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Speaker 1: Last week, the Supreme Court started hearing the case about

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Speaker 1: abortion access in Mississippi. And this all started because Mississippi

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Speaker 1: put a law in place that said you couldn't terminate

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Speaker 1: your pregnancy after fifteen weeks.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's in direct contradiction with Roe v. Wade, right,

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Speaker 2: which says you can terminate a pregnancy up until twenty

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Speaker 2: four weeks, which is considered the point of viability, or

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Speaker 2: when a fetus can survive outside the womb.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 1: And this is so monumental because this is the first

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Speaker 1: time since nineteen seventy three. So when Roe versus Wad

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Speaker 1: happened that the Supreme Court is hearing a case that

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Speaker 1: questions if it's constitutional to ban abortion before viability.

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Speaker 2: This feels like a lot is on the line.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this could change everything, And it seems like we

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Speaker 1: are in a time machine because I never thought that

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Speaker 1: in my lifetime that we would go back to this

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Speaker 1: way of thinking and have to go through court systems

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Speaker 1: again about women's reproductive rights.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and you know, I've seen a lot of chatter,

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Speaker 2: you know, I like to scan the way. I've seen

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Speaker 2: a lot of chatter about like, oh, well, you don't

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Speaker 2: have to worry about abortion if you are taking birth

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Speaker 2: control and this and that, but baby, we need to

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Speaker 2: talk about birth control.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, because not all that glitters is gold. It's not

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Speaker 1: some magic pill that works for everybody the exact same way.

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Speaker 3: So we have to talk about this.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore science,

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Speaker 1: pop culture, and a healthy dosa friendship.

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Speaker 2: Reproductive rights have been under attack in the United States

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Speaker 2: and with the recent abortion legislation in Texas.

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Speaker 3: Right, it's not just Mississippi.

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Speaker 1: Texas has also put some laws in place, so they

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Speaker 1: have the Texas Heartbeat Act. And in this act, it

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Speaker 1: says that you can't terminate a pregnancy after six weeks,

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Speaker 1: So you only have six weeks to terminate your pregnancy.

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Speaker 2: And that six weeks is not from when you know

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Speaker 2: that you're pregnant. We need to be really clear. It

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Speaker 2: is tricky because the six weeks is from the date

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Speaker 2: of your last minstral cycle, so a lot of people

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Speaker 2: don't even know that they're pregnant six weeks out.

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Speaker 3: That's right.

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Speaker 1: So this week we're talking all about birth control specifically.

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Speaker 1: We wanted to understand how it works to prevent pregnancy.

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Speaker 1: Some of the issues or side effects around birth control

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Speaker 1: and how people can be empowered to find the best

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Speaker 1: option for them.

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Speaker 2: Let's get into the recitation. Okay, so what do we know?

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Speaker 4: Well, we know not all.

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Speaker 2: Birth control is created equal, right, you know there's a

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Speaker 2: lot of different types.

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Speaker 1: Yes, me and all my friends have all had a

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Speaker 1: different one and have different thoughts about each of those things.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the pill, the ring shot, iud's condoms, even spermicide

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Speaker 2: seems like that's making a comeback.

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Speaker 4: I recently saw ad for that.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine was

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Speaker 1: talking about the sponge. I had no idea what that

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Speaker 1: was when I was watching Seinfeld as a kid, but

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Speaker 1: it was birth control and she was trying to get

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Speaker 1: her hands on her favorite type of birth control, and it.

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Speaker 3: Was like she was looking for drug. Really, it was

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Speaker 3: very funny.

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Speaker 4: Now I'm gonna have to go back and look bit it.

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Speaker 4: What else do we know?

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Speaker 1: We know that birth control is an important topic because

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Speaker 1: half the population is looking for ways to decide.

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Speaker 3: Or control when they get pregnant.

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Speaker 4: Or if or if so.

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Speaker 2: What this boils down to is that birth control is

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Speaker 2: affecting a lot of the population.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so many people just think of birth control as

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Speaker 1: something that people with uteruses are thinking about, when really

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Speaker 1: it can be partners that are thinking about it. So

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Speaker 1: it really does affect way more than just the person

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Speaker 1: with the uterus. Yes, but it seems like a lot

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Speaker 1: of people that don't have a uterus are making decisions

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Speaker 1: about it, sticking the non uterus in our business and

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Speaker 1: telling us what we should be doing with our uterus.

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Speaker 2: We also know there isn't a birth control pill for

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Speaker 2: men right now, so what's going on with that? So

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Speaker 2: what do we want to know?

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Speaker 1: I think for me, it kind of starts at the

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Speaker 1: base and I'm a little bit embarrassed.

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Speaker 4: This is a safe space.

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Speaker 3: I don't really know how birth control works. You're just

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Speaker 3: counting on it to work.

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Speaker 1: I think I kind of understand how the ring and

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Speaker 1: the pill work, but iud's I know there's different types,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's the part that I'm like, chemically,

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Speaker 1: what is going on with these contraptions that we could

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Speaker 1: possibly be putting inside of our bodies.

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Speaker 4: That's a good question.

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Speaker 2: And then just as deserving of conversation is what are

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Speaker 2: some of the side effects?

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Speaker 3: Right?

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Speaker 2: What are some of the issues that come along with

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Speaker 2: adding these things to your body? You know absolutely, because

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Speaker 2: we already know that there are side effects.

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Speaker 3: I think we've all heard. I just want to know

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Speaker 3: what are all of them?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and piggybacking off what you just said, we know

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Speaker 2: there are tons of issues, and the issues are different

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Speaker 2: for different types of birth control. So how our doctors

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Speaker 2: to who gets what and when? And is the birth

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Speaker 2: control you got back in the day the same birth

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Speaker 2: control you should be using later, like people in birth

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Speaker 2: control for a long time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and our bodies are changing. We know that, right,

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Speaker 1: isn't one size fits all. Sometimes I feel like you're

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Speaker 1: going to the doctor and they just got the birth

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Speaker 1: control in a candy jar and they're just like here,

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Speaker 1: now go halfway. And then I think another really good

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Speaker 1: question is what is the future of birth control? I

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Speaker 1: can't imagine that we all gonna just be doing the

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Speaker 1: same thing.

