# 69 - How hormone treatments can prevent disease

An episode of [The Dr Louise Newson Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1459614845), 26 May 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/10618cf34/podcast/play/120390665/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-22%2F424690733-44100-2-4f65ced673ae1.mp3

Why do we wait for people to become ill before we help them get better? In this episode, Dr Louise Newson is joined by GP and preventative health specialist Dr Harpreet Sood for a conversation about why healthcare needs to move beyond firefighting disease and towards a more proactive, personalised approach. Together, they discuss the importance of hormones in long-term health, why so many women globally are still unable to access treatment and the need for better education for both doctors and patients. They also explore how empowering people with knowledge about sleep, nutrition, exercise and hormones can transform future health outcomes. We hope you love the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to follow us, leave a 5-star rating and share it with someone who might find it helpful. LET'S CONNECT Subscribe here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@menopause_doctor Website 👉 https://www.drlouisenewson.co.uk/ Instagram 👉 / @drlouisenewsonpodcast LinkedIn 👉 / https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlouisenewson/ TikTok 👉 / https://www.tiktok.com/@drlouisenewson Spotify 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/7dCctfyI9bODGDaFnjfKhg LEARN MORE Download my balance app 👉 https://www.balance-menopause.com/balance-app/ Get tickets for my new theatre tour, Breaking the Cycle 👉 https://www.nlp-ltd.com/dr-louise-newson-breaking-the-cycle/ Pre order my new book 👉 https://bio.to/ThePowerofHormones

## Transcript

[0:00] Today on my podcast, I've got Doctor Hartpreet Sood who is auk
[0:04] and US trained Dr. and he currently works in both London
[0:08] and Dubai. We talk about the global health
[0:12] problem of not being well for long enough, about how we can
[0:16] personalize medicine and how of course we can have hormones in
[0:20] our everyday consultations and helping people make the right
[0:24] choices for their future health. So heartbreak, you're in the
[0:29] studio. I've dragged you in at short
[0:31] notice because you're over from Dubai for a short period of
[0:34] time, but you're UK trained. I've known you on and off for a
[0:38] few years, but I feel like I'm getting to know you a bit more
[0:41] and you're getting to know the work that I do a bit more, which
[0:45] is great. But we're both GPS, we're both
[0:48] really keen in keeping our patients as healthy as possible.
[0:51] But just tell me a bit about your background.
[0:53] Absolutely. That's OK.
[0:55] So we've actually known each other since 2015.
[0:56] We got introduced by by a woman called Gwen Reese.
[0:59] You don't. Remember, I do remember her.
[1:00] She's great. She.
[1:02] Was like Louise's amazing, fantastic doctor she wants to do
[1:04] more in Women's Health and set up a clinic.
[1:06] Please get in touch. That was the e-mail.
[1:08] So we did speak but no, it's it's been great following your
[1:11] journey and and really seeing where you've got to so and thank
[1:14] you for the invitation being here delighted to be here.
[1:17] You know, it's, it's always great to have this moment to
[1:20] talk with friends, but also colleagues.
[1:22] So my background, as you know, GP in the UK trained both here
[1:26] and the US background in public health, health systems, but
[1:31] increasingly been doing a lot more in preventative health,
[1:34] proactive health. And thinking about how we flip
[1:37] the model from being essentially A reactor service that we're all
[1:40] used to here in the UK to do a more preventative proactive
[1:43] service. And, and in particular,
[1:47] combining that with the role of technology and wearables, as
[1:50] we've seen advancements, as you know, great advancements in
[1:54] diagnostics, therapeutics, but also wearable technology.
[1:57] I mean, I wear aura, I wear. You.
[1:59] Know all sorts, but yeah, are they 100% accurate?
[2:02] I don't know, probably not. But at least it gives you enough
[2:04] of data to do something meaningful with it.
[2:07] And I think that's the main thing.
[2:08] So that's really where I'm spending a lot more time now.
[2:11] And you mentioned Dubai. So with my partners, we've just
[2:15] set up a clinic out in Dubai, which is essentially doing that.
[2:19] So we're creating a new model of primary care, a lot more focused
[2:22] on concierge primary care, but really thinking about
[2:26] prevention, proactive diagnostics, but also how we
[2:28] bring elements of longevity, stroke health span into the
[2:32] conversation. And so that personalized
[2:34] approach that I think all of us strive to do, but we find it
[2:39] very hard to do in the NHS. It's really hard, isn't it?
[2:42] Because we've been trained in probably a similar way we've
[2:44] been trained to diagnose a disease.
[2:47] Think about the treatment pathway, but it's almost waiting
[2:50] for the accident to happen, isn't it?
