Nurse Maureen‘s Health Show
Welcome to Nurse Maureen's Health Show Podcast where we dive deep into all things health, sex, menopause, relationships, parenting, communication and more! Hosted by a passionate nurse with years of frontline experience, we bring you expert interviews, real-life stories, and the latest insights on staying healthy aging. Nothing is off limits as we delve into overall health, sexual health, mental health, and sexual health. Whether we’re breaking down medical myths, discussing cutting-edge treatments, or chatting with top health professionals, this show is your go-to for practical advice and inspiring conversations.
Nurse Maureen‘s Health Show
The Menopause Journal Bridges the Gap Between Women & Their Doctors
Good evening and welcome to another episode of Nurse Maureen's Health Show Podcast. I'm Maureen McGrath, a registered nurse, nurse, continence advisor and sexual health educator. Thanks so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. Of course, this show would be nothing without you Tonight. I'm really excited about my guest, because menopause is not just having a moment, it is having a movement. Yet so many women need support, they need help, they need evidence-based information and my guest is here to do that, and she's also created something amazing and beautiful for women as well. Dr Malhotra is a Menopause Society certified practitioner and sits on the Menopause Society's education committee. She is one of the esteemed authors of the Canadian Menopause Guidelines. Good evening, Dr Malhotra. How are you?
Speaker 2:Hi, maureen, thank you for having me. I'm doing very well.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy about that. I love your menopause journal. I have shared it with so many of my patients. They greatly appreciate it. Just for those who are listening and are as excited about it as I am, her website is themenopausesitecom. Menomedical is also the name of the company. So, Dr Malhotra, this has to be a dream come true for you. I know you have been talking with treating, sharing your knowledge with patients and with women who are experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Menomedico and what led you to create a platform focused specifically on menopause care? And the Menopause Journal, I want to say, is just one component of it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, maureen, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So I appreciate you sharing sort of the work that I've done in the past and I think I just want to ensure people know that there's a common thread to all of the work that I've done and it really is to ensure that people have access to care and services and to reduce barriers to care.
Speaker 2:And so over the course of time, it became more and more apparent and you know, especially with the menopause foundation report coming out last year and stating, you know, 10 million Canadian people are without menopause care to serve them adequately, and the Herb EC report coming out last year as well, stating very clear that people are feeling really lonely and unsupported in this period of time. I thought, well, I'm a certified menopause provider and I've done extensive training in this area and seen many, many patients over two decades. So what can I do? How can I put my energy and effort towards really reducing that, that care barrier and that lack of access that people are feeling and experiencing, which we know is very true, without a sufficient number of access that people are feeling and experiencing which we know is very true without a sufficient number of providers that are providing menopause care in the country? We really do need to find creative solutions as we build that up and we have more and more confident providers to really be serving women with the care that they deserve.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I thought why not create a platform that is evidence-based and is, you know, based upon the menopause society and the Canadian menopause society, which you know, which is where I'm certified through the menopause society, and really have that available sort of globally for people?
Speaker 2:And then I thought, you know, one of the biggest issues that has arisen is actually that fact that you know people don't necessarily have a bridge to the gap in care that we're talking about, where you know people are experienced things, lots of things that are happening as changes in their body, but then how do they organize that, how do they share that and how do they take that forward to a healthcare provider? And so that was really the birth of the menopause journal, and so people can document and organize their experience. That can at times be extensive and at times can just be a time where we need some self-care and we want to validate our experience and then share it with the healthcare provider, even if they're not a certified menopause provider. It will be in a form that people can advocate for themselves really easily as far as what's happening and they can have more of a collaborative conversation approach with their provider.
Speaker 1:And I can see that this menopause journal specifically would fill the current gaps in menopause education and support within the health care system. Because you know women and all patients get 10, 12, 15 minutes max with a general practitioner and you know they'll forget some of the symptoms that they've had or they're not exactly sure, they don't know that some symptoms may be associated with perimenopause, menopause and beyond, and so having it all together neatly, tidily documented over time is just such a nice asset for women to have to present to their doctors and what makes Menomedico unique in its approach to educating both patients and health care providers about menopause.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2:I think really what is highlighted in Menomedico is that, for one, I am a person who is going through the same journey and I'm also a health care provider on both sides.
