1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to the Karl Marco Show on iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: I'm going to take a break from monologues for a bit. 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: I know people like them and I like doing them, 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: but I feel like they're a little disorganized and they're 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: just about whatever I'm thinking that day. And I know 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: that that is maybe part of their appeal. They're kind 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: of spontaneous. It's like I saw this, or I was 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: thinking this, or I read this. But I want to 9 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: make them a little more cohesive. I want to jump 10 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: around from topic to topic less and I want to 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: have a wider point. I'm almost at the two year 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: mark of this podcast, and I've learned a lot since 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: I started. I love my listeners and I respect your time, 14 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: so I want to spend this summer figuring out how 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: to make the monologues less jumpy and more coherent so 16 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: that my listeners get more out of them. I'd love 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: to hear from you all about what you'd like the 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: monologues to be going forward, or anything else you'd like 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: to tell me at Carol Markowitz Show at gmail dot com. 20 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. Please let me know 21 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: how your summer's going. Thanks for listening coming up my 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: interview with Amy Alkin. But first, folks, we're seeing something 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: truly disturbing. Anti Semitism is on the rise around the world, 24 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: and sadly right here in America. Jewish schools being targeted, 25 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we'd hoped 26 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me 27 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: say this, silence is not an option. This is the 28 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: moment to take a stand. That's why I want to 29 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: tell you about the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews 30 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: or IFCJ. They are on the front lines providing real 31 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter 32 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, 33 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. And they don't 34 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: just respond to crisis, they work every day to prevent it. 35 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: Your gift of only forty five dollars will help support 36 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: their life saving work by helping provide food, shelter, and 37 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: much more. The Bible says I will bless those who 38 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: bless you. Supporting IFCJ is a spiritual stand. It's showing 39 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: up for God's people when it counts. So please call 40 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 1: eight eight eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight 41 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: eight four eight eight four three two five, or go 42 00:02:54,840 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: to IFCJ dot org. Every dollar helps, don't wait, be 43 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: the difference. Visit IFCJ dot org or call eight eight 44 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 1: eight for eight eight IFCJ. 45 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 2: Now, welcome back to the Carol Markowitz Show on iHeartRadio. 46 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 2: My guest today is Amy Alcon, an award winning investigative 47 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 2: science writer who specializes in science help, using scientific evidence 48 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 2: to solve real world problems. Amy's new book is called 49 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 2: Going Menopostal What you and your doctor need to Know 50 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: about the real science of menopause and Perimenopause. 51 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 3: Hi. 52 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 2: Amy's so nice to be have you on. 53 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 3: This is great, Come on, thank you. 54 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 2: I'm a longtime fan. As you know, I have read 55 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: your previous books. I'm extremely excited to read this one. 56 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: Your new book is a serious look at menopause and 57 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: perimenopause and the way that it's often ignored by doctors 58 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: and researchers. 59 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 2: So why is that? Is it just sexism? 60 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 3: No, No, it's not sexism at all. Many of the 61 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 3: researchers are women. The problem is that, first of all, 62 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 3: it's there's a whole medicine wide problem that our medicine 63 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 3: is not really evidence based, and people find this really 64 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 3: hard to believe. But there are three big myths about 65 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 3: our medical care. One is that doctors are able to 66 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 3: read science and make decisions based in science. They're actually 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 3: not taught to read science in med school. Med schools 68 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 3: and medical institutions are so at fault here. You know, 69 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 3: people think, oh, you're going to bash doctors. I don't. Actually, 70 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 3: this is the responsibility of med schools and providers to provide. 71 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 3: If the doctors aren't trained in science, someone needs to 72 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 3: be there, you know, nerds to you know, say okay, 73 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 3: here's what the science says, and to generate practice standards, 74 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 3: which are the guidelines doctors go by to treat you. 75 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 3: And then the other the other two myths of that 76 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 3: doctors are trained in diagnostic reasoning. I'll a doctor house. 77 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 3: If anyone's seen that show. 78 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: I love it. 79 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 2: I have never watched it, but I watch them. The 80 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 2: clips of it now are going viral again for some reason. 