[2:52] And you know, I've, we've, I'm sure you have as well.
[2:55] I've worked in some really busy jobs in really deprived area
[2:58] where you just feel like you're firefighting the whole time.
[3:01] You're just personally trying to get through that shift,
[3:04] especially working in a hospital, but also for the
[3:07] patient, you're literally just going from one disaster to the
[3:10] other. And if you work in a hospital
[3:11] long enough, you'll see the people coming back and back and
[3:14] back. And it is that cycle of, you
[3:16] know, someone's this maybe got an asthma attack, then they have
[3:19] a chest infection, then they maybe have a clot or then they
[3:23] have osteoporosis. You know, you just see or you
[3:25] see it in families, don't you? And it's, and as a General
[3:28] practitioner, I mean, I was at the same practice for 20 years.
[3:31] So that was really gave me a feel for what it's like to get
[3:35] to know the families. But you can see it's
[3:39] generational as well. And you know, since I left the
[3:43] NHS, things have got even harder.
[3:44] It's so reactive. Whereas we know if we can invest
[3:49] not money wise but invest with education, with the right tools
[3:54] for our patients, it can just transform their future content.
[3:59] 100% and you know, my ambition always has been, you know,
[4:03] currently seeing 40 patients a day, but actually really need to
[4:06] see 10/12/14 patients a day. But actually really have that
[4:10] dedicated time with them where we're spending half now 40
[4:13] minutes with them and their families on education them but
[4:16] also coaching them, guiding them on various elements of it.
[4:19] But unfortunately the system is against us on from that
[4:22] perspective, but also from the perspective of using the latest
[4:25] biomarkers and diagnostics. When I went into private
[4:28] medicine, I made this unwritten rule to myself and I still do
[4:33] it, that I wouldn't do anything different clinically that I done
[4:37] in NHS. But the one thing that I do do
[4:38] differently is I have time, like you say, and actually, you know,
[4:43] that time is such a luxury. But actually to have that time
[4:47] means that I, we don't have this cycle of people coming back so
[4:50] much. So actually, you know, if I, I
[4:52] spend 3 or 4 times the time that I would spend as a 10 minute
[4:56] appointment in general practice. But actually that's probably
[4:59] worth 2 hours of them coming back and forth, you know,
[5:01] multiple times for those 10 minutes.
[5:03] Yeah. The. 100% and, and look, the
[5:05] nation, the NHS, the public are used to going to their GP just
[5:10] to see their doctor. But actually I believe that the
[5:13] world is changing that you don't always need to see a doctor and
[5:16] doctor may not be the right person to see right.
[5:19] And actually, I think we've seen progress in particular in the
[5:21] NHS where we now have physios, pharmacists, healthcare
[5:25] assistants, you know, social prescribers, health and
[5:29] well-being coaches. And there's a good
[5:31] multidisciplinary team that could initially see a patient
[5:35] before they see you, right? And it shouldn't be that the
[5:38] first appointment that you see or the first contact you had was
[5:40] a doctor. The doctor potentially could be
[5:42] the last resort for those complex patients or those that
[5:45] need it. So it's a mind shift shift, I
[5:47] think firstly, cultural shift, secondly, but also raising
[5:50] awareness amongst the public to say just because you're not
[5:52] seeing AGP doesn't mean we're fobbing you off.
[5:54] It's actually because we believe there's others that can.
[5:56] Help. And I think it's a really
[5:57] important model because I feel very strongly as a doctor that
[6:00] I'm the patient's advocate and you're not arrogant at all,
[6:05] whereas I don't want to talk out of term.
[6:07] But there are quite a few doctors that are arrogant and
[6:09] they once be in control of their patients.
[6:11] And you know, when I was at medical school in the 80s and
[6:14] 90s, it was very unidirectional because there was no Internet.
[6:18] There was very little information available for
[6:20] patients. So they would be handed their
[6:22] prescription and really ask no questions.
[6:24] I'm the doctor, I'm in control. And it's been wonderful to see
[6:28] how for many of us, that consultation model has really
[6:32] changed and put the patient in the centre.
[6:35] But the patient now has a unique advantage for having almost as
[6:39] much information available to them that we have.
[6:42] You know, you can go on to pub Med, you can read all the
[6:45] evidence, you can look at the guidelines.
[6:47] Which GBT? I mean everything.
[6:49] Yeah, whereas years ago you couldn't have that.
[6:51] And I think that's the same with wearables as well.