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Speaker 3: I hope forever.

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Speaker 1: I hope that there's some advances in the technology so

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Speaker 1: that there aren't these issues that we're gonna be talking

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Speaker 1: about that persist with people whoever uterus.

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Speaker 3: Right, I feel like this is ripe for disruption.

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Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, absolutely, all right, let's jump into the dissection.

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Speaker 2: Our guest for today's lab is doctor Elizabeth Rousseau.

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Speaker 5: I am Elizabeth Rousseau.

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Speaker 6: I am founder of AIDA, and I got my PhD

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Speaker 6: in human genetics at Duke University.

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Speaker 1: So me and Zakiah both went to Duke with Elizabeth.

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Speaker 1: Not just all we were there at the same time

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Speaker 1: and we might have met each other.

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Speaker 2: No, we actually know Elizabeth, yes, very very well. We

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Speaker 2: graduated from the same program. All right, we have the

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Speaker 2: same degree. So I am really excited to talk to

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Speaker 2: her today. Yes, and she's one of our very very

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Speaker 2: smart friends. So buck Lynn, so you can know you

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Speaker 2: hear us say, Elizabeth is doctor Ruzzo. Yes, put some

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Speaker 2: respect on her name. Let's start with the basics. So first,

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Speaker 2: there's ovulation. That's the release of an egg from your

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Speaker 2: ovary down the fallopian tube. So when that egg is fertilized,

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Speaker 2: it implants in the side of the uterus. If there

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Speaker 2: is no fertilized egg in that house, the uterus just

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Speaker 2: comes crashing down. It shares the lining, and that's the

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Speaker 2: twenty eight day cycle that we know is a mistral cycle,

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Speaker 2: and so that lining being shared, that's a period.

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Speaker 1: We know that birth control is a really important part

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Speaker 1: of reproductive health for so many people, and we know

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Speaker 1: it prevents pregnancy, but how exactly does it work.

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Speaker 6: The highly effective methods work by either preventing ovulation or

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Speaker 6: by preventing the sperm from successfully fertilizing the egg, which

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Speaker 6: is usually via thickening of the cervical mucus.

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Speaker 5: So, with the exception of the.

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Speaker 6: Copper IUD, they all work by adding low levels of

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Speaker 6: exogenous hormones. And these are specifically synthetic forms of either

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Speaker 6: estrogen or progesterone.

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Speaker 4: All right, so let's break that down.

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Speaker 1: Okay, good, because there are some words in there. I

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Speaker 1: don't I'm not sure.

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Speaker 2: So Elizabeth said that all of these, except for the

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Speaker 2: copper IUDs, work by adding exogenous hormones. XO means outside

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Speaker 2: in genous. You know, word genus is the origin, so

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Speaker 2: originating from outside the body.

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Speaker 3: My girl speak Latin. She speaks Latin, y'all.

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Speaker 2: And so all we think about it, we're saying, like progestin,

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Speaker 2: that's just a synthetic version of progesterone. Hormones are chemical messengers,

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Speaker 2: and they're like long range chemical messengers. They can travel

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Speaker 2: through the bloodstream, reach different organs. They're important, and they

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Speaker 2: all serve different purposes often and I think it's a

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Speaker 2: really delicate dance of the different hormones, which is why

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Speaker 2: you often hear people say, oh, it's a hormonal imbalance

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Speaker 2: because they're coregulated and some are blocking others, some amplify others,

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Speaker 2: and it happens at different times depending on different things

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Speaker 2: that are happening in your body.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like a symphony, like those strings come in

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Speaker 1: at the right time to drown out those woodwind instruments.

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Speaker 3: There you go.

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Speaker 2: So some of the hormones that these different breath controls

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Speaker 2: add in are estrogen and progestin. Let's start with estrogen.

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Speaker 2: This is something that's pretty cyclical. It follows the menstrual cycle.

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Speaker 2: Estrogen thickens the lining of your uterus. That's saying, hey,

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Speaker 2: get thick there's an egg that might get fertilized and

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Speaker 2: it needs to be implanted into the side of here, right.

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Speaker 1: It's trying to make that environment right for the fertilization, Yes,

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Speaker 1: the fertilization right, okay.

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Speaker 2: Right, And so hormonal birth control can prevent pregnancy by

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Speaker 2: preventing ovulation. And that's just simply humpty dumpty coming tumbling down.

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Speaker 2: That's an egg tumbling down through the uterus. Right, and

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Speaker 2: so you can prevent ovulation or you can say, all right,

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Speaker 2: in the cervix. You know, if we're thinking about what

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Speaker 2: reproduction is, what fertilization of an egg is, You're gonna

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Speaker 2: have to have sperm that can move through the mucus

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Speaker 2: on the cervix to fertilize an egg. So if you

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Speaker 2: make that mucus very thick, the sperm can't move through, right,

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Speaker 2: and so it's not able to enter the uterus, and

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Speaker 2: it's not able to fertilize the egg.

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Speaker 3: It's like quicksand for the sperm.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the sperm is just not strong enough. Or another

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Speaker 2: way is to thin the lining of the uterus to

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Speaker 2: prevent the egg from even attaching to it. So slipping

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Speaker 2: slide records no egg attaching to the uterine lining, right,

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Speaker 2: if you want to remember it.

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Speaker 3: Those are different ways.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that was a beautiful breakdown of how all this works.

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Speaker 1: Doctor Russeau also mentioned the copper iud, which is a

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Speaker 1: non hormonal type of birth control.

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Speaker 3: So how does that method.

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Speaker 6: Work that one releases copper ions into the uterus and

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Speaker 6: makes it inhospitable for sperm and can potentially also prevent

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Speaker 6: implantation of the egg.