81 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 3: Well, they do this differential diagnosis where they look to 82 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 3: see what is the underlying condition causing your symptoms and 83 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 3: what doctors do. This is a big medical error. They 84 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 3: will treat your symptoms without looking for the underlying disorder. 85 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 3: So if you have a headache, you know, maybe you 86 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 3: just are stressed out and you need some whatever tile 87 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 3: it all, or maybe you have a brain tumor. Now 88 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 3: if we cure your headache, we've lost an important signal. 89 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 3: So it's vital that we look for underlying conditions. And 90 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 3: then the third one is that doctors, this is so horrible. 91 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 3: They are not trained to correctly assess risk. So they 92 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 3: can't tell you what's my risk of this or that 93 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 3: they either will not get it right or they rely 94 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 3: on these overblown pharmaceutical company rep percentages that are actually 95 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 3: not meaningful to individuals at all. Their comparisons of one 96 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 3: group to another. So when they say like fifty percent 97 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 3: less risk, well that might be you know, it's a 98 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 3: very small number. You know, it's not your risk, it's 99 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 3: just this group to the other one. And so these 100 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 3: are huge problems. And then there's a scandal in gynecology 101 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 3: that people don't know about. So in gynecology, almost no 102 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 3: doctors have any training, not even an hour of training 103 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 3: in menopause or perimenopause science, right because they it's medical education, 104 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 3: medical education is so terrible. These schools are lazy. There's 105 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 3: no reason to change them because they're just dodgy bureaucrats 106 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 3: who run them, you know, taking in the donation dollars, 107 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 3: and why start these programs in diagnostic reasoning and proper 108 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 3: risk assessment? These cost money, These require change. New hires 109 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 3: will just do what we're doing. And this is horrible. 110 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 3: This is horrible because the father of evidence based medical 111 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 3: David Sackett, said, fifty percent of what you learn in 112 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 3: med school will be wrong. The problem is we don't 113 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 3: know which fifty percent, and it changes. The medicine changes 114 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 3: so quickly. Now, so doctors. They when you go to 115 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 3: the doctor, they treat you. They will send you guide 116 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 3: ecology departments will send you to a baby doctor. Doctors 117 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 3: who are maternity specialists, and those doctors are made to 118 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 3: treat you in something they have zero training and expertise. 119 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 3: And this is medically unethical. This is unethical. They should. 120 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 3: I write about this in the book by a cardiologist 121 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 3: I think her name is Sarah Holland she said, you know, 122 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 3: she's doing these massive cardiovascular operations. And she said, if 123 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 3: my patient wants me to prescribe allergy medicine. I apologize 124 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 3: and say, I know it would be more convenient, but 125 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 3: I don't know that area. She might prescribe the wrong thing. 126 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 3: And so because of this, doctors, you go to your 127 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 3: doctor with perimenopausal symptoms, you know, and the doctor doesn't 128 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 3: know what they are, dismisses you, norse the symptoms, doesn't 129 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 3: treat you or mistreats you. Doctors will give patience antidepressants. 130 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 3: This is terrible. I think people have been reading in 131 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 3: the news. You know, there are great tapering problems for people, 132 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 3: and what they don't do. They might antidepressants can bring 133 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 3: down hot flashes, but they don't. They don't solve all 134 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 3: these problems that you have and unhealth underlying unhealth in perimenopause, 135 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 3: for example, your bones. They don't protect your bones the 136 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 3: way our natural hormones do. And what doctors don't know 137 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 3: the cause of great suffering during perimenopause. And I should 138 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 3: name some of the symptoms so women get hot flashes. 139 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,959 Speaker 3: This is how I started the book. I was sitting here. 140 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 3: I live in Venice, California. This is like the most 141 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 3: temperate place in the world. You know, It's breezy summer day, 142 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 3: and all of a sudden. I'm sitting here at my 143 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 3: desk and I'm sure. I'm like, why do I feel 144 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 3: like I'm locked in a trunk in the everplace? He's crazy? 145 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 3: I thought, oh my god, I hot flash. And you know, 146 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,239 Speaker 3: you want to go to your doctor and say, I'm uncomfortable. 