[6:54] As you know, there are quite a few articles often in the
[6:57] medical press saying this is terrible, that people are
[7:00] monitoring their their pulse or their blood pressure or, or
[7:04] their stress or their sleep. But I actually think, you know,
[7:06] more data is really important. It's what you do with it is and
[7:09] how you interpret it. I love it actually, a lot of
[7:12] people, like you said against it.
[7:13] I love it because AI learn a lot.
[7:17] BI believe that those people who have actively made a effort to
[7:20] do that are generally interested in the health.
[7:22] So I know that if we do engage with them in a different way, we
[7:26] learn together. We think about shared decision
[7:27] making and like you rightly said, you know, continue to
[7:30] remain the advocate for your patient, then the outcomes will
[7:34] generally be better, right? And also that is amazing to push
[7:39] this innovation, which has always been backbone of what I
[7:42] do, is that how do we bring the latest to our patients and if
[7:45] the system doesn't allow you to do it, get the patients to it.
[7:48] If you can't work the system, get the patients to be their own
[7:51] advocates and we support them through that.
[7:53] Yeah, I think it's really important.
[7:54] And again, it's about ownership and choice.
[7:57] And I think it's really important because so often we're
[8:02] medicalising people to make us feel better as doctors.
[8:06] And I reflect back to some of the patients that I treated in
[8:10] the past. And I know I feel bad saying it,
[8:14] but I know that I gave people antidepressants who probably
[8:16] didn't really benefit or need them.
[8:18] I probably gave antibiotics. I gave other things because I
[8:21] was, I just needed to give them something often when they'd come
[8:24] back and back and I often wasn't thinking so much.
[8:27] The bigger picture, and you probably know what I'm going to
[8:30] say, obviously didn't think about hormones either.
[8:32] But for men and for women here, and I feel like we've got to be
[8:36] looking across the board. And also like 20 years ago, if I
[8:40] start to talk to someone about exercise or nutrition, they
[8:43] probably would have thought, well, you're a doctor, why are
[8:46] you talking to me like this? Where's my prescription?
[8:49] So you sort of feel that's, that's almost your job is the
[8:53] prescribing. Whereas I've really changed in
[8:55] my practice in that actually 99.9% of what I prescribe as
[8:59] hormones. And I don't see that so much as
[9:01] medicine because it's just a natural replacement of body
[9:03] identical hormones. But the rest of my time is
[9:07] really digging quite deep into nutrition, exercise, lifestyle,
[9:12] supplements if needed, which is quite different to how I was as
[9:15] a quick fast turn around GP. I'm right behind you, so a few
[9:21] years behind you, but we're we're doing exactly that, right,
[9:23] Which is, you know, look, globally, I think we still have
[9:27] a challenge that there are very many different cultures and
[9:30] perspectives on what it means to go and see a doctor and what you
[9:33] expect, right? I think the vast majority of the
[9:35] world still today expects a pill.
[9:37] They still expect a prescription of some sort.
[9:40] But I believe that is changing and it requires, it will require
[9:43] a lot more for it to change globally where we will see a
[9:46] pivot. But nonetheless, let's take
[9:48] where we are in the bar at the moment.
[9:49] You know, it's probably got hundreds of nationalities, lots
[9:52] of different people with the members that we see today.
[9:55] We have a spectrum of people who are doing that, right?
[9:57] Some of them are coming and say, I know exactly what I want and I
[10:00] want to get it versus some who are willing to go down the
[10:03] journey of, of what you're talking.
[10:05] But what we're building at Sky, similar to what you're talking
[10:07] about, is to say, look, fundamentally it's about the
[10:10] holistic assessment for a lot of this stuff, right?
[10:12] Hormones is an absolute key player in that because both men
[10:15] and women, you know, science is getting better, evidence is
[10:18] getting better, awareness is also getting better, right?
[10:21] But it doesn't mean it's for everyone because, you know, for
[10:24] vast majority of people, yes, but there might be some people
[10:26] that we can optimize their sleep, their nutrition, their
[10:29] strength, you know, we do VO2 Max metabolic, you know, the
[10:33] list goes on, right? But if you do it in that
[10:35] context, undoubtedly you'll have a better outcome for that
[10:38] individual. And if you top it up with the
[10:40] hormones, and I think that's the important thing is to say
[10:43] hormones, yes, Medication, yes. But let's put it in the context
[10:46] of. And that's everything.
[10:46] And that's really important because I think over the past,
[10:49] most people have misunderstood my work thinking all I do is
[10:51] give hormones. And like, yes, I take hormones
[10:54] myself, but actually if I didn't exercise, if I didn't eat well,
[10:58] like the hormones are good, right?
[10:59] But they're not that good, you know, And that sometimes is, is
[11:03] forgotten because for me it's basic bread and butter, right?