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Speaker 2: So, like we said before, there are so many types

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Speaker 2: of birth control. The pill, the patch, the shot, the implant.

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Speaker 2: Those are all hormonal types of birth control.

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Speaker 1: Non hormonal types include the copper ud using condoms in

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Speaker 1: the Fertility Awareness method also known as FAM, or the

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Speaker 1: rhythm method. This involves tracking changes during the menstrual cycle

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Speaker 1: to predict when you ovulate.

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Speaker 2: And the ways to use the different methods also vary,

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Speaker 2: so for the pill you take it daily at the

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Speaker 2: same time every day, whereas with the patch that's every

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Speaker 2: week you're applying a new patch.

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Speaker 1: So birth control has proved to be extremely effective at

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Speaker 1: preventing the fertilization or implantation of an egg in the uterus,

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Speaker 1: but it also has some reproductive health benefits beyond preventing pregnancy.

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Speaker 2: I think the point we really need to make clear

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Speaker 2: is that just having a uterus makes you susceptible to

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Speaker 2: all kinds of things.

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Speaker 1: Yes, like uterine fibroids, pcos PMDD, endometriosis.

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Speaker 2: Yes, And so I think it's easy to think of

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Speaker 2: birth control as just providing agency about when you will

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Speaker 2: or will not have a fertilized egg, but it's also

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Speaker 2: medicine for those other conditions that come along with having

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Speaker 2: a uterus.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 1: Birth control can't cure these issues, but they do help

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Speaker 1: alleviate some of the symptoms that come with them.

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Speaker 6: It's also used as medicine to treat chronic reproductive disorders

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Speaker 6: in women, everything from menstrual cramps to fibroids to pcos.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I've known people who are having issues with their period.

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Speaker 1: I knew someone that had their period consistently for like

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Speaker 1: six months, and so the prescribed medication to help regulate

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Speaker 1: it was birth control, And they had to go kind

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Speaker 1: of like back and forth with their doctors trying to

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Speaker 1: figure out the right dosage and things like that. But

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Speaker 1: eventually they got to a solution, which they were really

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Speaker 1: happy about.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad it worked out for them. There has been

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Speaker 2: so much conversation about fibroids, and these are not just

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Speaker 2: one off issues, right. So uterine fibroids, which are like

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Speaker 2: growths on the uterus. By the age of fifty, almost

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Speaker 2: two thirds of all women will have experienced uterine fibroids.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 2: And then, even when we know how many women are

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Speaker 2: going to have fibroids, there are still disparities within those groups.

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Speaker 2: So for black women, between the age of eighteen and thirty,

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Speaker 2: about a quarter of them will experience uterine fibroids, compared

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Speaker 2: to six percent of white women in that same age range.

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Speaker 1: And then PCOS, which is polycystic ovarian syndrome.

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Speaker 3: That's a condition where your ovaries produce.

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Speaker 1: An abnormal amount of androgens, which is male sex hormones

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Speaker 1: that are usually present in women in only small amounts.

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Speaker 1: Having more of those hormones, it starts to produce little

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Speaker 1: cysts on your ovaries.

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Speaker 2: And so endometriosis something that we often hear about and

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Speaker 2: the difficulties related to this. When you're pregnant, that's when

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Speaker 2: that uterine lining that we talked about earlier grows outside

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Speaker 2: of the uterus. Oh my gosh, okay, and so that

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Speaker 2: can be really painful.

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Speaker 1: And then PMDD is pre menstrual dysphork disorder and it's

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Speaker 1: a lot more severe than what we call PMS.

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Speaker 2: So now that we have a solid understanding of first

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Speaker 2: how birth control works, second the different types of birth control,

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Speaker 2: and third the additional health benefits of birth control, let's

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Speaker 2: talk about how you actually get it, how is it prescribed?

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Speaker 2: So first things first, how many different brands or versions

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Speaker 2: of birth control do you think are currently on the market?

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Speaker 1: TT okay, I feel like there's probably more than I think,

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Speaker 1: maybe more than fifty, but less than a thousand. I'm

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Speaker 1: just gonna give a wide range. I like that very easy,

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Speaker 1: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it's hard when you really think about it,

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Speaker 2: because it feels like there's a lot of different categories

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Speaker 2: and it has to be more than one brand in

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Speaker 2: each of those categories, right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Because you know, when you go into any drug store,

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Speaker 1: you got talent all, then you got ibuprofen, and then

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Speaker 1: you got the CVS brand, you got this other brand

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Speaker 1: and children's brand, all these different types of things. So

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Speaker 1: I'm like, is birth control like that?

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Speaker 5: All?

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Speaker 3: Right?

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Speaker 4: So how many are there on the market.

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Speaker 6: It's one hundred and eighty one, so the vast majority

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Speaker 6: of those are in the category of pill. But even

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Speaker 6: within pill, there's multiple different kinds. So for example, some

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Speaker 6: have both estrogen and progestines and some are progestin only

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Speaker 6: or commonly called the mini pill.

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Speaker 4: I feel like your guess was good.

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Speaker 3: It definitely fell within the range that I had said.

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Speaker 3: Thank you.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that, and you're right, I mean, it's not

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Speaker 2: quite a set of menifit, but birth control that includes

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Speaker 2: you know, brand names as well as the generic options

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Speaker 2: too that might be more affordable.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and the mini pill, which is progestin only, is

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Speaker 1: typically given the people who are breastfeeding or at risk

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Speaker 1: for blood clot And all of these methods have different

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Speaker 1: levels of effectiveness. After abstinence and sterilization, the implants and

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Speaker 1: id's are the most effective methods of birth control, all

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Speaker 1: about ninety nine percent effective or better.

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Speaker 2: And that makes sense because both of those have a

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Speaker 2: lot less room for human error. Once it's in, it's

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Speaker 2: in well for the most part. Methods like the pill

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Speaker 2: of the patch. Now that's going to require you to

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Speaker 2: stick to a regular schedule and to always remember to

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Speaker 2: take whatever your method is or to apply your method,

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Speaker 2: and that is way more susceptible to human error.