Speaker 2:So I've tried to make it accessible in the language that's used and the questions that have come up to me being answered on the site and being accompanied by an Instagram and social media platform that allows for those, like ongoing questions to be answered and, I'm hoping, in a really approachable way, but also in a way that allows people to have some self care. Is it's so clear that we as women, often put ourselves last on the care platform in our lives, in our homes and in our communities? And this is kind of a moment to say you know what, what's going on in my life is really important, and I'm going to take a minute not only just to document and have that moment to myself, but also to say you know, this is important, that I'm going to raise it up in the conversation, not just with myself and my healthcare provider, with my community and friends that we can share these conversations with like an evidence-based approach to it and really understand what's happening to our bodies.
Speaker 1:And the website, the menopause sitecom, is just filled with so much great information, articles about empowering women to take control of their health. Many times I hear women saying this is the first step in taking care of me. You know my coming to see you. There's also articles about mind, body and spirit, nurturing self-care for holistic health. So it really focuses on the woman, which I think is missing a little bit in health care today. We focus so much on, you know, heart disease and not that that's not important the number one killer of women, but hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, these kinds of things that there's no time to actually focus on the woman. Or the heart of hormone therapy one of the titles of an article on your website, you know. And what is wellness in menopause? You know there's so much great information on your website, themenopausesitecom, that I really encourage women to go there. How does Menomedico support clinicians in delivering evidence-based menopause care? Dr Malhotra?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think what's interesting in the menopause realm is, although we feel like there's a lot of information circulating and at times it is from healthcare providers, we have to remember that after the WHI came out the biggest trial, the Women's Health Initiative that came out in 2002, so around the time I was finishing my training it then led to so much miscommunication and misunderstandings surrounding hormone therapy that hormone therapy went from the highest prescribed medication to the lowest.
Speaker 2:If we put on a platform here and I think it's important to then remember that then it was in fact because people weren't using hormone therapy in droves, was removed from education, and so most healthcare providers that are practicing right now have not had a lot of training in menopause.
Speaker 2:So people like me that were very lucky that had the opportunity to get extensive training or have taken it upon ourselves to do so over the last 20 years it's that's not everyone's story, and so it's, I think, a really non threatening platform for even healthcare providers to say what is it I don't know about perimenopause and menopause that my patients are going through?
Speaker 2:That, I think, is important to again bridge that gap between provider and patient, and it also, I think, levels things out a little bit. It says you know, we're all in this together. It's just a collaborative opportunity for us to speak together about this, and I think then providers will also know what are patients asking about, because that was really how the FAQs and other pieces of the site were prepared the blog, that's all from what patients have brought forward in visits, and so now it's an opportunity to really share that information but really give providers the opportunity to have a starting place of, like. You know, this is where people are at, this is the information you need to have and these are resources for you as well.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Now. Now, menopause is experienced differently across cultures and identities. How does Menomedico ensure that the content and the resources are inclusive and representative of all people going through menopause?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and that's a growing piece of the work.
Speaker 2:As a woman of color who is from a cultural background where menopause is not necessarily discussed at the dinner table, it's something that has been a priority in sort of the growth of the information that comes out and you'll see as posts come out and some of the blog posts the information that comes out and you'll see his posts come out and some of the blog posts in particular, are really focused on different cultural and racial aspects to perimenopause and menopause and it goes towards, of course, communication between generations.
Speaker 2:But also, you know, what are the experiences that people are having, because we know there are ethnic differences and racial differences between what someone will experience as far as how long or how severe their symptoms are going to be. But really important and this really goes to the extensive work that I've done in the last 10 years, in particular in my career where we really need to highlight the fact that a lot of times the healthcare system has an internal bias against people of color in particular. The healthcare system has an internal bias against people of color in particular, and how do we now overcome that in menopause?