[11:05] Well, the same bread and butter. I don't eat bread, but you know,
[11:08] but, but for a lot of people, the basics has gone, but not
[11:12] just patients, I think for doctors as well.
[11:14] And you know, you're healthy. You look after yourself.
[11:16] There's lots of our colleagues that don't or they don't see
[11:20] it's a priority. And even my husband this morning
[11:23] was telling me how many chocolates there were lots of
[11:25] chocolates on the wards. And he just looks at the back,
[11:28] looks at the labels and said to the nurses, do you really want
[11:30] all of this in your body? And he's noticed the nurses very
[11:32] well, so it's fine. And they know what he's like.
[11:35] But he said, kid you not, Louise.
[11:36] It's taken me about 7 years for them to understand there were
[11:39] different types of chocolate and there were different types of
[11:42] food. And you know what it's like in
[11:43] the hospital, it's impossible to get really nutritious food if
[11:46] you're doing long shifts. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[11:48] But but they're understanding because they've had Paul in
[11:51] their ear for ages. But it can take a while.
[11:54] And, and I do feel we have a duty as healthcare professionals
[11:58] to educate, but give people choice, you know, and I think
[12:01] that's the other thing that's often misinterpreted is choice.
[12:04] You know, I actually, if you and my patients, I actually wouldn't
[12:08] care if you smoked or not. I wouldn't treat you any
[12:10] differently. I wouldn't judge you any
[12:12] differently. But I do feel my duty would be
[12:14] to tell you it's not good if you smoke.
[12:17] Don't get wrong, you don't smoke.
[12:18] Just say as an example. And it's the same with hormones.
[12:21] You know, I think it's really important that people know that
[12:24] there are health benefits of hormones.
[12:26] But I feel like our education in the past about hormones,
[12:31] especially focusing on menopause has been very much fleshes and
[12:36] sweats and you could have HRT but actually try to avoid it
[12:40] almost. So opening up the conversation
[12:43] and thinking about our hormones being biologically active,
[12:46] having big anti-inflammatory properties in our bodies, then
[12:50] it's almost symptoms are secondary.
[12:53] It it with, you know, often people take them for their
[12:56] future health. But just because we haven't been
[12:59] taught like that, it's quite different to sort of change your
[13:02] mind and perception about hormones, isn't it?
[13:05] To be honest with you, I can't remember what I got taught
[13:06] medical school because so much of it is out of date or or not
[13:09] relevant to our practice today. But actually even a lot of our
[13:12] training as AGP, family medicine consultant, I think there are
[13:15] massive gaps in the education, especially with things we're
[13:18] talking about, right? So we talk about medicine 3.0
[13:21] and we talk about prevention, we talk about hormones.
[13:23] We hardly spend time on things like sleep, nutrition, exercise,
[13:28] you know, VO2 Max, all the things that we're talking about,
[13:30] for example. But it plays such a fundamental
[13:33] role in who we are today. OK, granted, like I said,
[13:36] evidence hasn't proved considerably over the last 5-10
[13:39] years, but nonetheless, I think you need to start becoming a lot
[13:41] more mainstream. And but going still back to your
[13:44] point earlier, you know, hormones for me, it's become a
[13:47] much lower threshold now, right? And that's partly to know what
[13:50] honestly speaking, that's partly due to raise, you know,
[13:53] awareness people that you have done, you know, we've spent a
[13:55] lot of time together and education through you and your
[13:57] work. I think it's been fantastic
[13:58] because often people get very scared when it comes to things
[14:02] like HRT or testosterone because a, we're not used to it.
[14:06] But I think for me personally, it's been that kind of gender
[14:10] issue, which is a male thing, which I've had to come over
[14:13] myself. And I'm a lot more confident in
[14:15] that space now. But also that because there's
[14:18] been a lack of training, right? So, and I think people always
[14:22] share these horror stories of you might get cancer or you
[14:26] know, you might get XYZ, stay away from it.
[14:28] I mean, I saw a patient from India recently and India's so
[14:32] far behind, right? Because everyone there is saying
[14:34] absolutely no to HRT because it's going to lead to everyone
[14:38] getting breast cancer. And I think these
[14:39] misconceptions, misinformation, I think is dangerous because
[14:43] ultimately a lot of women are missing out on these important
[14:46] hormones. And I think that needs to change
[14:49] very quickly. It needs to be quick because
[14:51] women really are missing out. And I'm sure, you know, there
[14:53] was the FDA announcement in America and you know, to hear
[14:57] Doctor Mccurry, the FDA commissioner for health, talking
[15:01] about the millions of women, like 10s of millions of women
[15:04] that have missed out on hormones.
