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 MiDOViA Menopause Podcast
Episode034: Navigating Menopause: Empowerment, Health Risks & Wellness Strategies
This episode emphasizes the long-term health risks associated with menopause and encourages women to take proactive measures for their well-being. Dr. Cat offers valuable insights on nutrition, exercise, and the importance of understanding one’s body, all while advocating for a cultural shift in how we discuss women's health issues.
• Discussion of the lack of long-term health education regarding menopause
• Importance of understanding menopause's impact on bone health and cardiovascular risks
• Need for women to advocate for their health and educate themselves
• Emphasis on resistance training and proper nutrition to combat health decline
• Insights into the role of telemedicine in bridging healthcare gaps for women
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LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/midovia
Email Us: info@midovia.com
MiDOViA is dedicated to changing the narrative about menopause by educating, raising awareness & 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 & 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 information about menopause and midlife. Join us each episode, as we have great conversations with great people. Tune in and enjoy the show. Hi everyone, welcome to the show. We are thrilled to have Dr Kathleen Brown with us today, fondly known as Dr Kat. Dr Kat is an incredible board-certified OBGYN leading the charge at Winona, a company dedicated to revolutionizing women's health. So welcome, dr.
Speaker 2:Kat, thank you. Thank you so much for having me today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this will be a great conversation. We're going to talk about menopause, of course, but we're going to look at it from a long-term health perspective. We're really excited to have you on the show talking about this specific topic, because we find, in the work that we do, long-term health isn't always discussed and it matters. It's incredibly important, as you know, as we consider health span versus lifespan. So with that, I'm sure that there's a lot of information that we'll unpack. Let me start by asking you, dr Kat, why this particular topic is important for you.
Speaker 2:Well, I think you know, the main thing for me is that. You know, as an OBGYN I've dedicated my career to women's health. But this particular topic is really important to me because I in the last year have been watching the health of my own mother decline as she gets into her late 60s. But I am also perimenopausal myself and starting to navigate all of this fun excitement myself and I really feel like many of us have been done a disservice with the lack of education and the lack of knowledge out there. Like, even as a board certified OBGYN, I felt very, very ill equipped to start dealing with the symptoms as they started creeping into my own life.
Speaker 2:You know, and I think that even with the education, taking care of women, my entire career, I really had no idea. I mean, I really thought I was going to be fine until I turned 50. And then suddenly symptoms would start happening. And I don't think we realize, when we're young women and we're in the prime of our lives and the prime of our reproductive health, that there are so many changes coming and so much that we have to navigate. And it's such a great transition. You know, it's very similar to you know, when we go through puberty, there's huge hormonal shifts. I think that we need to start having the conversation more about how to navigate that, how to do our best to take care of ourselves, and I think that you know that's. That's why, right now, this is a commitment that I've made to really making this the focus of my career, moving forward, because it's not only helping me but also my patients as I go on as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so interesting a point that you just brought up, though, when we're in the prime of our reproductive years and we're having children, I'm kind of going back, you know myself, and remembering I never thought about menopause when I was in the midst of raising kids, right even even when they were teens, it never occurred to me that I would need to think about perimenopause, and I think at least my generation, I think we still have this image of menopause in our minds, that it is for older people right, we still have that stereotypical image, and shame on us.
Speaker 1:I mean I'm in the menopause space and I mean I'm admitting that right now. Okay, everyone, I'm admitting that.
Speaker 3:That was the image that I had.
Speaker 1:And Dr Kat, I've worked in the menopause sexual reproductive health space for over a decade, but it was menstrual health, right. So we silo these life stages that we have, what these life stages that we have, and yet it's so important for us to think about menopause when we are in other stages of life, because there are things that we can do for preventative measures, right. Absolutely Long term health and and so you know, on that note, I can think of a few things that long-term health risks for individuals in post-menopause. But can you kind of unpack that a little bit and talk about some of those significant long-term health risks, the reason why, right? Why do we need to?
