, you're still the one in a million. Be careful with that. People who have had breast cancer or estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, hormone receptor positive breast cancers they need a big discussion before they were to start any hormones. But vaginal estrogens are safe in breast cancer survivors, and sometimes other estrogens too, depending on the medical team.
Speaker 2:And I would say anyone that has, we always, say, a sensitivity or an allergy to a medication would not be good candidates for menopausal hormone therapy. And what can they do? There are other treatment options for hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia. Those other treatment options would be like an SSRI, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor which is considered to be an antidepressant. But we're not giving it for depression. And I hear a lot of patients say well, my doctor just wanted to put me on an antidepressant, but the point was the SSRI is actually treatment for your menopausal symptoms and so in certain dosages, certain formulations, that's a good one.
Speaker 2:The Fisoline Tant is another different sort of not hormonal option for hot flashes and night sweats, so those vasomotor symptoms. And then when I say to patients, what's your top symptom, that you would wave a magic wand and want to go away, and then we can focus on symptom relief. All of these treatments are intended to be focused on symptom relief, and I just want to throw in that there are non-hormone options for vaginal treatment as well. There's a steroid option, and then there's an oral option that focuses on the vagina. It's called a CIRM or a selective estrogen receptor modulator, and it's a spemaphene and it's a good one for the vagina, for vulvar vaginal atrophy, but it's taken orally for people who don't want to put something in their vagina.
Speaker 1:Just out of curiosity, dr Hansen, you just mentioned vaginal atrophy. We know vaginal dryness, painful sex. We hear that as something that is really concerning for a lot of people that are going through menopause. What percentage of women do you see that have that same? I'll call it complaint or challenge. And then you just mentioned that it's relatively safe for almost everyone. Do you ever see that as a preventative, perhaps, option that we begin taking in that perimenopause stage so we don't have to experience some of those symptoms?
Speaker 2:Oh, april, I love that question. Okay, good, yes, yes, yes, just like all the other organ systems, I really should have thrown the vulvar vaginal tissues in there as well. There's good evidence to tell us that once the estrogen receptors are lacking estrogen in the vagina vulvar vaginal area for too long, those tissues they deteriorate and it's hard to get them back if they've been lacking estrogen for too long. So absolutely vaginal estrogen or systemic estrogen that impacts those tissues, because you don't need to do both. They both will work on the vulvar vaginal tissues. And to start that treatment either as soon as you think there's going to be a problem and for most people it tends to be sort of some dryness or some burning during intercourse or some bladder troubles, some urgency to go pee or even incontinence can start as soon as you notice those symptoms in the vulvar vaginal area. Definitely time to start treatment without waiting for the Mack truck.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I think it's so interesting, yeah, I mean we talk about like leakage when I'm sneezing or you know those kinds of things and like just deal with it, kind of, and the idea that it's part of the symptoms that you have as you're aging because of your hormones and that you can do something about it that is not harmful in any way whatsoever is is huge. Right, it's huge. So there's not enough good PR in this space of what women could, should be able to do to help manage some of their symptoms. Wendovia is out to help change that narrative, as you know, and you're doing that work too, but how can we help people understand that this is something that is helpful and not hurtful and that they should ask more questions? What are your thoughts on patients, so that people don't you know, in my case, don't pee their pants when they're sitting on the weight and lift a heavy weight?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we we need to do a whole entire episode on urinary incontinence for sure yes.
Speaker 2:And there's two. There's two types of incontinence. So one is the urgency, like I have to get there really fast, I have to know where all the bathrooms are at the shopping mall. That is the one that is generally helped with a vaginal estrogen or a menopausal hormone therapy that impacts the bladder, versus the other one is cough, sneeze, laugh, jump, lift the weights and that's a dropping down of the bladder neck and that one can be helped with estrogen in the vaginal tissues, but not necessarily. A lot of it has to do with collagen and pelvic fluorolaxity. So these things need to be discussed with healthcare providers and hopefully another episode and your question about what can we do. You're doing it, medovia is doing it. This is the conversation and I'm so grateful that you're starting to raise awareness in the workplace around these vital questions and these topics and even the vocabulary that women are tend to be shy and quiet and embarrassed and even ashamed to talk about. We need to be having these conversations. So you are doing it and I appreciate that.
Speaker 3:And you are.
Speaker 1:Thank you, you are too. We know that you are a huge advocate and empowering women and equipping them with education and knowledge is powerful, and we know that, and just having the information can alleviate so much pain and stress and anxiety in people's lives. So, with that, can I ask if there's anything else that you would like our listeners to know that we haven't asked you today? As it relates to you know, mht, talking to your healthcare practitioner about symptoms, symptom management, is there anything that you'd like to leave with them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think thank you for that.
Speaker 2:I think it's really important for listeners to realize that there is a way to do menopausal hormone therapy and there's a way to do menopausal care that is guideline-based, evidence-based, according to the literature, according to what we know, and in the world now, as Kim mentioned, we don't talk about this enough, and so there's a lot of people with symptoms, with questions, with uncertainty, and the answers are sometimes grasped, I'm gonna say, very reasonably, desperately, from sources that may not be as credible.