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Speaker 1: There is one time I forgot to put my own

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Speaker 1: shoes on when I was leaving my apartment in grad school,

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Speaker 1: and I didn't realize until I turned on my car

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Speaker 1: and stepped on the break.

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Speaker 4: You put your foot to the pedal because.

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Speaker 1: It's like, this does not feel right, hm, So you

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Speaker 1: already know things are getting for god Ton.

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Speaker 4: So that gets us to the question of which method

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Speaker 4: is best?

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Speaker 1: For real, the best method is one that fits your lifestyle, right,

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Speaker 1: But I don't know if doctors are asking those specific

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Speaker 1: lifestyle questions like are.

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Speaker 3: You a forgetful person?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: Have you ever gotten to your car without your shoes?

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Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

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Speaker 2: Because that is crazy levels of forgetfulness to me, right, yeah,

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Speaker 2: and something that even if you are forgetful person, you

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Speaker 2: might not even consider it because it's your day to.

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Speaker 4: Day life that might not feel forgetful to you.

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Speaker 2: I mean, yes, no shoes, but like oh man, where

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Speaker 2: you're having to say like did I turn off the stove?

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Speaker 4: Did I turn off to this?

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Speaker 3: You know? Right?

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Speaker 1: And maybe taking something every day and you set your

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Speaker 1: alarm on your phone and it's easy for you and

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Speaker 1: so it's no problem at all. But some people want

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Speaker 1: to be able to take breaks, like with the pill

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Speaker 1: and the patch.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, that makes complete sense.

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Speaker 1: Some people might be sensitive to hormonal changes, so they

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Speaker 1: don't want to opt for birth control that will change

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Speaker 1: their homeowned levels, so then they opt for you know,

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Speaker 1: things like condoms, the rhythm method or the copper UD.

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Speaker 2: So when you consider all this stuff, there's so many

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Speaker 2: options to pick from. One hundred and eighty one different ones.

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Speaker 4: It seems.

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Speaker 2: How are doctors deciding who gets which type of birth control?

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Speaker 5: It's complicated, right.

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Speaker 6: The average contraceptive counseling appointment in the US is thirteen

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Speaker 6: minutes thirteen minutes, and so doctors kind of prescribe based

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Speaker 6: on what they're comfortable with, what they've seen work in

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Speaker 6: their practice, and anecdotally a lot of them are like,

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Speaker 6: you know, I kind of have a couple favors. I

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Speaker 6: start with those. If they don't work, we go back

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Speaker 6: to it. And so this creates this process of women

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Speaker 6: and their doctors going through potentially years of trial and error.

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Speaker 6: The majority of women try for or more methods, with

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Speaker 6: the main reason that they quit being unwanted side effects.

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Speaker 1: So you heard that, right, Years years just to figure

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Speaker 1: out the right birth control. A lot can happen in

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Speaker 1: a year, and imagine having to go through that.

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Speaker 3: That's so frustrating.

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Speaker 6: Certain ones have different pros and cons right, Like, some

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Speaker 6: of them are also known to and have FDA approval

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Speaker 6: for being used in the treatment of acne. Some are

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Speaker 6: great at managing heavy menstrual bleeding, and others aren't. If

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Speaker 6: a patient comes in with like a this is my

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Speaker 6: main complaint or issue or concern on top of preventing pregnancy.

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Speaker 6: Then yes, doctors kind of know which of the bins

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Speaker 6: to pull from.

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Speaker 1: Doctor Russeau told us about the US Medical Eligibility Criteria

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Speaker 1: or US MECH for contraceptive Use, which lists out some

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Speaker 1: dangerous combinations of birth control and patient criteria.

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Speaker 6: So, for example, if you're a smoker over thirty five,

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Speaker 6: you should avoid combined oral contraceptives because they increase your

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Speaker 6: risk of blood clot and stroke things like that.

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Speaker 2: But even with that said, it's really a crapshoot and

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Speaker 2: there's no way to predict the possibility of unwanted side effects.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, cause, I mean I feel like most people are

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Speaker 1: walking into the doctor and just saying, hey, I need

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Speaker 1: birth control, and you might not even necessarily know to

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Speaker 1: think about some other things that might affect your reaction

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Speaker 1: to a certain type of birth control. I know I didn't.

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Speaker 1: I just said, hey, looking for the birth control. You

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Speaker 1: got some here.

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Speaker 2: So when we talk about these side effects, they really

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Speaker 2: span the total range of something that feels inconvenient like

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Speaker 2: a headache or nausea, to full blown migraines, changes in

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Speaker 2: period weight gain, changes in your mood, or sex drive,

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Speaker 2: blood clots, high blood pressure. I mean the list goes on, right,

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Speaker 2: even when you look at when there's a birth control

398
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Speaker 2: commercial at the end, when you know, when the person's

399
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:08,440
Speaker 2: talking off fast and they're telling you all the side

400
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Speaker 2: of us, so you're staying in the really you can't

401
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,680
Speaker 2: even catch onto it and the bla blah blah blah blah.

402
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, all those things I listened in there.

403
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Speaker 1: They're like depression, suicidal thoughts, and I'm like, wow, uh

404
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 1: what you know.

405
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Speaker 3: It's just crazy.

406
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Speaker 4: He's my only options?

407
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:24,920
Speaker 3: Why why is this happening?

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Speaker 2: So I think this is the tricky part, right, This

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Speaker 2: feels like a catch twenty two t T Yeah, because

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Speaker 2: on one hand, we have birth control that you're taking

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Speaker 2: to alleviate certain symptoms and feelings that you have, so

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Speaker 2: migrains or changes in period mood.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

414
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,680
Speaker 4: But on the other hand, if you don't have.

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Speaker 2: The right combination of birth control, or if the birth

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00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,360
Speaker 2: control you have isn't right for you, you can then

417
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Speaker 2: get these exact same.