147 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,319 Speaker 3: What should I do? But I know better. I've been 148 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 3: coached since around two thousand and seven by this very 149 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 3: generous epidemiologist and biostatistician, Sander Greenland. He's a co author 150 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 3: of the seminal book in the field, and he has 151 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 3: helped me learn how to critically evaluate research and look 152 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 3: and see if the methodology is adequate. All studies are flawed, 153 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 3: but are they so flawed that you cannot you know 154 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 3: that they're not conclusive about anything, and you look for 155 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 3: a body of work. You don't just go buy one study. 156 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 3: This is a problem where people say, oh, do your 157 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 3: own research. Well, you have to know what to look at, 158 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 3: and you have to look at a great deal of 159 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 3: research to know you know where, you need to know 160 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 3: the whole landscape. So all of this is so terrible, 161 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 3: So you go to your doctor. I oh, so sorry, 162 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 3: I cut off my story. Basically, I started doing this 163 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 3: deep dive into the research to figure out what the sciences, 164 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 3: and I saw this just massive gap between the practice standards. 165 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 3: These are the standards for treating you, the guidelines for 166 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 3: treating you that these doctors, I mean, they just read 167 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 3: them off a list because they don't know themselves, no training, 168 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 3: and they're victims in this. It is horrible to expect 169 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 3: a doctor to do this. And this is you know, 170 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,959 Speaker 3: status quo in these departments. So people don't say no, 171 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 3: they want to keep their jobs. They just get there. 172 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 3: They're young and new, so they just okay, do the 173 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 3: best I can. That's horrible. That's horrible, you know, And 174 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 3: so they don't have any ability to really know what's 175 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 3: going on with you. And so women are left with 176 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 3: these symptoms and some of them. One of the things 177 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 3: I went through a horrible perimenopause. Now perimenopause, I should say, 178 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 3: is that transition period to menopause, three to ten years 179 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 3: leading up to menopause, when your hormones start to go 180 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 3: whack out basically, and what people don't know, what doctors 181 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 3: don't know, they think that perimenopause is this menopause light 182 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 3: that your estrogen. 183 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: That's what I really thought it was. 184 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I did too. Believe me, all these things I 185 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 3: was disabused on when I read the science. What actually 186 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 3: happens is that your estrogen spikes and dives and this 187 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 3: causes a release of stress hormones. This is the most 188 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 3: horrible thing. And then if you don't have the second 189 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 3: hormone of the menstrual cycle, estrogen's partner, progesterone, being made, 190 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 3: you can get really sick, which is what happened to me. 191 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 3: And the reason progesterone is not made in perimenopause is 192 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 3: that not all of our cycles are ovulatory. This is 193 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 3: one third throader throughout our lives. And this is all 194 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 3: the stuff on progesterone and perimenopause comes from the research 195 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 3: of Geraln. Pryor, who is this fierce woman who grew 196 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,439 Speaker 3: up in Alaska with no running water electricity, daughter of missionaries, 197 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 3: and brings that fierceness to science. She's an enochronologist and 198 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 3: has tried to put perimenopause on the map for its 199 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 3: unique hormonal state, and also have progesterone research, which is 200 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 3: very important. So progesterone is made when you ovulate, when 201 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 3: the little eggsaft ruptures and the egg is released. So 202 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 3: but in perimenopause and then sometimes before you don't have ovulation. 203 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 3: You know, normal, you have a normal period. It doesn't 204 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 3: seem any different, but there's no eggsact rupture. And what 205 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 3: happens that is that you don't have progesterone made because 206 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 3: it's makes the litter that's left behind called the corpus lute, 207 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 3: this yellow waxy stuff. And then you have a you 208 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 3: have days of progesterone, you know where you if you 209 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 3: have an adequate number where you progest your own you know, 210 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 3: from the ovulation, then you are protected, your bones are protected, 211 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 3: You're able to sleep, which I lost. This insomni is 212 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 3: a huge thing. Yeah, and you're not. 213 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,559 Speaker 2: Insomnia is actually I would say, I'm I'm in my 214 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 2: late forties. The sleeplessness is the only like symptom that 215 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 2: I recognize right now. But even going to the doctor 216 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 2: for that, it's very like, well, you know, maybe wear 217 00:12:58,160 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 2: yourself out more, go on more water. 