[15:07] And often I'll talk to healthcare professionals about
[15:09] the risks of not having hormones to their patients because like
[15:13] you say, we've always thought about the risks or perceived
[15:16] risk, usually because the risks aren't there for the body,
[15:19] identical hormones, but the risks, you know, thinking about
[15:22] your patient from India, her cardio metabolic risk, so her
[15:25] risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension.
[15:28] I mean, you know, the risk goes. On Absolutely.
[15:30] It's so important, whereas if you've not been taught about it
[15:35] and the patients don't understand, then it's almost
[15:38] like the elephant in the room that no one talks about.
[15:43] If you've ever felt confused, dismissed or just left to figure
[15:46] out your hormone health on your own, that's exactly why I
[15:49] created my free Balance app. It's designed to educate women
[15:54] about their hormones at every stage of life.
[15:57] You can track your symptoms and periods if you have them, read
[16:01] evidence based articles and connect with a community of
[16:04] women who are asking similar questions that you might be
[16:07] asking. I see everyday how powerful
[16:11] knowledge is. When you understand what's
[16:13] happening in your body, you can make informed choices about your
[16:16] health and your treatment, and you can advocate for yourself
[16:20] when you speak to healthcare professionals.
[16:22] If you want clear, trustworthy information without the noise or
[16:26] the misinformation, then download My Balance app today.
[16:30] It's there to educate, support, and help you take back control
[16:34] of your hormone health. And it's the same for men.
[16:39] I remember years ago, one of the things that we had to do was
[16:42] measure testosterone levels in men who had diabetes.
[16:46] But then we found that they were always low.
[16:48] So then they changed it to say don't measure it.
[16:51] But I remember once there was one of my patients who was a
[16:56] male patient and he had awful night sweats and was really
[17:00] tired and I was doing all these tests.
[17:02] I couldn't work out what was going on.
[17:04] And then I, his wife, I knew really well I was coming in and
[17:06] saying they had no sexual relationship either.
[17:08] And he just wasn't himself. His mood was low and I was like,
[17:12] what else? I mean, I've done everything.
[17:14] I didn't know what else to do. So in the end I did his
[17:15] testosterone level and it was so low.
[17:19] And I remember then saying to my husband, oh, should I give him
[17:23] testosterone? I don't really know.
[17:24] And it, I probably about have a lot of doctors do now about HRT
[17:28] for women because it's, it's all about having confidence.
[17:31] And as a doctor, you can have confidence with knowledge, but
[17:34] it's very different. You've got a patient and you're
[17:35] giving that prescription. So I wasn't sure what to do.
[17:38] So I thought, well, I know it's going to take him quite a few
[17:41] weeks for the appointment to come through with an
[17:44] endocrinologist. So in the meantime, I can't
[17:46] watch him suffer because it's quality of life is so awful.
[17:48] And I'd found a diagnosis and the guidelines are very clear.
[17:52] It was low enough. So anyway, I gave him some
[17:55] testosterone and then I got a lot of complaint back from the
[17:59] endocrine pneologist that went to the senior partner and I got
[18:01] hold in front of them and said how dare you?
[18:04] He's got a risk of stroke because he'd had a mini stroke
[18:06] at Tia many years before. And I said, well, my
[18:09] understanding is this is natural testosterone.
[18:11] I gave it to the gel through the skin.
[18:13] It's the same structure as the own testosterone.
[18:15] There's no risk of clot, very different.
[18:17] If I'd given him a synthetic testosterone, of course, and
[18:20] they wouldn't have it. And it was so awful.
[18:23] And I was about to leave the that surgery to for my clinic.
[18:28] And the last time I saw him and his wife, they said, well, we've
[18:32] still got some left. We're using it.
[18:33] But we've been to the endocrinologist and they've said
[18:37] you can have a very low dose. But the problem is he's so
[18:41] tired, he's not able to drive. But they said, well, maybe you
[18:45] could just not drive on a motorway and drive on the A
[18:47] roads. I was like, it's just the, it
[18:51] was just like so ridiculous. But I didn't have the confidence
[18:55] to go back to that endocrinologist with the
[18:57] evidence because, you know, male testosterone is still isn't my
[19:00] specialty. My gut feeling was that it was
[19:03] absolutely safe and I was following the British Society of
[19:06] Sexual Medicine guidance, but I didn't have enough clinical
[19:08] experience. I didn't have enough scientific
[19:10] knowledge. I was only, you know, AGP in a,
[19:14] in a practice where I wasn't getting supported.