Speaker 2:think about it Absolutely so. I mean, the biggest things that we worry about as women age are our strength and vitality, you know, directly linked to bone health and bone density. I think many of us probably know of a woman in our lives at some point in our lives that we've watched deteriorate and become frail. You know we always think about the older women with the little hump on their back and you know I mean I even watched it happen to my own grandmother that you know, once there's a fall and you lose that sense of balance and the strength of your body, women never quite get back to baseline after significant falls or fractures, especially if they get osteopenia or osteoporosis. So there is a significant downward spiral if we don't maintain our physical strength and especially for our bone health. And so with that, I think it's so important for us to really find ways to move our bodies that maintain our strength. Right of all or none belief that we need to work out perfectly, have the perfect Lululemon workout gear and work out five days a week to be able to be someone who works out. But it doesn't need to be that complicated. We all need to find ways that we move our body that make us feel good and that bring us joy, that we can incorporate into our lifestyle the best and making that an important part of our lives, like moving our bodies regularly, especially like one of the most underrated exercises for maintaining our bone health is walking, you know, and it's something that's so very important. But I think in our society, and especially when it comes to like all the technology that's available and us working and being behind computers all day, like we've gotten away from regular movement and now we do grocery pickup instead of walking the aisles of the grocery store, and there's so many different things that we've changed about our lifestyle that is actually contributing to our decline as we age. So that's one aspect, is the bone health, and I think that's so very important.
Speaker 2:But another thing to think about as women is our cardiovascular health too about, as women is our cardiovascular health too. So, you know, as we lose estrogen and menopause and as we age, every tissue in our body is affected and doesn't maintain its health as well. But I don't think women realize that the leading killer of women is actually cardiovascular disease and heart attack. I think we all worry about so much breast cancer and we worry about these things that are pretty rare in the grand scheme of things, but we don't think about actually what is the leading killer of women, and it's actually heart disease. So that's another reason why to bring back our health in the prime of our focus is that we need to focus on our nutrition, to focus on movement. Again, it all gets back to moving our bodies and taking care of ourselves to keep ourselves feeling well. But that's those are the two main things I think about.
Speaker 2:And then also another piece of that is our mind and body. Right is our cognition and our ability to actually maintain our cognition and avoid development of dementia and cognitive decline as we age as well. So you know we do that in so many ways by challenging ourselves, by learning new things that create brain pathways. You know there's so many things that we need to do to try to maintain that. You know.
Speaker 2:I think you know you think about people. You know men and women alike that once they retire like we work our lives, you know our entire lives to get to retirement and then often at retirement, people kind of slow down and kind of backshift a little bit and then we watch their vitality decline. You know we need to normalize living well and enjoying life and continuing to learn things. It may not necessarily be in a career, but we need to normalize living well and enjoying life and continuing to learn things. It may not necessarily be in a career, but we need to keep challenging our minds and our bodies. As we age, too, we have to change that stereotype.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, I want to come to get to some of the things that you mentioned exercise and nutrition and I want to unpack that a little bit as well. But before we do that, can you help our listeners understand why menopause increases the risk for these conditions?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Basically what happens is that as our female hormones are declining and our ovaries are no longer producing estrogen in particular and adequate amounts, the benefit of the estrogen throughout our body is starting to decline. So our muscles no longer maintain the same strength. Estrogen helps to maintain bone health as well and helps us to maintain our calcium stores in our bones. So as that estrogen level is declining as we age, especially post-menopause, we start to see the structure and the function of all the tissues in our body decline. Joints become less lubricated less, tissues become less elastic, less supple.
Speaker 2:Even the blood vessels in our bodies you know that normally are pretty elastic and actually have good tensile strength lose that and lose that ability. So the blood vessels feeding the heart, you know, start to change and then that can actually increase our chances of you know, coronary artery disease and the development of plaques in the arteries and the blockages which can lead to heart attack. Also, estrogen is so very important for the development of neurotransmission in the brain too. So that's how it can really affect our cognitive decline, because you absolutely need estrogen to optimize the development of neurotransmitters and those signals and new brain pathways. And in fact right now I'm reading a book that I don't know if you've both read. It's the menopausal brain.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, Love that book. Lisa Dr Dr. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad there's someone like her in the world that's doing the work that she's doing, because I don't think enough focus has been placed on this, because I think for decades, and you know, for a long time, medicine as a culture has treated us just like as little versions of men, right? So a lot of research has not included women over the years and it's just not been on the forefront. And she's really dedicated her career to studying neuroscience, for women especially, and some of the work she's doing has been so pivotal in our understanding of how this is so different and why this is affecting our brain so much. It's such a good book.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's one of our favorites right, kim?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I always talk about it, though in the sense that it's a scientific read. It's not like a. You know, you aren't going to read it at 10 o'clock at night, right, right, it's got great information in it. You know, we were talking earlier on about what we thought would happen with menopause when we got to this age, right, and I was one of those people who just thought it would be this. Right now, this isn't something that I should, I even need to deal with. So, thinking about all the things that happen as you age and what's happening with your estrogen and sort of the process that you just described, what should somebody in their thirties and forties start doing to build a foundation for better health now, so that when they get there, they're you know, you know?