Speaker 2:And so I'm grateful that Madovia is doing this in such a credible fashion. And I just wanna caution listeners that there is help out there. There are people who are educated on guideline-based care and sadly, there are people who are educated on guideline-based care and sadly there are people who are not. And I want us to be really clear about advocating for ourselves, asking the questions over and over again, finding a provider that will listen, that will see and hear you when you have these questions and concerns. They'll see you as a whole human and answer these questions in a very holistic way. And so I just want to leave our listeners with that caution and just be really clear that things like and I'll just say this out loud pellet therapy, some forms of testosterone therapy, some forms of complementary approaches, well, very helpful in some regard, maybe more about the commercialization and the income generation than they are about actually helping you, and so it's really important to trust someone and to know who to ask when you're not sure about those modalities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really appreciate that. There is a lot of noise and there's a big market let's just put it that way of menopausal women who have had the Mack truck hit them, who are desperately looking for solutions. So we really appreciate that and, on that note, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the best way to go about finding a healthcare provider that is certified by the Menopause Society and is knowledgeable about menopause is to go to the Menopause Society website and look at the list of providers. You, of course, are a fantastic physician as well and of course, we would refer people to you, but the Menopause Society is probably the best resource at this point.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. It is the North American rock and foundation for all of the content, education guidelines, regimes, you know, menopause society, certified practitioners. So, absolutely, that is the best place to start.
Speaker 3:And Catherine, where, where can people find you? We, I mean April, and I follow you like your, your all of your, your things, but where can people find you to learn more information about the work that you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. So the best place to find me and, as with most websites, this one's sort of in flux. There's a lot on my website right now, but I still believe it to be a solid place for credible education and information. A solid place for credible education and information. Drkatherinehansencom and I run an Empowered Women's Circle where we get together and have these fun, sometimes sassy conversations around midlife women's questions, concerns and sometimes levity, and that's called the Empowered Women's Circle and that information is on my website. And for women who are looking for telemedicine or an assessment for their menopausal symptoms and their menopausal questions maybe their provider hasn't been able to answer for them I would recommend people go to pandiahealthcom and there's a menopause page and menopause resources, including content, but also the ability to do an online assessment and to get actual, credible, guideline-based menopausal care through pandeahealthcom.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. I know Kim has been a part of the Empowered Women's Circle and thinks the world of it. So thank you for mentioning that Self-care is so important and we know that there are even health benefits for women to just come together and have conversation and that social aspect is actually preventative medicine as well. So thank you for good for the soul. And and good for the soul, absolutely yes. Well, this is the fun part of our show. We get to rapid fire, dr Hanson, so we're going to is the fun part of our show. We get to rapid fire, dr Hanson, so we're going to ask you a few just fun questions to get to know you a little bit better, and then we'll ask you one that we ask all of our guests on the show. So if you don't mind, I'll start Kim. I'll just throw one out City life or countryside living out, city life or countryside living.
Speaker 2:Countryside living all day long. I love the sounds of the birds, the deer walking by, even the Canadian geese that tend to accumulate in the spring. I love being in the country Sunrise or sunset set. Oh, sunrise. I been out on my dock at our lake house doing a sunrise yoga routine this week and it's definitely my happy place and my happy time.
Speaker 1:Are you a morning person?
Speaker 2:I am absolutely a morning person. Yes, or 5am sometimes.
Speaker 1:You're speaking my language.
Speaker 3:I want to be, is that?
Speaker 1:anything. Maybe we'll get you there someday, Kim.
Speaker 2:Okay, how about travel by car or plane? Oh, plane, especially if I can get into premium economy or business class, because it's actually a bit of a mini vacation for me when I'm taking a plane ride in and someone serves me a meal or offers me a drink.
Speaker 1:That's a great point. Exactly, mini vacation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and our favorite question what's the best piece of advice you've ever received or given?
Speaker 2:or given. Yeah, so I. I tend to give a lot more advice than I probably should, so I'll uh, I'll stick to been given. Um, I have a uh and and your listeners may be interested what I call there's there's girlfriends, there's friends you hang out with. You need those people, you vent with those people, and then there's what we call power partners, and I would consider both of you power partners, where we're really elevating and amplifying who we are and how we're living in the world. And one of my power partners is Ellie Ballantyne and very recently gave me this advice which I posted on my fridge and it was advice which I had posted on my fridge, and it was we are our own best teachers.
Speaker 2:We are our own best teachers, wow, wow. Sometimes we seek, you know, answers in books, and sometimes we're listening to things and all that's important and and we want to be filling our mind, our heart and our soul with beautiful, mindful soul, nurturing information all the time. But the real, true answers are going to come from inside of us.
Speaker 3:You have to listen, yes, and quiet to do that. I love that. That's a good refrigerator magnet for sure, right, so I'm glad it is.
Speaker 1:And a great reminder that just formats like Empowered Women's Circle when you said listening, and I know you create space for women to do just that Right. So thank you for leaving that with our audience and thank you so much for being here today Again. We've been waiting for this episode for a long time and we knew that you were the right person to answer these questions for our audience. So thank you for taking the time, for being with us today and audience. That's a wrap and until we meet again, go find joy in the journey. Thank you for listening to the Medovia Menopause Podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe for future episodes, leave a review and share this episode with a friend. There are more than 50 million women in the US who are navigating the menopause transition. The situation is compounded by the presence of stigma, shame and secrecy surrounding menopause, posing significant challenges and disruptions in women's personal and professional spheres. Medovia is out to change the narrative. Learn more at medoviacom. That's M-I-D-O-V-I-A dot com.