Speaker 2:How do we ensure that every person is being asked the most appropriate questions for their and getting the most appropriate care, because we know in the SWAN trial from the US that black women weren't necessarily always being asked and they were using hormone therapy in far lower numbers. And so how do we improve that and how do we challenge that in our system? And that's, of course, the work that I've dedicated the last decade of my life to.
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Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I think one of the things that Menomedico offers is that it's available on multiple platforms, so we've ensured that. Absolutely. There's the website, but there's also socials and I know a lot of people can access that quite easily on their phones and things like that. That's available for folks, but also links to where there are trusted sites and making sure people can navigate the sort of big web world of menopause available right now in an easy way, and we're putting more and more posts up within the site about you know.
Speaker 2:Is this a trusted site and how do we know that it is and what does that look like? Because misinformation, as we know, within menopause and perimenopause has been extensive and we know the Menopause Society put out a statement last year targeting that particular fact. And it gets harder and harder when you're away from a tertiary care center to know what to trust because there's just less available, and so we're really trying to ensure that we really weed through what the confusion could unintentionally or intentionally be.
Speaker 1:Recently I heard a physician say on social media the number one treatment for urinary tract infection is low dose localized estrogen therapy. Now I knew what this physician meant, but that's not actually the number one treatment that. I knew what this physician meant, but you know, that's not actually the number one treatment. That might be the number one prevention, but not the number one treatment for women in menopause and perimenopause and beyond. But somebody might go to their doctor and say I heard this particular doctor say the number one treatment is estrogen.
Speaker 1:I want estrogen as opposed to an antibiotic, which you need to treat the urinary tract infection before you start preventing the next one, anyway. So there's so much misinformation and you estrogen as opposed to an antibiotic, but you need to treat the urinary tract infection before you start preventing the next one, anyway. So there's so much misinformation and you hear it from influencers, whether they have no medical training, or you hear it at times from even healthcare providers, who are influencers as well. I think they just get so excited about all of the followers. I'm not really sure, but anyway.
Speaker 2:And I think a lot of us have been in this for a very long time, and suddenly there's so much attention, so it's so very exciting, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, I've been educating about menopause for like 15 years and people are like why haven't you been talking about it? I'm like I've been talking about this forever.
Speaker 2:We're crying out loud, exactly, and suddenly people are listening and so it's very exciting.
Speaker 1:Exactly. It's like, okay, come on now, but let's get the information correct. Let's you know people come in with their misinformation because this person has 2 million followers or whatever. Let's get to your platform, the Menno Medico platform. So how does it actually work, whether you're a patient or a provider, and what can people expect when they log in?
Speaker 2:I think the platform is very easy to navigate. We have a menopause website which is themenopausesitecom, and that offers FAQs. It offers updated blogs on a regular basis that really do target the questions that people come into clinics asking, and there's, I think, a tremendous amount of information and resource just on the site itself just to read through, also on social media, so sort of the mainstay places like Instagram and Facebook. I think those are places where you can get really up to date, sort of bi-weekly pieces of bi-weekly postings that really do allow for that on the pulse on the moment how do I know what to trust and how do I not know what to trust type of information? The menopause journal is available on the menopause sitecom. It's available if you downloaded from that site. It's a fillable journal. It can also be printed out and filled out and it's something that I think is fairly easy to access on the website.
Speaker 1:So what are some of the biggest myths? I just have to ask you a clinical question here. What are some of the biggest myths? I just have to ask you a clinical question here. What are some of the biggest myths and I mentioned one that's, you know been put out on social media recently about urinary tract infections? Myths or misconceptions about menopause that you hope Menomedico can help to dispel?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, in in line with that. Like, really the core piece here is that a couple of things. One is a lot of people don't feel believed when they come in with their symptoms, because they have many symptoms and it's sort of a constellation. It's confusing to them and they aren't able to necessarily verbalize that and communicate that in a way that the provider understands really effectively. And so I'm hoping that the journal is a place and a space for people to not only have validation of what's going on but be able to sort of create sort of a organized and provider friendly conversation, friendly communication opportunity to have with your healthcare provider. So it's sort of one big one.