Speaker 2:feeling good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think ultimately really focusing on nutrition and sleep hygiene are so very important. I think that when we're young, we underestimate, you know, how well our bodies are going to be able to deal with those changes as we, as we get older. But the other thing too, is that women need to learn their own bodies, like women, need to be tracking their cycles, knowing and feeling comfortable in their own bodies, knowing when symptoms creep up. Because I think that's probably one of the most common reasons why women don't recognize the early symptoms of perimenopause is because we're so busy in our lives and that you know there's this glorification of being busy, especially in the US. You know where it's just like you're going, going, going, and as women, we're so good at taking care of everybody else. We're not so good at focusing on ourselves and self-care.
Speaker 2:And I think that, as those symptoms which are very, very subtle in the beginning you know, like mood changes, brain fog, some of these things start to creep in, we tend to rationalize and blame it on other things or we tend to say, well, it's stress or you know something going on at work. But if you really understand your cycle, you really understand your own body and you know what you are like at a baseline and you understand your own physiology, I think it's going to be easier for women to recognize when things start to change, and so I think that's one of the most important things. I mean, I can't tell you over the years how many women that I've met in my career that have absolutely no idea what their anatomy looks like. You know they don't understand that where the bladder is in relation to the uterus, and I, over the years, have lost count of how many women think that they pee out of their vagina you know, it's simple things, right.
Speaker 2:But simple things, but I think it it starts, you know, with the simple education of just knowing our own anatomy and knowing our own bodies and and having an understanding of how our hormones change during our menstrual cycle and what is our normal pattern because every woman is unique, right so that when there are changes we can recognize those, to start to know what's happening in our body.
Speaker 2:I think that's so very important and I think so much importance and value is placed on women's fertility, not so much their wellbeing, right. It's almost like that's what we're good in society for and that's what so much effort and time and, you know, information is put into. But then after that, after we're done with our fertility, it's almost like we fall off at the face of the earth. And I can tell you as a physician, our medical system is not meant to promote wellness. It is really designed to treat and diagnose disease, but it's really not designed to help promote wellness and wellbeing. And I think that as patients, we have to take the ownership of doing that and we have to find what works for us and how we can best function in our own bodies to really maintain our own wellness and vitality as we get older.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so hard to do our own education. What were you going to say?
Speaker 3:I was going to say it's so hard for women, after they've spent a lifetime of taking care of everyone else other than themselves, to even know what well-being means. Right, what do they want to do to what, what? What do they want? What do they want to feel good, what do they need to do? And I love the idea, like, seriously, just get to know your body, as your body is, so that you can, you know, listen and respond.
Speaker 1:I actually had a little side note. Kim and I both are yoga teachers and it's just our love and our passion and do it. You know, kind of on the side, for ourselves just as much as for others, that I, you know, oftentimes, even in a yoga class, as instructors, we say listen to your body. Right, listen to your body, but we don't know how to do that.
Speaker 1:listen to your body, but we don't know how to do that you know, and it was an aha moment, cause I had someone come up to me after class several weeks ago that just said what do you mean by that? And I was like, wow, okay, we need to back up Right, like even even, uh, you know, yogis don't know how to listen to our bodies. So, yeah, I thank you for bringing that up. It's the starting point, right, and even backing up further than that, I think, the lack of education in elementary school with menstrual health education. Oftentimes it's well, here's a tampon and here's a pad and here's your secret code word to ask your teacher if you need one of these, and you can go to the nurse and you can get one, right, and it's this shamed secret thing.