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Speaker 3: Side effects from the birth control.

419
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Speaker 2: Yes, it's like a mixed bag, like hmm, maybe it's

420
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Speaker 2: a treat, maybe it's a trick.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, honestly. In twenty fourteen, Mark and Call,

422
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Speaker 1: the company behind the new which is a hormonal form.

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Speaker 3: Of birth control.

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Speaker 1: They settled at a court for one hundred million dollars

425
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Speaker 1: after facing thousands of lawsuits alleging injury and death from

426
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Speaker 1: serious side effects like blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks

427
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,840
Speaker 1: from folks that were using maneuvering.

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Speaker 2: And that's the part that makes it really terrible. Right overall,

429
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,200
Speaker 2: you think of birth control as this thing that gives

430
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Speaker 2: you more agency and control over your body and your health, right,

431
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,320
Speaker 2: but then it's coming along with these really serious side effects,

432
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Speaker 2: and some of them, like we said, are not just

433
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Speaker 2: one off, right, these are long term side effects.

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Speaker 6: So that's where I think we really could use improvements

435
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,359
Speaker 6: and just take this big data approach that we're taking

436
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,080
Speaker 6: to try to understand, Okay, this group of people were

437
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Speaker 6: on the same birth control, half of them felt great

438
00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,200
Speaker 6: and half of them felt miserable. What is different about

439
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,199
Speaker 6: their underlying biology? And can we save that group of

440
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,160
Speaker 6: people who felt miserable from going on the wrong one

441
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Speaker 6: in the first place.

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00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 1: So that really makes me think, like, why is it

443
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Speaker 1: so complicated? It seems like drug companies and healthcare providers

444
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Speaker 1: could be doing a better job with this? Is there

445
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,800
Speaker 1: funding going into R and D for better birth control?

446
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,200
Speaker 6: This is a stat I heard recently that blew my mind.

447
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,760
Speaker 6: So a typical drug, fifty percent of the profits from

448
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,359
Speaker 6: that go back into R and D for improving that drug, right,

449
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:21,640
Speaker 6: because you can always.

450
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,600
Speaker 5: Lower that blood pressure a little bit more. Birth control

451
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 5: two percent goes back to R and D two percent.

452
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:30,440
Speaker 2: Now, why are we getting the short end as the stick.

453
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,479
Speaker 3: I can think of one very large reason.

454
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,960
Speaker 2: I feel like just because the method is effective at

455
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,800
Speaker 2: preventing pregnancy, like, that's not it. We still can work

456
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,679
Speaker 2: on some of these other things over here. We just

457
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 2: rattled that list off very fast on the commercial.

458
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,679
Speaker 1: For real, And I mean that's what's being done with

459
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,720
Speaker 1: other drugs. Like Elizabeth was saying, when you think about

460
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 1: blood pressure medication and all these different types of drugs,

461
00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,480
Speaker 1: I feel like they're constantly getting better. They're always trying

462
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,320
Speaker 1: to make sure that your blood pressure is going to

463
00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 1: get even lower, even lower with each iteration. But it

464
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,240
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like the same type of energy is being

465
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:04,159
Speaker 1: brought to birth control.

466
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 3: Right.

467
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 2: And like Elizabeth said, if people are getting off of

468
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 2: birth control because of the side effects, that means the

469
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 2: birth control isn't effective because they're not taking it right.

470
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,440
Speaker 4: That's introducing more gaps.

471
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,880
Speaker 3: Come on, folks, what's not clicking Steven?

472
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,400
Speaker 2: And we said at the top, where's the disruption? This

473
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:25,679
Speaker 2: is your mama's birth control? Like this feels like the

474
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 2: same birth control over and over. Where's a new birth control?

475
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,199
Speaker 3: Right? We got retro birth control.

476
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,840
Speaker 6: Yes, there are people trying to work on male contraceptives.

477
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 5: For example, some of those clinical trials.

478
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 6: Were stopped pretty early because men were complaining of waking,

479
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 6: acne and mood changes, So imagine that. Unfortunately, it looks

480
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 6: like a lot of the other things where if you

481
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 6: look at you know, prostate cancer versus breast cancer research dollars,

482
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,159
Speaker 6: turns out sexism and it's reflected in all aspects of

483
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:56,840
Speaker 6: our government and budgets.

484
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,919
Speaker 1: It's just wild to me that men are complaining of

485
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,200
Speaker 1: these side effects, you know, gain mood changes, acne, when

486
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 1: these are the exact same side effects that everybody else

487
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 1: has been dealing with taking birth control.

488
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 4: Right, It's like, oh, you don't like that, neither do I?

489
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: You know, Like, have you seen the TikTok where the

490
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,240
Speaker 1: girlfriends are showing the birth control pamphlet? Yes, their partners

491
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 1: are reading through the birth control and they're like, what

492
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:18,919
Speaker 1: the heck.

493
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 3: Is all this stuff?

494
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:20,280
Speaker 4: They are shocked.

495
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 2: They cannot believe how many side effects come along with

496
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:24,360
Speaker 2: taking birth control.

497
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 1: If you've seen a birth control pamphlet, you know that

498
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: it is the size of a city block and the

499
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 1: type is very, very tiny, and it has all of

500
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 1: the chemicals, how to take the birth control, all of

501
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: the side effects, and everyone's blown away. And then the

502
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: men they're complaining about these things, and I'm just like, wow,

503
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:44,679
Speaker 1: but it's okay for.

504
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,480
Speaker 3: Us to go through all of that. Hmm. That's that's

505
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 3: very interesting.

506
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 4: Mm hmm.

507
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 1: Let's take a break and when we come back, we're

508
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 1: gonna talk all about how Elizabeth and her company Aiden

509
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 1: are shaping the future of birth control.

510
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 2: We're back, and before we dive back into our dissection

511
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 2: with doctor Elizabeth Russeau, what are we going to be

512
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 2: dissecting next week?