Speaker 2:And then I think the other thing is, is a lot of people think that maybe, because this isn't maybe a sort of common menopause symptom I won't bring it up and I think what's really important you'll see, on the menopause journal in particular, we have a lot of spots for. Is there anything else, other other items that you wish to discuss? Because I'll be really honest, Sometimes those are some of the most important things that will come forward is things that are really impacting someone's quality of life, their day-to-day living, If they are unable to function because of some new and changing symptom. I want to know about it as a healthcare provider because, whether or not it is menopause, it is happening at this time and we need to know what's occurring in this period of time.
Speaker 2:So I think, that that's like the clarity piece and that communication bridge are the two biggest things that I'm hoping to achieve here.
Speaker 1:Excellent, and so would you say that's your vision for how menopause care will change in the next five to 10 years, and is it something else Like how do you think it could be delivered more effectively?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that we all have work to do in the healthcare system to really improve the communication pieces between sort of how we're receiving information and what that looks like. But the system has a lot of work to do on its own, as we all know, and then we need to make things as easy as possible for people coming into our offices. We always have to remember that this isn't always their first language. You know, like that, medical language is not everyone's lingo.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so we have to be really open to how do we creatively ensure that people are able to take part in the health care system in a meaningful way, way that will allow them to have the best life that they can have, and also ensuring and this is the pieces of like, where we have other and we want to know everything that's going on piece is that if something's impacting someone's quality of life to a point that it's a negative impact upon their daily activities, we're trying to say you know, let's impact cardiac health and you know diabetes and all these. Well, what if they can't get there because all of these other things that are happening? So how do we facilitate ease within the system for people? So I think it's a collaboration, but it should always come down to conversations right, it should always be conversations between provider and patient, and it should always be as easy as possible and accessible as possible.
Speaker 1:And I think the menopause journal, one of the key components of the menopause site, is poised beautifully to help with that goal and that vision. And, dr Malhotra, I want to thank you so much for not only creating this, the menopause sitecom, and all of the heart and soul you poured into it, but also the tools for women to make their perimenopause and menopause journey that much easier nicer, if you will.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:You're so welcome. It's my pleasure to have you, and may I recommend those of you who are listening to head on over to the menopause sitecom and if you know somebody who may benefit from the information provided by Dr Malhotra on this episode, feel free to share this episode with them. But if you are struggling with symptoms at midlife and you're not sure if it is menopause or not menopause, I recommend you head to the menopause sitecom, download the menopause journal and also just sit back, have a cup of tea and read through all of the amazing information that Dr Malhotra has provided on Menno Medico. And it was my honor to have Dr Malhotra on the episode tonight.
Speaker 1:She and I have worked together in the past and I know her work and I honor her work so much. She's just been just amazing and incredible beyond what she's done for women. I cannot even there's not enough time in this podcast to talk about that. She's just an amazing person who's empowered so many women and has helped so many women along their menopause journey. So it's an honor to have her on the podcast. Thank you so much, dr Malhotra, for joining me.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Maureen.
Speaker 1:I really, really appreciate it. That was Dr Anjali Malhotra. The website is TheMenopauseSitecom. I'm Maureen McGrath and you've been listening to Nurse Maureen's Health Show Podcast. Gentlemen, let's talk tech for your tool. The Firm Tech Ring is revolutionizing erections, tracking performance, boosting stamina and supporting your sexual health with real science. Ready to level up in the bedroom? Head on over to MyFirmTechcom and use the code NURSEMOREEN15 for 15% off of any FirmTech order. Firmtech hard science for harder health, because performance matters. Hard science for harder health, because performance matters. Guys, if urinary leaks or struggles in the bedroom are holding you back, it's time to take control. Btlm cell, better known as the Kegelthrone, is a game changer boosting pelvic floor strength, improving bladder control and even enhancing blood flow for better performance. In just 30 minutes, this non-invasive treatment delivers thousands of muscle contractions, helping you regain the confidence where it matters most. No surgery, no downtime, just results Stronger pelvic floor, better bladder control, improved intimacy. Book your session today. For more information or to find a provider, go to btlaestheticscom. That's btlaestheticscom.