Speaker 2:Yes, that it'd be. Yeah, no, it shouldn't be at all. No, and in fact I have. I have two sons and a daughter. My youngest is a girl. My sons know very well about what periods are and menstrual health. Um, you know, and and it's just something that I've talked to them about and and my, my boys have gotten in trouble in school throughout the years because, using correct anatomical terms, which I've had talks with the teacher, I'm like, sorry, I'm a gynecologist, they're going to learn appropriate anatomical terms.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to talk about code words and I think slowly, like we're changing that. But you know, I think that we need to think about sexual health and menstrual health as wellness, not ashamed. It goes back to those old Puritan ways in our country where it's like you know, men are given praise for having conquest, but women God forbid they talk about their body in public. That's right. I mean, things have changed. I mean, obviously 20 years ago you didn't even see commercials on TV for menstrual products or condoms or anything, and now that's changed a little bit. So you know it's more and more out there. But but yeah, we still have a lot of work to do to normalize the discussion and the conversations. I think we do.
Speaker 1:We do, and it's and it's conversations like this that will do that. My daughter is 21 and you know Kim has a daughter that is the same age, and we're talking about menopause, like perimenopause, like you vaginal health, like don't wait until you have painful sex to take your vaginal estrogen, like if I die. Before I can tell you that, let me tell you now the book you know you read advice from moms to daughters that they've written years ago. I'm sure that if we wrote it all over again today, that those books are going to look completely different. Here's the advice I would give you yeah, we should do that. Yeah, we should do that. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I, you know one of, do that. Yeah, we should do that.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely, and I you know one of the things that I I think we need to also take the negative connotation out of some of the words we use, like perimenopause and menopause, like take the pause, as a positive thing.
Speaker 2:So for women who have gone through their lives focusing on work, focusing on expectations of others, worrying about what everyone else thinks and taking care of everyone else. Take that pause as a positive to bring your direction and all your efforts back into yourself. It's not selfish Like it's. It's absolutely, very highly needed that we take great care of ourselves, especially if we want to age well and continue the youth and vitality that we have now. We want to continue that into our lives. You know we don't want to be the golden girls of the past. You know you think back like looking at that show. The average age of the women on that show was in their 40, late forties, early fifties. And I remember like looking back at reruns now, cause I've watched it with my daughter occasionally Like that's what we would consider 60s and 70s Now, like the way, that's right. It's a totally different time and women are demanding better and want better for their lives, and that's what we need to teach our younger women how to do. Yeah, yeah absolutely Well.
Speaker 1:On that note, let's talk about let's talk about some of the things that you mentioned. So, lifestyle, exercise, movement, nutrition can we leave the audience with maybe some tangible action steps that they can take for long term health? So when we, when we talk about lifestyle, what are some things that they can take for long term health? So when we, when we talk about lifestyle, what are some things that they can do? We talk about exercise we mentioned walking, but what are other forms of exercise that they can do to take care of their bone health, for example? And then nutrition, you know, are there some tips and tricks that we can share with the audience?
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, I mean as far as tips and tricks that we can share with the audience. Absolutely yeah, I mean as far as lifestyle and wellness and exercise. I think another thing that's so very important, which a lot of women don't focus most of their exercise lives on, is actually weight bearing or resistance exercise. I think for so long, women have had this fear that if they lift weights, they are going to get big and that they're going to get bulky, and it's just not true. And so when we lift weights, we actually are encouraging new bone growth and we're strengthening our muscles, we're improving our posture. I think, even when you lift weights and you get stronger, it helps with your self-confidence, it helps with how you carry yourself too, but it really has tremendous benefits for your bone health. And so and it doesn't have to be something dramatic you don't have to get a gym membership and go for an hour every day. You know these could be. You know, with resistance exercises, this could be doing pushups against a wall, even getting some free hand weights to have in your house, and if you don't want to pay for weights, use cans of soup or whatever you have around the house. Or if you have young kids. You use your kids as weights, all kinds of things, and also I think that incorporating movement and exercise into our day-to-day life makes it more tangible and easier to incorporate into our schedule. So, you know, maybe park a little further from a store, you know, rather than the front spot. If you're someone who works in an office where there's elevators, maybe try to take a couple flights of stairs instead of the elevators and work your way up to being able to do four flights of stairs or five without getting winded. These are little changes that we can make and these moments of movement add up. Often people think, well, that was only five minutes, it doesn't count. But I mean, if you're, I'm one of those people that I love wearing a Fitbit and I track my movement and I track my sleep, because I'm always trying to get better and trying to add more moments of movement in, and so I think that's what we need to do. We need to incorporate these little changes into our day-to-day lives so that they become lasting habits, not necessarily like a diet plan or a workout plan that you're going to put yourself in. These have to be things that we can do, even on bad days, even on good days, even when we're feeling like we don't have the energy to do a full-blown workout, we can still do these little things that are beneficial for our health.