513
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 1: Next week, we're talking about HIV. It's been around for decades,

514
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,520
Speaker 1: but recently there's been huge strides in developing an HIV vaccine,

515
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,399
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get into it with doctor Christine Daniels.

516
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,240
Speaker 2: Also, starting next week, Dope Labs is going to be

517
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 2: exclusive to Spotify, So if you're listening to us from

518
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: somewhere else, go ahead and sign up for free on

519
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,880
Speaker 2: Spotify and follow us there so you can make sure

520
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,000
Speaker 2: you catch next week's episode plus all the other stuff

521
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 2: we have in the pipeline this semester.

522
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,399
Speaker 3: You don't want to miss it. So what are you

523
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 3: waiting for? Just do it? Just do it.

524
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 2: Let's get back to today's lab. So we're talking to

525
00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 2: doctor Russeau, and this is all about birth control. In

526
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 2: the first half of the dissection, we focused on what's

527
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,360
Speaker 2: not working with current birth control methods. Sure, if taken correctly,

528
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 2: they can be effective at preventing unwanted pregnancy, but they

529
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,280
Speaker 2: also introduce a host of unwanted side effects to the patients.

530
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:12,720
Speaker 2: Many patients have to go through a cycle of trial

531
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,679
Speaker 2: and error, leading to a really frustrating experience trying to

532
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,359
Speaker 2: find a birth control that works for their bodies. The

533
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 2: average person tries four different birth control methods before finding

534
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,320
Speaker 2: one that actually works. And that feels like a terrible

535
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 2: shooting rate for a product that's been on the market

536
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,680
Speaker 2: since nineteen sixties, and.

537
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,439
Speaker 1: For medication that is as old as my parents. At

538
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 1: least they should be doing way better than that.

539
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 2: In twenty nineteen, Elizabeth founded Aiden, a company on a

540
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:44,639
Speaker 2: quest to revolutionize how birth control is evaluated and prescribed.

541
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 6: People have very passionate opinions around birth control, right. They

542
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 6: either think it's great and they need it and they're

543
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 6: so glad we're trying to solve something that hasn't been

544
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 6: addressed before, or they've had a bad experience, or they're

545
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 6: in that unfortunate category of struggling with fertility and they're

546
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,120
Speaker 6: really angry and they're like, my birth control is the devil, right,

547
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 6: And so I get it. I mean, I wouldn't have,

548
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 6: you know, switched my academic career to work on this

549
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 6: if I wasn't also passionate about realizing that we need

550
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 6: a better.

551
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:14,880
Speaker 5: Standard of care.

552
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:19,879
Speaker 1: Aiden uses an approach that's called precision or personalized medicine.

553
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 1: So our first question about Aiden is what is precision medicine?

554
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,160
Speaker 6: Precision medicine or personalized medicine at its most basic level,

555
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 6: is just accepting something that I think we all know,

556
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,680
Speaker 6: which is that one size does not fit all.

557
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,879
Speaker 5: Right. We are complicated, we are different.

558
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 6: Why would you think our insights would respond the same

559
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:38,159
Speaker 6: to different drugs?

560
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 3: Exactly?

561
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,240
Speaker 1: Different medication affects people differently, and it shouldn't be one

562
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:43,000
Speaker 1: size fits all.

563
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,040
Speaker 2: So understanding what AIDEN is designed to do, how does

564
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 2: it work, what does it look like? What is the

565
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 2: ideal AIDEN workflow that would lead to better birth control experiences?

566
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 6: How it works is you get a test kit sent

567
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,359
Speaker 6: to your home and you spit into a tube for

568
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,879
Speaker 6: saliva that we used to extract your DNA, and you

569
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,719
Speaker 6: also provide a drop of blood from your finger that

570
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 6: we use to analyze the hormone levels of these six

571
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 6: different hormones.

572
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,120
Speaker 1: Doctor Ruzo gave us two examples about how the data

573
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 1: collected from the kits will improve health outcomes for people

574
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:14,880
Speaker 1: who use birth control.

575
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 6: The first is that we're looking at genetic risk for

576
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 6: experiencing blood clot. So there are a couple of well

577
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 6: known sites in the genome that, if you have them,

578
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 6: increase your risk for experiencing blood clot five to twelve fold,

579
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,040
Speaker 6: depending on which site you're looking at. But if you

580
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 6: happen to have one of those genetic markers and you're

581
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 6: on a birth control that's known to increase your propensity

582
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 6: for experiencing blood clot, that risk goes up to like thirtyfold,

583
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,920
Speaker 6: So it's a really massive risk and it's not currently

584
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,360
Speaker 6: checked in the standard of care.

585
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,480
Speaker 2: That's a huge risk, and quite frankly, I'm shocked that

586
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 2: they're not checking for this.

587
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 3: Honestly, why isn't this part of it.

588
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,640
Speaker 1: If I have to go to the doctor to get

589
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,120
Speaker 1: a prescription to get the birth control, why are they

590
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,320
Speaker 1: doing this to figure out if I'm at risk for

591
00:27:58,359 --> 00:27:59,119
Speaker 1: any of these things.

592
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,400
Speaker 2: It just seems like it should be pretty natural, right.

593
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,800
Speaker 2: Doctor Riso gives us another example. The second example looks

594
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:07,399
Speaker 2: at risk for depression.

595
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 6: Which, as you probably all know, is a complex disease,

596
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 6: meaning it's not just about a single site in the

597
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,119
Speaker 6: genome or just about your genetics. It can also be

598
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 6: about environment. But there's been a lot of great work

599
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,239
Speaker 6: done in the genetics of depression. So we've used a

600
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,000
Speaker 6: new technique called polygenic risk score, which you can think

601
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 6: of as basically a cumulative risk for experiencing depression, and

602
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 6: we're using that to try to help people who are

603
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,160
Speaker 6: at a high risk for depression to not further exacerbate

604
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 6: that by adding a drug, specifically a birth control drug

605
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 6: that's also known to increase the likelihood of experiencing depression.