218 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: I'm like, no, no, I have My sleep is not. 219 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 2: I was an amazing sleeper. I was a champion sleeper, 220 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,439 Speaker 2: and now I've gotten to where, you know, I definitely 221 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 2: have an issue, and it's it's clearly because I'm heading 222 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 2: in the minopousal menopausal direction. Like you say, doctors just 223 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 2: don't know what to do about it. 224 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 3: So this is what's so important. This is what I 225 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 3: did with this book, going menapostal. What I do. Medicine 226 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 3: is not going to change doctors institutions. They are not 227 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 3: going to be evans based overnight. But we need care 228 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 3: now that is evidence based. So what I do is 229 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,559 Speaker 3: I bring the evidence to all of us in ordinary language. 230 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 3: I have right over there on my router. Write every 231 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 3: page of this book for Pamela d. That is a 232 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 3: note to myself to not be a jerk or you know, 233 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 3: write things to show like how smart I am. Right, 234 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 3: we don't care. Write it in the most accessible, understandable 235 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 3: language because it's hard stuffed. And I also put in 236 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 3: all this humor because you cannot read a book like this. 237 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 3: It's terrifying stuff without having these vacations. Right, and so 238 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,959 Speaker 3: with the sleep thing, what's really important is to do 239 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 3: this quantitative basil temperature testing. Now people test their more 240 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 3: first morning temperature to see if they're ovulating. Now, the 241 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 3: book contains this horrible fact that we do not have 242 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 3: a twenty day menstrual cycle. This is wrong. Some women 243 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 3: have much longer ones or shorter ones. And these all 244 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 3: of these ovulation apps, I mean, they're leading women who 245 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 3: are expecting to know when they're fertile with the wrong information. 246 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 3: It's really horrible. But what is effective is measuring your 247 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 3: first morning temperature through this quantitative basil temperature taking. And 248 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 3: then what happens is and this is a bit detailed, 249 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 3: so you can look this up in the book, but 250 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 3: you want to see if you have enough days where 251 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 3: you're having progesterone and it's indicated by temperature rise that 252 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,359 Speaker 3: you are protected, that you have this really important protective hormone. 253 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 3: And because I didn't, and you know, I didn't have 254 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 3: enough progesterone, I wasn't I wasn't ovulating. My sleep was 255 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 3: so horrible. I had terrible brain fog. I was waking 256 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 3: up like you. I mean I never champion. Yes, like 257 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 3: someone hit me with a large frying pan. And then 258 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 3: and this was like this, I mean, now I lay 259 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 3: me down to thrash five or six times a night. 260 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 3: The torture. I tried every hot, showers, cold, I mean, 261 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 3: do my feet need to be colder? It was like 262 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 3: all this voodoo, you know, and so yeah, science in 263 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 3: this I realized I needed progesterone, and I had to 264 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 3: fight three battles with TiSER Permanente, my medical provider, to 265 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 3: get the progesterone, to get the amount I need, which 266 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 3: they do not give you in America. They don't give 267 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 3: you an amount protective of the endometrium, which is three 268 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 3: hundred milligrams of oral micronized progesterone per night, and then 269 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 3: to get it covered, you know, and I should say 270 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 3: my ecologist, he was wonderful. I have a male you know, 271 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 3: not like one of those patients like if you're my cancer, 272 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 3: if you're my oncologist and you haven't had my lung cancer, 273 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 3: well I'm not going to go here. He's fantastic, and 274 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 3: so he treated me with great respect and listen, I 275 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 3: am an annoying human being. And I threw just a 276 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 3: mountain of studies at him and then at his boss, 277 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 3: who was then the head of Kaiser grond Ecology, and 278 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 3: they actually met with me and listened and were persuaded 279 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 3: by the evidence I provided, and so they covered the drug, 280 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 3: gave me the amount I needed, which they'd taken France 281 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 3: since nineteen eighty safely, you know. And as they said 282 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 3: to me, well, that's not American you know research. I'm sorry, 283 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 3: like our French woman in Martians or to think he's 284 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 3: dressed better and eat better food, you know, I mean, 285 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 3: it's crazy. So that gave me my sleep. What it 286 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 3: also does to protect my bones, my cardiovascular system. And 287 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 3: this is a huge thing I want to mention about menopause. 288 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 3: We have this fraudulent research that came out around two 289 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 3: thousand and two, the Women's Health Initiative study that basically said, 290 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 3: you know, you're gonna get breast cancer your head. 291 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 2: That's been I mean, I feel like I've read so 292 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 2: many articles about how that's been disproven and that's just 293 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 2: no longer considered the case in the medical world. 