Speaker 2:And when it comes to nutrition, I mean, I give patients the same advice that I give my kids I want them to eat as many colors of the rainbow as possible, and it's many things that are fresh and that are perishable, because, you know, the more you eat highly processed, highly shelf stable foods, um, they stay in your body and they, if they're good, on the shelf for three, four years. And how is your body utilizing that? Um, and I've taught my kids how to read nutrition labels if they can't pronounce it, we don't eat it. Also, I have one child that has ADHD, and so we're really focused on trying to avoid a lot of chemicals and dyes and things like that. But I think, as adults like we really need to take into account you know, we are what we eat. Literally Some days, if we have poor nutrition, if you're eating French fries and noodles, like yeah, you can feel like a really soggy old French fry your body will feel that way.
Speaker 2:I always encourage women to pay attention to how they feel an hour or two after they eat a meal, because I think that so often we get into this habit of eating things because it tastes good and it's a comfort food or it has some kind of emotional connection to us Like in my family, pasta was always a big, big thing, and so you know, paying attention to, do you feel like you need a nap after that meal or do you feel energized?
Speaker 2:And that sometimes takes slowing down and really focusing on how we feel, only eating when we're hungry, not necessarily because it's a standardized mealtime. The other thing that's really important, I think, in perimenopause and menopause and a lot of women don't realize this is that we need so much more protein than we really think to maintain our muscle strength and our body strength as well. So that's something that I think that we need to be real cognizant of is just really trying to make sure we get enough protein, because, as our bodies are aging and as we're losing the estrogen, our muscle mass is declining. The other part of that, too, is that we have our own endogenous testosterone, and testosterone is also declining because the ovaries aren't making it in adequate amounts, and so we're not maintaining the muscle health and the muscle mass that we had before, and in order to do that, we need to give our bodies the building blocks to make muscle and maintain it, and that's protein. How?
Speaker 1:much protein should we be getting in, let's say, a postmenopausal woman? Is there a baseline that we should be, a goal that we should be looking at?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean there's there's different guidelines out there that you can find on the internet, and each of us have different body types, but I tend to look at what someone's height is and based on what their goal is.
Speaker 2:So, if someone is like a normal body composition, like what we consider to be like a mesomorph type of body, you know, for me, like I'll tell you, I'm 5'8", although I might be shrinking a little bit, but my protein goal daily is 120 grams of protein. Wow, okay, because I, you know, for the goal of fat loss and muscle maintenance, that's my goal. So the only way that I consistently hit that is the days that I track what I'm eating and I've incorporated using protein shakes as supplements, protein bars as well. And you have to be careful because a lot of the things out there also have high amounts of sugar as well. So it's a it's a balancing act that you have to make, but there's so much more available now with, like the high protein Greek yogurts and things into our diet. But, yeah, 120 grams is a lot of protein.
Speaker 1:It's hard. Yeah, we've been focusing on protein and you're like holy guacamole, like I am not at my protein goal and I feel like I ate a lot of protein today, so it takes a little bit of forethought. I think what can I throw in the refrigerator that's easy to grab, that instead of opening the pantry? Right, it has to be there, or I'm going to open the pantry. So, yeah, it takes a whole day or whatever.