606
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,080
Speaker 1: Could you imagine if everyone could have a personalized birth

607
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,720
Speaker 1: control method that was safe and effective without the risk

608
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 1: of side effects, without that trial and error process.

609
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 4: That would be ideal. That would be ideal.

610
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 6: I mean, honestly, our mission is really to make scientific

611
00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 6: discovery more inclusive and to be the world's most patient

612
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 6: centric precision medicine company. So even though we're starting with

613
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 6: birth control, I really see us as doing precision medicine

614
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,280
Speaker 6: in an area that hasn't been well studied before, which

615
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 6: is endrochronology plus genetics. So what we're doing with our

616
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 6: first product, which is the birth Control Test, is we

617
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 6: are looking at both your genetic predisposition as well as

618
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:30,120
Speaker 6: your hormone levels, together with self reported information on your

619
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 6: own medical history and preferences.

620
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 2: ADA analyses six hundred thousand sites in the genome and

621
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 2: six different hormone levels to find the best birth control.

622
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 1: By adding hormone analysis to this process, AIDEN is able

623
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,240
Speaker 1: to get a more precise picture of someone's medical chart

624
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 1: and predisposition to certain side effects. They're also able to

625
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 1: continue analyzing hormone levels over.

626
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 6: Time because we know that these hormones change, not just

627
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 6: throughout the course of a cycling month, but throughout somebody's lifetime,

628
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 6: as you move from puberty to menopause, they look quite different.

629
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 6: And we also know that there are sort of these

630
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 6: broad reference ranges that don't take into account things like

631
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 6: weight and age and ethnicity that we all know play

632
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 6: into what somebody's.

633
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 5: Quote unquote normal is.

634
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,520
Speaker 6: So our goal is to help make those more personalized

635
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,040
Speaker 6: in a way that would also unlock our ability to

636
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 6: be predictive about what somebody's disease state might look like.

637
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 2: The other mission for AIDEN is just broadening the research

638
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,240
Speaker 2: that's currently available when it comes to birth control, which

639
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 2: up until now has been underfunded, which we talked about

640
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 2: a little bit earlier, and is just generally lacking.

641
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 6: And to your question about you know, what's the data

642
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 6: that's out there, what does it look like, it is lacking.

643
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 5: It is severely lacking.

644
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 6: So a lot of our preliminary data, you know, we

645
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,479
Speaker 6: are standing on the shoulders of other scientists who have

646
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 6: cared to focus on this, who have done work to show,

647
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 6: for example, that certain kinds of birth control are more

648
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,800
Speaker 6: associated with depression, and that certain kinds of birth control

649
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,840
Speaker 6: increase propensity for blood clots. Things like that. When we

650
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 6: went to start a lot of the preliminary data was

651
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 6: me like mining databases that were out there and trying

652
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:08,960
Speaker 6: to clean it up to make sense of like what

653
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 6: do we know?

654
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 5: What are the patterns that we see?

655
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 1: And that also means including everyone in the research, including

656
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: women and people of color.

657
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 6: I think as of twenty eighteen, it was something like

658
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,280
Speaker 6: eighty percent of genome wide association studies were done only

659
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 6: on individuals of European descent, which just limits our power

660
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:27,800
Speaker 6: to understand the biology in everyone.

661
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,360
Speaker 5: We're hurting everyone by the way that we're approaching this.

662
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,400
Speaker 6: So I think part of our mission is, like I said,

663
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 6: to make scientific discovery more inclusive. And that's not just

664
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,000
Speaker 6: about paying attention to women, although we really need to

665
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 6: do that because women weren't required to be included in

666
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,120
Speaker 6: clinical trials until nineteen ninety three, which has led to

667
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,560
Speaker 6: this massive medical research gender gap. But it's also about

668
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,080
Speaker 6: making sure that we have diverse representation in the samples

669
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 6: that are there to continue to make discoveries that actually

670
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 6: benefit everyone.

671
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 1: Women weren't required to be in clinical trials until nineteen

672
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: ninety three.

673
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 4: That's very recent.

674
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,320
Speaker 1: What that means is that you could have whole trials

675
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,200
Speaker 1: go through and the people that are doing the research

676
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 1: know the effects that it has on men, but they

677
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,160
Speaker 1: don't know the effects that it has on women, and

678
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 1: then they end up being prescribed to everybody, so then

679
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 1: it could possibly be negatively affecting women and they have

680
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: no idea.

681
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, Doctor Russell mentioned that birth control is really just

682
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 2: the first step for Aiden. We wanted to know, wes Nix,

683
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,560
Speaker 2: what does the future of Aiden look like?

684
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 6: The short term step is for birth control. We get

685
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 6: more and more specific about how we can make recommendations.

686
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 6: So I'm not out here saying on day one for

687
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 6: every single person, I'm going to get you on the

688
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 6: right birth control of the first time, because we just

689
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 6: do not have that data. We're going to try our best,

690
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 6: but we're also going to learn as we go and

691
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 6: make our recommendations more and more specific. People go on

692
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,320
Speaker 6: birth control, often in their teens to treat PMS or

693
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 6: PDD right like, they potentially could start their journey with

694
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,240
Speaker 6: Aiden and stay with us to understand their hormones over time.

695
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 4: It feels like this was really illuminating.

696
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 2: You know, there are things that just get taken for

697
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 2: granted or that become the status quo and it's just like, ah,

698
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 2: just leave it like it is. And this is a

699
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 2: place where we don't need to leave it like it is. Yeah,

700
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 2: somebody needs shake the.

701
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 1: Table, honestly, and there's a lot of people doing a

702
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 1: lot of really important work to make sure that that happens,

703
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: and that the laws that are put in place are

704
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:28,040
Speaker 1: put in place to give women more agency and more

705
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 1: freedom to make a choice with their own bodies. And

706
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,560
Speaker 1: so when we do have that freedom, a company like

707
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 1: Aiden is giving us the ability to get those medications

708
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,280
Speaker 1: and have it work to our benefit and not to

709
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 1: our detriment. In the background, another good point that Elizabeth

710
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 1: raised is our bodies changed over time. When you think

711
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: about how long folks are on birth control, birth control

712
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 1: that worked for you at age sixteen might not be

713
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 1: birth control for you at age thirty six or forty six.