294 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 3: It was methodological crap, and it was it was fraud 295 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 3: basically because these researchers in two thousand and two, I mean, 296 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:29,959 Speaker 3: if you tell the true story, you know, or if 297 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 3: you actually first of all do appropriate testing, you don't 298 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 3: have women scared and you know, throwing their estrogen prescriptions 299 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 3: in the toilet. What they said is that healthy menopausal 300 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 3: women will get you know, breast cancer, Alzheimer's, et cetera. Well, wait, 301 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 3: a second. The women in the study were like seventy 302 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 3: nine years old, seventy five? You don't give does grandma 303 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 3: going to the doctorate account of hormones? No? And the 304 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 3: thing is what we know now, there's something called the timing. 305 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 3: It's a critical window, the time hypothesis, and it's there's 306 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,360 Speaker 3: good evidence behind this that if you are a healthy 307 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 3: woman you don't have plaque building up your arteries. You're not. 308 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 3: You're healthy right at menopause and you start ester. Can 309 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 3: you initiate it then then it will be health when protective? 310 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 3: And what doctors said the head of Kaiser, the current 311 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 3: head of Kaiser Gnecology, this is so appalling. My doctor, 312 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 3: my excellent gynecologist who listens and considers the science is out, 313 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 3: you know, and so till August. So I had to 314 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 3: meet with her. She tells me you need to tape 315 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 3: her off estrogen at sixty. I said like, oh, this 316 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 3: is so so outdated and so disproven that even the 317 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 3: menopause society they're always behind the times. In twenty twenty two, 318 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 3: my point was like last three weeks ago in twenty 319 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 3: to twenty two, they came out and there said there 320 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 3: is no stopping rule. You know, it's to be decided 321 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 3: on individual health. And the thing is people think, well 322 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,719 Speaker 3: I should get off estrogen. No, if you are, if 323 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 3: you're healthy, it needs to be you need to be monitored. 324 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 3: But if you're a healthy person, when you initiate it 325 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 3: and you remain healthy and your monitor for that, what 326 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 3: you want is to be taking estrogen when you're old, 327 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 3: because when do we break bones at seventy nine? And 328 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 3: we break them because we fall. 329 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: There's stigma around talking about menopause. 330 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 2: There's nausea, there's bleeding. None of it is very attractive, right, 331 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 2: But there's also the sense that menopause means you're ancient 332 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 2: and it's the end of the road. And you kind 333 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 2: of turn that on its head in the book and 334 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 2: say that it could be the start of your new 335 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 2: life or your new path. What do you mean by that? 336 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 3: Exactly? See, if you have your health, then you can 337 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 3: just be you all your life and just be a 338 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 3: little wrinkled, you know, and there are things that go wrong, 339 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 3: but this is so important. I do not accept the 340 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,439 Speaker 3: stigma that we are less, you know when we age, 341 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 3: And so I go around telling people, I mean I 342 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 3: was shove it at them I'm sixty one, I'm sixty one. 343 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 3: I'm sixty one because. 344 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 2: I'm very I'm forty eight and I'm open about it 345 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 2: and I don't care, and I'm never gonna lie about 346 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 2: my age. 347 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 3: And the thing is, I'm a better human being in 348 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 3: every way, you know, except for my eyesight. Now it's 349 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 3: sixty one than I ever was. I'm kinder, you know, 350 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 3: my work is better. It's just wonderful to be this 351 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 3: age and be the person I am now. And I 352 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 3: see those so many women. Something happens at fifty women 353 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 3: we have we tend to be, many of us timid 354 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 3: in some ways, you know, And at fifty, so many 355 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 3: women developed this confidence almost out of nowhere, where they 356 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,400 Speaker 3: will speak up, you know, pitch themselves, put themselves out there, 357 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 3: stand up for things. And this is exciting, and you 358 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 3: can even if that's not naturally occurring for you. The 359 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 3: thing is, you know, our emotions and our way of being. 360 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,919 Speaker 3: This is not a mandate. You can choose to be 361 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,639 Speaker 3: that way, and you can choose to be this about 362 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 3: age also to be this way. And the reason that 363 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 3: it's it's important to do this is that we can 364 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 3: have a whole like third or fourth act. And so 365 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 3: my friend I'll give my friend w Levin as an example. 