Speaker 2:And you know, you have to have the mindset that you are worth it, that that time and those hours and meal planning and grocery shopping and having healthy foods is for your health, it's for your benefit, it's it's for your, your future. I mean, a lot of times we think that it's just one more thing to add to our to-do list, and then, but if you know that if you're eating things out of convenience and you're not preparing foods at home as well, you're not going to eat as well, like you're going to reach for things that are not as good for you and there's no bad foods. Everything is okay in moderation. But I just tell my kids as many green things as you can, as many colors as a rainbow, you know, and generally, if you shop the periphery of the grocery store, you know where things are perishable and go bad and try to eat more of that in your diet than the processed foods, then you're in a good place.
Speaker 2:But focusing on getting fiber is another thing too. Especially as you're trying to get the protein in, it can be really easy to get constipated if you don't write that. With enough fiber, you know for your colon health as well. Right, and drinking lots of water. I don't think any of us drink enough. Yeah, so many things that we can do to optimize our wellness.
Speaker 3:I like that you talk about. You know you have to track it it. I know that when I'm concentrating on protein which is every day I do so much better when I'm tracking it, when I measure it and track it and even though it takes an extra 30 seconds, I can know at the end of the day oh my gosh, I better have my protein shake because I didn't get enough. And right, you can't just remember it through your head. It's easier for me to just track it before I even eat it to be able to go like oh gosh, I need another three ounces of chicken today by the time I get to dinner. So I really appreciate that reminder. We could probably talk to you for hours. I know I love this conversation.
Speaker 3:I love the conversations, but we didn't get a chance to talk about who you are and where you're from. We want our listeners to know a little bit about my Winona and how you got there and sort of where they can find you.
Speaker 2:Sure, sure. So I'm from the Philadelphia area, did all my college in Pennsylvania and medical school, but then was on an Army scholarship, so I traveled around the country working at Army hospitals for most of my career. I did 12 years in the Army and then, when I got out, moved back to the Philadelphia area and was working as a traditional OBGYN until I was approached by our chief medical officer at Winona who basically told me about the platform. We started in California, then expanded to Texas and when they were looking to expand to Pennsylvania, they contacted me because they needed a doctor in Pennsylvania, so started working with them in December of 2021.
Speaker 2:We were born during COVID, when access to care really became pitiful and so many patients out there were not getting the care that they needed. And we found the founders of the company really found that women's health was really a really underserved population, especially when it came to telemedicine, and you know so many companies have realized that telemedicine is such a feasible option to help bridge the gap for care. You know we've used it now for birth control, for, you know, visits that don't really require an exam, like maybe preconceptual counseling or fertility counseling, things like that. But perimenopause and menopause is also something that is really. It's helped bridge the gap. So we don't really replace your in-person OBGYN you still need to have an annual visit, you still need to have a breast exam, mammogram and if you still have a uterus, you still need to have pap smears. But we helped to bridge that gap. We started out in those three states, you know, back in 2021. And now I think we're in 34 states. Every state has their own telemedicine laws. That's why we're slowly adding, but we are.
Speaker 2:We are a site where women who maybe have no other option for maybe getting hormone replacement therapy from an in-person provider can come to request treatment. We offer hormone replacement therapy in several different forms. We have mostly topical forms, like creams and patches, but also oral as well. Well, and so that's something that you know. We're committed to being able to make treatment available to women that are low risk, that could use treatment and maybe have been told no, or maybe they've had a provider who just wasn't willing to have the conversation in the past. The other thing, too on our website at winonacom, you can find a lot of education and materials. We have a medical journal, part of our website, and some free resources, too, that like symptom trackers. If you're not quite sure where you fit on this spectrum and you're not really quite sure, like if what you're feeling is perimenopause or is it something else, there's resources that you can do on our website to kind of figure that out and it can help you with that. But it's it's a fairly easy process.
Speaker 2:If women decide that they want to pursue treatment with us, they go through an online medical history questionnaire.
Speaker 2:We don't ask every single thing about your medical history.
Speaker 2:We don't need to know that you broke your leg at age five Like it's all women's health focused so that we can really know if you're a safe candidate for treatment or not and if everything goes through your chart.
