~ 18 ~ #2
“Because the menstrual cycle has been deemed too difficult to factor into various studies. It’s too complicated, they say.
It skews all the data so they decide to leave them out.
So the result is we have far fewer studies on women, and the impact of various medications and conditions on women, as well as the importance of physical activity in women as they age, particularly leading to muscle loss and accelerated cognitive decline. ”
“Is that the case across the board or just for a few conditions affecting women higher, like Alzheimer’s and dementia?”
“Across the board.”
“Why?”
“Institutional indifference to women’s experience. Laziness. Lack of empathy. It’s in every field, with the exception of gynaecology, and even that had questionable origins. Female doctors had to fight for the right to give women the care they needed, and to study it. We’re still fighting.”
“Where does this bias come from, do you think?”
“Well, to be blunt, men. If men are making decisions on financing different research studies, they are not going to be thinking about the importance of supporting women to lead lives of dignity and proper healthcare throughout their lives, because it’s not important to them.
They assume men are the standard and women are just used to suffering.
The medical establishment has neglected women for centuries and historically it excluded women from becoming doctors.
When I was training to become a doctor, I noticed it, but I just accepted it. Then everything changed.”
“What changed?”
“I saw firsthand the women who had done everything right all their life, followed all the advice, looking after their family, dieted, never took a moment to themselves. I see them when they break a hip and they struggle to recover. They don’t realise that their bones are so brittle from a lifetime of malnourishment and the wrong type of exercise or none at all.
Stress. Sometimes they also have dementia.
It feels like a crime we do not do more to understand women’s health and educate the public about what we have come to know from studies in recent years.
That’s when I decided to start my research programme and to speak all over the world on the topic. ”
“You’re an advocate of women?”
“Yes, I think I am.”
“Does it all come down to the menstrual cycle?”
“In part. A women’s hormones affect everything in her body. It’s also partly cultural. But it is changing, and more and more scientists and doctors like me are speaking out and getting more research done on women.”
“That’s great. What would you say to a woman in her forties, who is perhaps in perimenopause but isn’t sure? How does she know she’s in perimenopause?”
“One thing. Very simple. It’s when she starts to say, ‘I just don’t feel like myself anymore’. I’ve worked with thousands of women and encountered this phrase in my practice so often. It’s well documented, too, that this is what women say when they present with signs of perimenopause.”
“What are the signs?”
“Difficulty sleeping, low mood, not being able to handle as easily the things in their lives that they used to, slower recovery after exercise, brain fog, worsening PMS, low libido, muscle and joint aches, you name it.”
“That sounds awful.”
Dr Bright took a sip of water. “It is.”
“Did you experience this yourself? It feels like a lot of women don’t talk about these things.”
“Perimenopause can begin in a woman’s thirties and last into her fifties.
It’s different for each woman but may resemble her mother’s experience.
That’s why it can help to ask your mother what she went through.
Personally, I really struggled with brain fog and poor sleep.
My energy went down. I was acutely active and career driven, I had two children, and when I reached my mid-forties, it was like my body refused to behave the way it always did.
I also found out I have ADHD. It’s more common in women to find this out in their thirties and forties. ”
“That sounds so hard. Did it get better? And why is that the case about ADHD in women?”
“It got better in my fifties.”
“How did it get better?”
“Partly to the levelling out of my hormones but also because I prioritised building muscle and strengthening bone and eating enough food to support my life. I also took a small amount of hormone replacement therapy. There are a lot of options for women, based on science, and I want to make sure they are aware of them, so there is less suffering for the younger generations approaching menopause. My key message is that women have to take up more space in the world, stop the calorie-restricted dieting routine and stop running ourselves into the ground, and start building strength in our bodies to ensure a healthier longer life.”
“And that is what I’d love us to delve deeper into today.”
“To your question about ADHD, when there’s no longer the same level of oestrogen supporting the production of dopamine, whether that be at perimenopause or during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, this fluctuation and drop in hormones can make masking more difficult.
It can become impossible to function for some women, often leading to burnout. ”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rona leaning forward.
“People with ADHD have a different pathway in the brain for dopamine, often with lower levels, and only responding to urgency and levels of interest. It’s a different neurotype to what we call neurotypical people, who often have higher levels of dopamine and balance with serotonin.”
We spoke for another two hours going into great detail on all the options out there for women to manage the transition of their hormones and improve the quality of their life. I felt inspired and hopeful by the end of it.
I walked Dr Bright to my front door. “It was great to meet you. Thanks so much for coming on my podcast today while you were in London.”
She faced me fully. “Of course. I watched you play soccer for England for many years. I always admired your spirit on the field. To be honest I wished you had played for the United States. Now that you’re using your platform to further knowledge and discussion of important topics, I was even more intrigued.
I wanted to reach your audience who might be younger and more active women.
But I think the main reason is you. You seem like a genuinely open and curious person. I was happy to talk to you.”
I stood there, stunned, unsure I’d ever felt this good about a compliment before. “Um, that means so much to me. Thank you.”
“Good luck. You’re going to do great.”
And with that, she walked away and got into her cab.
Waving from the doorstep as her cab disappeared down the road, I was buzzing from the conversation and everything I’d learned, and excited to share it on my podcast as soon as possible.
I went back through to the studio where Freya was on her laptop.