366 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,199 Speaker 3: She I met at the Alternative Weekly newspaper conferences. I 367 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 3: was selling my syndicated column. She was selling John Callahan, 368 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 3: the cartoonist, and she was She's an agent. She's really 369 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 3: great at that. Well. She is now a pretty legendary ceramicist. 370 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 3: She sells her work all over galleries, you know, the 371 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 3: like designers. It's really sought after. And this just happened 372 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 3: in a few years and she developed this and this 373 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 3: is the way. And like a neighbor of mine, missus 374 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 3: Abbot Kinney, she used to be on Twitter. She does 375 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 3: literacy volunteering for adults, teaching adults to read at our 376 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,239 Speaker 3: library here in Venice. So you can volunteer, you can 377 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 3: move to Portugal. You know, there's some of it you 378 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 3: can do and you just have to decide. You know 379 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 3: that that really I call it old is the new black. 380 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 3: I'm old. I'm old. I say it. I'm old, and 381 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 3: I'm fabulous. You know the thing you're old? Yes I am, 382 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 3: I am. 383 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 2: It gets me into my my one of my three 384 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 2: questions that I ask all my guests, what do you 385 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 2: worry about? 386 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 3: Oh? My god? I worry that I've missed something, that 387 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 3: I'm not getting the science right. I have such a 388 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 3: responsibility to people, and so luckily this worry and the 389 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 3: lack of you know, the sort of arrogance that comes 390 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,639 Speaker 3: with being formally educated, you know, has me looking at 391 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 3: things and relooking at things and sending my workout to 392 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 3: be fact checked. I tell people actually to like kick 393 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 3: my ass, wipe the floor with me, because they don't 394 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,360 Speaker 3: believe you when you say you want criticism. But that's 395 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 3: really important to me, and that is my terror. 396 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 2: I love that we're going to take a quick break 397 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 2: and be right back on the Carol Marcowitch Show. What 398 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 2: advice would you give your sixteen year old self? Like, 399 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 2: what did sixteen year old Amy not know that you 400 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:49,440 Speaker 2: wish she did. 401 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 3: Respect is not conditional on other people's behavior. I had 402 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 3: no friends until I was fifteen, and you become sort 403 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 3: of suck up. And the thing is you are not going, 404 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 3: first of all, not going to get them to be 405 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 3: your friends or like you if you behave without self respect, 406 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 3: if you're you know, sucking up and trying to you know, 407 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 3: trying to get people like you. And so the best 408 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,640 Speaker 3: thing is to just be you, proud you, not suck up, 409 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 3: you know, not let it ever be relative. 410 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: I love it. 411 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 2: I can't imagine you ever being a suck up. Honestly, 412 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,920 Speaker 2: you're so independent and outspoken. I just feel like you're 413 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 2: I've never thought, oh, Amy doesn't say what she thinks. 414 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,959 Speaker 3: No, but this is the thing we can all change, 415 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 3: you know. I talked in the book about choosing resilience. 416 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,160 Speaker 3: You know, we have a lot of stuff go wrong 417 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 3: with us, you know, and you can choose to have 418 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,959 Speaker 3: that attitude. I have this beautiful quote, I'm not going 419 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 3: to remember it, but my friend Leslie Gray Streeter talks 420 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 3: about I'm the child of Jim Crow, her husband who's widowed. 421 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 3: They had just adopted a baby, all of this, but 422 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 3: she said, I choose joy, you know, and it makes 423 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 3: me cheer up each time. And that's the way you can. 424 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 3: You can choose to have that attitude. And I think 425 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 3: that it's really important to do that to understand that. 426 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: I love it. Well. I've loved this conversation. 427 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 2: I can't wait to read. Going menipostal end us here 428 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 2: with your best tip for my listeners on how they 429 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 2: can improve their lives. 430 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 3: If you if you live to be healthy if you 431 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 3: do this, if you do weight bearing exercise, slow speed 432 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 3: strength training, and you'll eat a very low carb or 433 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 3: cardboard diet. These are the two things you need to 434 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 3: be healthy throughout your lifespan. And this is the most 435 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 3: These are the two most important tips I can give you. 436 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 2: I love that so much. Thank you so much for 437 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 2: coming on Amy. Check out her new book Going Menipostal, 438 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 2: What you and your doctor need to know about the 439 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 2: real science of menopause and perimenopause. Thank you so much, Amy. 440 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on the Carol Marco 441 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: which show. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.