Speaker 2:Once you complete that onboarding, it's forwarded to a doctor in your state for review and then we might get back to you to try to clarify some of the questions in your medical history. But ultimately we come up with a treatment plan and some of my patients come knowing that they want the body cream, they want to get started, and some women don't really know what form is best for them. So we have a little conversation back and forth. It's all asynchronous, meaning that the patients message us into the portal, we message back. You don't require a live video visit or phone call, and so it's nice because the patients can message us 24 seven and the doctors get back to them within 24 hours. So but it's a it's a nice way to add junk to your in person care, especially if you want treatment and you don't have the option for getting treatment through your traditional doctor or provider.
Speaker 1:So I love that you're filling that gap. Yeah, there's definitely a gap and you know we've we've talked to individuals who have, who may have been dismissed by other doctors who want hormone therapy, and you're filling that need as well. So thank you so much for what you do. I'd like to get to know you a little bit better.
Speaker 1:On a personal note we always end with a rapid fire, and so we have some fun questions for you. If we can start our rapid fire, we'd love. Yeah, let's do it Right. Right, let's just. Let's start with what your favorite way to unwind is.
Speaker 2:Oh, my favorite way to unwind is to be outside in nature. Obviously it's harder in the winter. I have a new found love of gardening that blossomed during COVID when I was stuck at home in between my hospital shifts and no matter what, like I've lost count of how many babies I've delivered and how many surgeries I've done. But I'm so proud of my tomatoes and my basil and I have plants propagating and most of my windows in my house. You know my, my kids and my husband think I'm a little obsessed, but I, I, I love it, no matter what. Like getting my hands in the dirt just helps to relax me and helps me unwind.
Speaker 3:Love that. Okay coffee or tea, and we are in Seattle. Just keep that in mind.
Speaker 1:There's no wrong answer, Dr.
Speaker 2:Kat no, no wrong answer no, I actually like both, so I'm a coffee in the morning kind of person, but in the later part of the day I like a good afternoon tea. My father's actually from England and so I have a love of like British tea, but I love a good latte or especially a good mocha every once in a while too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially this time of year, a really good one is just fantastic.
Speaker 2:I'm definitely a coffee drinker. Like I need flavoring in my coffee though, oh okay okay, I'm a, I'm a.
Speaker 1:Um, don't put anything in my coffee. Give me the vodka so I can taste it. No, I don't drink. I was gonna say, yeah, I actually don't drink a lot of vodka, but, um, okay, this is about you. One last question city or country?
Speaker 2:It's so hard. I love being in the city for the proximity to everything and for the arts and culture, but I I like the suburbs where I live. I'm just a quick train ride away to going into downtown Philly and taking my kids into the city to explore, but I prefer to live outside the city. I'd love to go to the city to explore, but live outside.
Speaker 3:I like that you can have both, yes. So our last question that we ask everyone what's the best piece of advice you've ever received or given best piece of advice you've ever received or given.
Speaker 2:I think the best advice is to expand your knowledge about yourself. I mean, I think that probably I need to take my own advice more when I tell women, I tell my patients to focus on self-care. I need to practice that more than I preach, for sure. But knowledge is power and that's one of the tenets of my career that I have tried to push to my patients as much as possible, like I want them to learn about their bodies and to learn about their anatomy and to learn as much about themselves, because I tell them like I'm with them for 10, 15 minutes, but they're with their body all the time, every day. They know it best if they learn it, and so I think that's that's the most important thing I can push you know out there to your, to your audiences. Learn as much as you can about your body and about your health and take control of your own health. I think it's so very important. That's great.
Speaker 1:I love that yeah, agency Love it Right, great advice.
Speaker 3:Great pleasure to meet. Have you on the show today, dr Kat. I do an amazing work and thank you for all that you're doing to spread the word in this space. We're honored to have you here today.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. I love chatting with you guys. We could do it for hours. I know We'll have you on again and we'll talk about something else. Yeah, sounds good, I love having you.
Speaker 3:Sounds like a plan.
Speaker 1:So I echo what Kim said Thanks so much for what you do and audience. That is a wrap. Until we meet again. Go find joy in the journey.
Speaker 3:Bye everyone.
Speaker 1: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. Subscribe for future episodes, leave a review and share this episode with a friend. Medovia is out to change the narrative. Learn more at Medoviacom. That's M-I-D-O-V-I-A dot com.