[19:17] And the consultant endocrinologist was telling me
[19:19] that I was really wrong. And I remember feeling, gosh,
[19:22] this is really awful. But that must happen a lot for
[19:25] GPS and other clinicians who aren't experienced with women's
[19:29] hormones as well. Yeah, I, I absolutely and I,
[19:32] I've probably experienced something similar more more so
[19:36] for for women rather than prescribing testosterone.
[19:39] But look, I think it's how you approach it, right?
[19:43] And what I've done and you, you, you could probably vouch this
[19:46] because I've built a network around myself of people who I
[19:49] trust, but also who I know working in the space, who I can
[19:51] just pick up the phone so and say, look, what do you think?
[19:54] It's amazing to do that. And I think with WhatsApp today,
[19:57] it's so easy, it's so much easier, right?
[19:59] Emails, text. And I think, you know, look,
[20:01] ultimately there'll always be naysayers, there'll always be
[20:02] people who are protecting their corner.
[20:04] But frankly. As we said at the start, I'm
[20:06] there to be an advocate for my patients, my members who are
[20:09] part of our clinic where we want to do best for them, right?
[20:12] And I'll go to Lents to figure out whether it's, you know, so
[20:17] UK, we've got people in the US, we've got people in the local
[20:20] region. And I think if we come together
[20:21] more together as a network and raise the awareness, raise the
[20:25] voices around, I think more and more people start listening and.
[20:28] Actually, as doctors, there are a lot of doctors that put each
[20:32] other down, we know that, but there are a lot that really
[20:33] supports each other. And I'm on this menopause group,
[20:36] which is a group of menopause specialists, hormone specialists
[20:39] across the world, a lot in US and some from other countries,
[20:43] including Australia. And it.
[20:46] I'm often an observer from it, but I will, you know, join in as
[20:49] well. But often people say, I've seen
[20:51] this patient. What do you think?
[20:52] And no one's judging them at all.
[20:54] And often, we'll add in references or papers and give
[20:57] support. And it's, you know, people are
[20:59] so grateful for that. And that's something that we
[21:01] couldn't have done 20 years ago. And I think like it's fine for
[21:05] patients if you say to them, look, I, I don't really know,
[21:09] but I'm going to find out for you or I haven't had much
[21:12] experience, but I would like to help you and like, I'll talk to
[21:15] you. Patients love that.
[21:16] And like what I hear a lot from women is that they see their
[21:20] doctors as no, absolutely you can't have hormones or you're
[21:22] too old, you're too young or whatever.
[21:24] And they're giving them inaccurate advice.
[21:26] And it's obviously because they, they're not educated in that
[21:29] area. But the patients would like it a
[21:31] lot more if they just said, I'm sorry, I, I don't know the
[21:34] answer today. And that's fine as a doctor.
[21:36] I mean, we're not, we're not robots.
[21:38] No, absolutely. And actually through my
[21:39] experience you get more people that trust you on the back of
[21:42] that because you've actually gone out and not tried to fib
[21:46] your way through or you know, try and question.
[21:48] You've actually said, look, I don't know, but I'm going to go
[21:50] and find out. And and I've seen that more and
[21:52] more patients are actually very happy with that kind of approach
[21:56] and it builds a much stronger trust is my.
[21:58] Yeah, absolutely. We have a clinical teens chat
[22:00] going all the time and you know, we've got dozens of doctors and
[22:03] we've just recruited some new ones and you know, they feel
[22:06] really well supported. And I think that's really nice
[22:08] for the patients to know. And you know, I don't know
[22:11] everything. Sometimes I'll be thinking and
[22:13] I, I think I've done what's right, but I'd always maybe say
[22:16] to someone else, look, I've seen this patient, I've done XYZ.
[22:19] What do you think? And it's really nice and
[22:21] validating. And I think to have that
[22:23] professional curiosity is really important as a doctor.
[22:27] Like, we've all seen arrogant consultants who who don't want
[22:31] to learn from others. Yeah, yeah.
[22:32] And I think we can always learn from others and to look forward
[22:34] to. Learn from others, but also do
[22:35] it yourself, right? So like I said, I've done CGM,
[22:37] I've done my VO2 Max, I've done my DEXA, yeah, I've done my
[22:40] sleep, you know, scores, etcetera.
[22:42] Good. Yeah, I mean look, the VO2 Max
[22:44] can certainly get better DEXA body compositions good.
[22:48] I've already dropped four percentage points since the last
[22:51] two months. I believe I can get down even
[22:52] further. Very good.
