Menopause Doctor – Mary Claire Haver (Podcast Summary)

Tell your story and make it a normal part of conversation.

(The podcast is below the summary)

Summary:
Go to her site for a wide range of answers and resources.
Apart from all the physical changes, the mental health is also affected.
By the age of 30, women have 10% of their egg supply remaining and at age 40 it’s about 3%.
The only other animals that go through this are a species of whales and giraffes.
Estrogen does not cause breast cancer and relative mortality went down 40%!
Avoid the pill for estrogen and stick to the patch if you’re having sudden changes that are overwhelming.

3 Stages of Menopause:
Perimenopause: 7-10 years before menopause so it can begin even at 35 years of age. The body starts recognising the lack of estrogen and testosterone. The regular cycle starts going into chaos and night sweats or other symptoms like frozen shoulder start showing up.
Menopause: 45-55 years of age. It’s the days that you’ve not had a period for 1 year.
Postmenopause: This is the rest of your life after the day. Hot flashes, night sweats and brain fog might go away but the trend downwards will continue without the help of estrogen.

Consequences: Risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cholesterol level, chances of frozen shoulder, depression, chronic inflammation increases. Skin, hair, teeth, inner ear changes. If you break your hip in menopause, 30% of women with surgery will die in the first year and 70% will die without surgery. The year will be full of horrific pain, not being able to move and just misery.

Solutions: Women on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) have a lower all cause mortality. Get onto estrogen. Women need to address as soon as they get the feeling that something is off. Tell your story and make it a normal part of conversation. Focus on strength training and muscle mass. Estrogen decreases inflammation. The minimum amount of fiber you get per day should be 25g, you don’t need a prebiotic if you get enough fiber (the one that settles brings in water and the one that is cloudy feeds the microbiome in your stomach. Get more Vitamin D, it reduces hypertension, diabetes and inflammation. If you experience sleep disruption or apnea, you’ll need to see a sleep specialist.

Fasting: You have to be careful what you’re feeing yourself in your window. She recommends 16:8 so – 16 hour fasting followed by an 8 hour eating window. Don’t dive into it, give yourself a 6 week trail and increase the fasting window. You’ll be amazing how your body will adapt.

Muscle Mass: Talks about how creatine and muscle gain is helping in menopausal patients. Muscle mass is connected to resistance to insulin sensitivity, recovering from falls, reduces the risk of osteoporosis. 50% of women will have an osteoporotic fracture before they die and is preventable by … MUSCLE MASS! So resistance training is highly recommended.

Advice for Men: Normalise the conversation and remove the stigma. Men’s changes are 35-40 and it’s very minimal compared to women. Stop normalising the term ‘it’s all in her head’. Imagine if you lost your testicles or stopped being able to produce sperm.

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