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Speaker 1: Welcome to Wellness on MASS. I'm doctor Nicole Saffire and

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Speaker 1: this is your weekly rundown. Well. Yesterday, the White House

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Speaker 1: confirm President Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venus insufficiency.

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Speaker 1: This condition occurs when the valve veins in the legs

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Speaker 1: they start to weaken, causing blood to pool and leading

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Speaker 1: to swelling, discoloration, and varicose veins. The announcement came after

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Speaker 1: reporters noticed swollen ankles and bruised hands during recent outings

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Speaker 1: like the FIFA World Cup. The White House was incredibly

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Speaker 1: refreshingly transparent about the diagnosis and provided all the pertinent negatives,

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Speaker 1: including no evidence of heart, kidney, and liver disease and

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Speaker 1: no signs of venus thrombosis or blood clots in the

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Speaker 1: lower extremity veins. Now chronic venus insufficiency, it's incredibly common,

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Speaker 1: especially in older people, affecting about ten to thirty percent

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Speaker 1: of all Americans. Generally not life threatening, but if untreated,

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Speaker 1: can lead to complications like skin ulcers or infection. So

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Speaker 1: for treatment, doctors typically recommend compression, socks, leg elevation exercise,

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Speaker 1: and there are some minimally invasive outpatient procedures if the

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Speaker 1: symptoms worsen. What's the takeaway, Well, if you notice unexplained swelling,

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Speaker 1: varicose veins, or just leg heaviness, especially if you're over fifty,

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Speaker 1: don't dismiss it as just aging. Early evaluation and simple

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Speaker 1: changes can prevent progression. Also, the President had bruising on

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Speaker 1: his hands. As we age, we lose the subcutaneous fat

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Speaker 1: elastin and collagen in the skin of our hands, so

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Speaker 1: when you knock your hands, you tend to get more bruising.

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Speaker 1: The President is on daily aspirin for cardiovascular prevention reasons.

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Speaker 1: This increases his risk of that bruising. It's possible they'll

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Speaker 1: have conversations about cutting back on the aspirin if the

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Speaker 1: bruising is causing issues for him. Now, moving on another

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Speaker 1: big announcement. Yesterday, the FDA convene an expert panel to

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Speaker 1: reassess the notorious black box warning on menopausal hormone replacement therapy. Now,

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Speaker 1: this includes systemic and local estrogen use, long flag for

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Speaker 1: their supposed increase risk such as breast cancer, blood plots,

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Speaker 1: and stroke stemming from an old study two thousand and

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Speaker 1: two Women's Health Initiative. The panel that convened yesterday comprising

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Speaker 1: of menopause, cardiology, and gynecologic specialists, viewed updated evidence suggesting

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Speaker 1: risk may be lower than previously feared, and a lot

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Speaker 1: of women are suffering from perimenopause and menopausal symptoms because

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Speaker 1: they're afraid to take the treatments for it, and by

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Speaker 1: doing so, they're actually increasing their risk of stroke and osteopenia.

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Speaker 1: So they recommended revising or just removing the black box

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Speaker 1: warning altogether, arguing it discourages women from accessing symptomatic relief

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Speaker 1: for hot flashes, sleep issues, mood changes, vaginal dryness, and

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Speaker 1: so much more. Advocates suggest a stronger emphasis on patient

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Speaker 1: specific risk profiles and counseling, which I one hundred percent

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Speaker 1: agree with. The FDA plans to open a public comment

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Speaker 1: window via the Federal Register soon, and I am certain

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Speaker 1: that I will weigh in as I tend to do. So.

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Speaker 1: Why is this important? Because women shouldn't be suffering, and

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Speaker 1: this is going to affect all women, not just a

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Speaker 1: small subset. No woman can avoid menopause, so this was

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Speaker 1: a very important topic and I'm very happy to see

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Speaker 1: Commissioner McCarey addressing it. Thanks for listening to Wellness on

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Speaker 1: Mass on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Wellness

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Speaker 1: on Mass with doctor Nicole Saffire and start listening on

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Speaker 1: we will catch you next time.