[22:53] But I think it's when you walk yourself through that journey,
[22:56] it makes a more realistic because you've felt the pain or
[23:00] you've gone through the motion of it, then you can talk more
[23:02] confidently, right? I'm not at that stage where I
[23:05] need hormones, but when I do then I will certainly take them
[23:07] well. Totally.
[23:08] And I think that's probably why I'm even more gobby because if I
[23:12] wasn't taking hormones, I wouldn't be working.
[23:14] There's no, there's no shout of doubt.
[23:15] My brain had just not not worked.
[23:18] And in fact, one of my husband's colleagues just been off for two
[23:20] weeks with flu, like really, you know, bad flu.
[23:22] And he's he's not been ill, he's not had time off at all.
[23:25] And, and Paul said to me, oh, he's, he's come back and he's
[23:28] just said it's a, the first day his brains felt clear.
[23:31] And I said there, that's just like being menopausal.
[23:34] That brain fog is so horrid and it's so hard when you need your
[23:38] brain, you know, it's and you don't know until it happens, of
[23:42] course, but it's also, you know, it again, it's that choice.
[23:46] And that's where I think, you know, a work of empowering our
[23:49] patients and following them on a journey and involving others,
[23:55] you know, who are allied healthcare professionals is is
[23:57] crucially. Important, but also, you know,
[24:00] on that like again, in Dubai, but we also see this in London,
[24:03] but most places now that a lot of women are in many more senior
[24:07] positions in executive roles. And I think it's good to see
[24:10] more corporates taking this seriously given the
[24:12] opportunities to for women to have the treatment, but also the
[24:16] space they need. But it's incredible because you
[24:19] know, maybe 10 years ago, as you know, short as that, looking
[24:23] back, this wasn't there, right? So you can imagine all these
[24:26] women who were in high-powered jobs were really struggling to
[24:30] get the attention and the space they need.
[24:32] And I think people like yourself and the others who have been
[24:34] really pushing faces, I think it made a big difference.
[24:36] But I still think we've got a lot.
[24:37] More to go. Yeah.
[24:39] I mean, I remember about 10 years ago when Dame Sally Davis
[24:41] was the the, the CMO, the chief medical officer and going to a
[24:44] meeting at the Department of Health and saying then, you
[24:48] know, 40% of NHS employees are menopausal women.
[24:52] We know around 10% give up their jobs.
[24:55] We did a survey and found that 37% of women were going to their
[25:00] jobs but not enjoying it. They would reduce their hours if
[25:03] they could afford to because of their menopausal symptoms.
[25:07] And we know the main symptoms are that affect people at work
[25:10] are anxiety, fatigue and memory problems.
[25:13] So, you know, even looking at our NHS that employs so many
[25:17] people. Massive numbers.
[25:19] There should be clinics everywhere for people.
[25:21] There should be easier access to hormones.
[25:23] Yeah. And I think you raised a really
[25:24] important point, right? Because, you know, today we've
[25:27] got really well defined pathways when it comes to frailty care or
[25:31] Pediatrics or, you know, diabetes or, you know, the list
[25:36] goes on. But when it comes to menopause,
[25:37] it's terrible. It's fragmented, it's
[25:39] inconsistent, it's often looks at menopause equals hormones.
[25:44] But I think like we've discussed, you know, it's about
[25:46] the holistic approach of how we think you might sleep, mood,
[25:50] nutrition, metabolic strength, all of that, right.
[25:53] And I think these clinics will help, but I think there needs to
[25:56] be a much more structured pathway program.
[25:58] So we. Have these and it's multi organ
[26:00] exactly you know humans get everywhere So what we're
[26:03] basically saying is we should probably take it off
[26:05] gynecologists and as GPS we're. Is that it's the college thing?
[26:09] I don't know, right? It's more a journalist.
[26:10] Thing if I had type 1 diabetes which my pancreas not working
[26:15] well, I wouldn't go and see a pancreatic surgeon and it's the
[26:18] same if my ovaries weren't working well why would I go and
[26:21] see a gynecologist? It doesn't.
[26:23] So our GP, we have a Women's Health GP now she's doing women
[26:26] menopause clinic, Women's Health clinic in general practice,
[26:29] general practice setting and it's amazing actually.
[26:32] Clinic's always full and it's that relationship, right?
[26:34] And obviously when you need specialist input, we know where
[26:37] to get it. But on a day-to-day basis, it
[26:39] doesn't require specialist input unless it's a complex patient.
[26:42] It's going to be routine more, far more routine.
[26:45] It's sort of opt it rather than opting in for hormones.
[26:49] It should be opting out because the majority of women should be
[26:52] considering them for their future health.
[26:54] Where? Are you seeing the most progress
[26:55] being made in this? Like globally?
