• A new large-scale study of more than 3,500 people out of Columbia and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard builds on previous research and strongly suggests that flavinoid deficiency is driving age-related memory loss. Flavinols are nutrients found in fruits and vegetables; this study involved taking multivitamins. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• A new, small study of 140 people found an association between people who have sleep apnea and spend less time in deep sleep and the kinds of biomarkers in our brain’s white matter that are linked to an increased risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline. “These biomarkers are sensitive signs of early cerebrovascular disease,” reports study author the Mayo Clinic’s Dr Diego Z Carvalho. “Finding that severe sleep apnea and a reduction in slow-wave sleep are associated with these biomarkers is important since there is no treatment for these changes in the brain, so we need to find ways to prevent them from happening or getting worse.” Neurology
• Is too much iron in the brain causing Alzheimer’s? This article presents the evidence, suggests two important tests to determine your risks, and provides a mitigator of risk: give blood, once post-menopause. (FYI, it’s by Dr Joseph Mercola, who is listed as one of the Disinformation Dozen by the American Censorship Industrial Complex. I’ve followed him for years and always found him meticulously researched, which is why I continue to consider his research and share this link) Epoch Times
And other cool things…
Perry is the first platform that reached out to me at the start of Hotflash inc three years ago (actually even before I started) asking if I would make some videos. They’ve grown a lot since then, expanding into an app and community, featuring regular video interviews with movers and shakers hosted by Rachel Hughes, the sweetest-ever midlife blogger and one of my top friends-I’ve-never-met. I contributed some writing to their first-ever journal, which is officially launching in New York City June 29 at Sparks & Honey. Other contributors include journalist Tamsen Fadal, Alloy chief medical adviser, Oprah Daily meno crew member and ob-gyn Dr Sharon Malone, and menopause influencer and Menopocalypse author Amanda Thebe. You can find out more – and order – via Instagram or web.
Quote to keep you going:
“We all grew up and experienced to varying degrees trauma, disappointment, hell, hard stuff. We armored up, and at some point that armor no longer serves us. The weight of the armor is too heavy. And it’s not protecting you. It’s keeping you from being seen and known by others. This is the developmental milestone of midlife. This is the time when the universe comes down, puts her hands on your shoulders, pulls you close and whispers: ‘I’m not f***cking around. You are halfway to death. The armor is keeping you from growing into the gifts I’ve given you. That is not without penalty. Time is up.’ So this is what you see happen to people in midlife, and it’s not a crisis. It’s a slow, brutal unraveling. This is where everything we thought protected us keeps us from being the partners, the parents and the professionals, the people that we want to be.” - Brene Brown, on The Tim Ferriss Show
Click, read, listen, watch + follow
• When it comes to menopause, the New York Times is on it! The piece was on how the UK’s efforts are spreading west: A Movement to Make Workplaces ‘Menopause Friendly’ . My favorite quote was from Denise Rosa, Nvidia’s head of U.S. medical program: “They came to us and said, ‘Who do I go to? They were like, ‘We have fertility support, we have egg freezing, we have surrogacy and adoption. What about me?’” A birdy told meTime magazine is following suit, and I sniff a game-changing cover story. New York Times
• Longevity specialist (and estrogen maximalist) Dr Peter Attia addresses confusion among his listeners from a recent, excellent podcast interview with impeccably credentialed and extensively published Women’s Health Initiative lead investigator Dr JoAnn Manson. The result is an excellent deep dive published on his website about hormone therapy. (Any confusion among his listeners, I’d suggest, is from Dr Attia’s confidence in the disease-preventing powers of estrogen, which was capably offset by Dr Manson at every turn). If I could sum up this piece, which I encourage you to read because it’s really good, it’s this: hormone therapy is great and relatively low risk for helping symptoms, provided you start it as close to menopause as possible and can take it. The jury is still out for disease prevention, although for bone loss it’s pretty solid (although protection stops the moment you stop taking it). The bottom line is that even the top experts are still grappling with this, something to bear in mind the next time a Doctor Menopause Guru or a midlife influencer reports with misplaced hyper-certainty that “HRT prevents disease”. I also love that he’s devoting this much time to it – another sign that we freaking matter. Peter Attia MD
• An unusually good newspaper article about menopause nutrition, with most of the information courtesy of Dr Susan Oakley, a Cincinnati urogynecologist and host of the awesomely-named podcast The Lady Bod.Unexplained weight gain? Ugh. Here are nutrition choices to help with menopausal menaces Cincinnati.com
• Kamii Wilson talks about starting Menopause Made Modern: How I Overcame a Lack of Resources for Black Women in Menopause Verywell Health
• I know this is hard to believe, but data backs it up: our best years are ahead of us: At why age are we happiest and unhappiest? Jumble&Flow
Editor’s note
I turn 53 tomorrow. I don’t know how to celebrate or what to do; I just know I’m grateful I’m still here.
Other things I’m grateful for: buying Nvidia stock long before it made history this week, that I didn’t break anything when I feel off that chair in Thailand a few weeks ago getting a massive wasp out of the room, and that slowly but surely, I’m healing my gut and all the other things that eventually went wonky in my body when it did. I’m also very, very, very grateful for all of you.
Drop me a note about what you are grateful for. It would be the best birthday present ever.
I'm late to this, but in a world of AI and marketing copy, your words were the best birthday present of all. :)
Thank you so much! How late am I on this :)