714
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 5: You know.

715
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, my body lotion that I was using at that

716
00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 1: age would not It's changed. Okay, I need pure vasiline, Okay,

717
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 1: some mut tourize this crusty body. I can only imagine

718
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,040
Speaker 1: what's going on on the inside.

719
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,359
Speaker 2: I think something that's so important that Aiden is doing

720
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 2: is collecting stories from people, yes that made it really real,

721
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 2: and it made me think back on my own experiences.

722
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 2: How many things just get pushed under the rug or

723
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,640
Speaker 2: dismissed because it's not the experience of the majority.

724
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so with her collecting these stories, she might

725
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 1: even be able to shine the light on something that

726
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,000
Speaker 1: might be a shared experience between a lot of different

727
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 1: women and they just had no idea it was linked

728
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: to their birth control. This type of research is definitely

729
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,560
Speaker 1: going to improve the quality of life of so many.

730
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,839
Speaker 5: People birth control odysseies, we're calling them.

731
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 6: So if you go to our website, you can go

732
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,480
Speaker 6: to our stories and submit your own birth control odyssey

733
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:55,400
Speaker 6: to help destigmatize, help people feel less alone in their experience.

734
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 6: I've learned so much from these stories. I'm blown away

735
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:00,880
Speaker 6: by how no two story are the same.

736
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,839
Speaker 3: All Right, it's time for our one thing. What's your

737
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:07,839
Speaker 3: one thing this week? Ze?

738
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,759
Speaker 2: My one thing this week is actually an app. It's

739
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:16,400
Speaker 2: called to doist TODT. I found this app while reading

740
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 2: about digital productivity. Because if you're like me, you have

741
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 2: a notebook and maybe another smaller notebook and a series

742
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,399
Speaker 2: of sticky notes and a calendar you're trying to keep

743
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,359
Speaker 2: in emails and bookmarks and read it later and it

744
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:30,960
Speaker 2: was too much stuff and so to do this is

745
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:32,719
Speaker 2: a place where I can kind of consolidate all of

746
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,400
Speaker 2: my things and keep my day on track.

747
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: I love that.

748
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,359
Speaker 1: So my one thing is a food item, and it's

749
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 1: probably my favorite comfort food right now, and it's a

750
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: breakfast bagel from this place called Call your Mother. If

751
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: you live in the DC metro area, you all know

752
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 1: about it. You may not have been there, but if

753
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 1: you are in the area, or if you're planning on

754
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: being in the DC metro area, you should definitely look

755
00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 1: for or Call your Mother location. I think they have

756
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 1: like four or five locations now. They just opened one

757
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:08,400
Speaker 1: near my house and it is a gift and a curse.

758
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,920
Speaker 1: My favorite thing to get there is the Sun City Bagel.

759
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:16,160
Speaker 1: It's an everything bagel with cheese, eggs, bacon, and siracha

760
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:20,480
Speaker 1: jam and it is perfection. It is a struggle for

761
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,839
Speaker 1: me to not go there every single day.

762
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:29,359
Speaker 2: That's it for Lab forty one. What did you think

763
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 2: about today's lab? Do you still have questions? Call us

764
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 2: at two zero two five six seven seven zero two

765
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 2: eight and tell us what you thought, or give us

766
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,800
Speaker 2: an idea for another lab. We could do this semester.

767
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 2: We like to hear from you. That's two zero two

768
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 2: five six seven seven zero two eight.

769
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,279
Speaker 1: And don't forget. There's so much more for you to

770
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,000
Speaker 1: dig into. On our website. There'll be a cheat sheet

771
00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,200
Speaker 1: for today's lab, additional links and resources in the show notes. Plus,

772
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 1: you can sign up for our newsletter check it out

773
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,840
Speaker 1: at Dope labspodcast dot com. Special thanks to today's guest expert,

774
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 1: doctor Elizabeth Russo, founder of Aiden.

775
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,360
Speaker 2: You can follow her on Twitter at sequin Lab coaked.

776
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 2: If you want to sign up for early access to

777
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,600
Speaker 2: Aiden's birth control tests, you can learn more about Aiden

778
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,920
Speaker 2: science at Aiden dot com a d y n dot com.

779
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: Aiden is on Twitter and Instagram at Aiden Health. So

780
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 1: that's at a d y n h e a l

781
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: t h. Dope Labs is a Spotify original production from

782
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: Mega Own Media Group.

783
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:32,360
Speaker 2: Our producers are Jenny Ratlitmast and Lydia Smith of WaveRunner Studios.

784
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,880
Speaker 3: Editing in sound design by Rob Smerciak.

785
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 4: Mixing by Hannes Brown.

786
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:41,160
Speaker 1: Original music composed and produced by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex

787
00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 1: Sugier from Spotify.

788
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,920
Speaker 2: Our executive producer is Gina Delvack and Creative producers are

789
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 2: Baron Farmer and Candace Manriquez Rinn.

790
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:53,080
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Shirley ramos yasmin of Fife, camu Elolia,

791
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,239
Speaker 1: Till krat Key and Brian Marquis. Executive producers from Mega

792
00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,680
Speaker 1: Own Media Group are Us T T Show, Dia and

793
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:08,040
Speaker 1: zik Ll Watley. But sometimes you know what happens to me,

794
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: My brain switches up urethra and uterus.

795
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:12,040
Speaker 4: And are not the same.

796
00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:13,760
Speaker 3: No, you pee out of you urethra.

797
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,439
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, not saying you know, I never can.

798
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 2: I'm like, I just pull a U word down when

799
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 2: I'm talking, just not umbrolla