[26:58] Which country? Yeah, or region or.
[27:00] Well, those people say UK is the best, but I think it's, I mean
[27:03] it is, it is best in that it's about 14% of menopausal women
[27:07] are prescribed to 1414. Is that good or bad?
[27:10] It was still rubbish, but globally it's only about 5% of
[27:13] menopausal women. Wow 5.
[27:15] Percent, whereas before the WHI study, you know the the terrible
[27:20] study that it was about 30% in the UK and 40% in the US.
[27:27] Oh wow, so it's dropped? So it's dropped due to it went
[27:30] down and it's come up, but it's plateaued the last year at 14%
[27:33] areas of deprivation, it's a lot lower.
[27:36] So you know, but the guidelines are clear.
[27:38] The majority of women first line treatment is hormones, majority
[27:42] is not 14%. So this inequality of this poor
[27:46] access to safe, effective medicine has got to change.
[27:49] I mean, the other thing I think is a lot of people look at it
[27:53] from a lens of what age are you? And I think that needs to change
[27:56] because actually. Absolutely.
[27:57] Women or men are, you know, everyone's different.
[28:00] Yeah, and and also it's not just menopause, obviously with
[28:03] perimenopause, but also PMS and PMDD.
[28:06] So, you know, my 23 year old has PMDD.
[28:09] She uses natural hormones and they've transformed her life.
[28:12] And I see a lot of younger people in their in their 20s who
[28:16] maybe just have hormones for a few days when they're, they're,
[28:19] you know, their pedestrians dropping before their periods
[28:21] and it's transforming them. So I think the biggest
[28:24] difference is women are are empowered with knowledge and
[28:27] then they can choose. I think that's, that's, you
[28:29] know, when women get together, like some quite powerful things
[28:32] happen, as I'm sure you know. So yeah, so it's great.
[28:35] So it's there's lots to do. And I know we're going to do a
[28:39] lot more with education, a lot more global work.
[28:42] We're going to just drive forces and just do a lot more.
[28:45] So it's exciting. There is exciting stuff
[28:46] happening, I'm sure. So, So what three things do you
[28:50] think we can do, like at speed that's going to make the biggest
[28:53] difference to health generally? So look, I think firstly we need
[28:59] to grapple the whole concept of personalisation and the use of
[29:02] wearable tech, but also understanding the individual in
[29:04] front of you, right? Guidelines are guidelines, but
[29:06] you need to understand the individual and, and provide a
[29:09] holistic assessment. So I would like to see more
[29:11] people focusing on that and, and thinking about that in a
[29:14] different way. I think secondly, the space
[29:17] we've just talked about hormones, I think need to start
[29:19] becoming more mainstream. I'm shocked to hear such low
[29:21] numbers of people around the world, women around the world
[29:24] who are prescribed hormones. And I think we all have a duty
[29:27] to raise the awareness and, and do more.
[29:30] And I'd like to see that number go from 5 to 25%.
[29:32] And I think that would be amazing.
[29:34] Again, not just purely hormones, but how we bring that holistic
[29:37] approach to, to the individual and do the new all the other
[29:40] things. And I think the third thing is
[29:41] that we all need to educate ourselves and educate the public
[29:44] because again, cultural shifts, shifts in thinking amongst
[29:48] professional around the world will only change when we bring
[29:53] use cases, case studies, we educate one another, but also
[29:56] bring the latest sites. I think we can actually move
[29:58] quite quickly on that because there is already tons of stuff
[30:01] out there that we can leverage on.
[30:02] But it's about taking that advocate advocacy approach to
[30:07] the individuals which I think we can do more of everyone.
[30:09] So those we might two or three things if that's.
[30:11] Helpful. That is pretty good.
[30:12] Yeah. So let's see what the next few
[30:15] months and years bring. But yeah, I think it's an
[30:17] exciting time because, you know, partnering with each other,
[30:21] partnering with our patients, with communities, we've just got
[30:25] to have a group effect to really work at speed to improve future
[30:29] health, which is what we want really.
[30:30] And I think globally there's multiple cultures and we need to
[30:34] shift those cultures in particular, like I said, Middle
[30:37] East, India, Asia generally, I think they're they're a lot more
[30:42] risk averse to this. And I think that could change
[30:44] considerably if we put forces together.
[30:46] Excellent. Thank you so much for coming.
[30:48] Thank you so much for having me here.
[30:50] Thank you. Thank you.
[30:53] Thanks so much for listening. It would be amazing if you could
[30:56] follow me or subscribe because it will really make a difference
[30:59] to grow numbers enable this to reach even more people.
[31:03] Thanks so much.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.