Use it or …
Your weekend roundup of hopefully helpful things
We have a new study published in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society to add to the stack about the benefits of getting it on – with yourself or someone else.
The study found women aged 40 to 79 who were sexually active in the previous three months were significantly less likely to report symptoms linked to genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). In a cohort of 911 people from the genitourinary syndrome of menopause in Japanese Women study (GENJA), those with recent sexual activity had notably lower odds of experiencing vulvar pain, dryness, and irritation in daily life. This was true even after adjusting for age, menstrual status and hormone therapy use.
More research is needed to try and answer the big question: does having regular sex reduce symptoms, or are women with fewer symptoms more likely to be sexually active?
Until then, all we can do is keep at it – any way that works. That includes self-pleasure, sex (all the ways) with the help of vaginal estrogen, toys, lube, red‑light therapy (it’s doing things for me), and anything else you can think of to keep blood flowing to the region, which will in turn – I promise – enliven you.
👉 For more on this, check out Hotflash inc Podcast episode 98 with our favorite expert urogynecologist: Perimenopause “down there” 101 with Dr Karyn Eilber
Here comes the science
I don’t think we talk enough about how pregnancy complications raise our risks for a tough perimenopause and problems after menopause, not to mention future health problems – like increasing the risk of future stroke, according to a new study.
Our risk for heart disease appears to start rising in the womb. With stress.
America’s Dr Jen Gunter does a roundup of the first day of the British Menopause Society meeting on The Vagenda. Hot Flashes and Hot Takes: Day 1 at BMS
It feels like I’ve heard this before: A study out of the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health and published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease indicates that staying active may slow cognitive decline. All activity was considered, from vigorous to mild.
Preventative cardiologist Dr Paddy Barrett: An 86% Reduction In Heart Disease By Getting These 8 Things Right — focusing on the fundamentals will drive the biggest reductions in heart disease.
Hormone therapy nuance needed
That was the message in an editorial for the British Menopause Journal about the 2024 NICE guidelines on menopause written by Mary Ann Lumsde, professor of medical education & gynaecology at the University of Glasgow. It’s important to understand that Lumsden is a firm part of mainstream medical menopause, which means she views the transition as an estrogen deficiency. Any reading of her work (or the NICE guidelines in general) flows from there. Key takeaways:
“…current clinical practice is increasingly shaped by social media and advocacy, often based on anecdote instead of robust evidence. As a result, women’s expectations for certain treatments can outpace the established evidence base, making it essential for NICE guidance to remain responsive to these evolving influences while maintaining its commitment to rigorous, evidence-driven recommendations”.
She raises some interesting points:
Rising demand for high‑dose estrogen is not backed by strong evidence, but driven by social media and celebrity influence.
The guidelines treats all progestogens the same, despite studies suggesting different risks between natural and synthetic types.
Cardiovascular benefits of HRT started near menopause are downplayed, despite international data suggesting potential gains.
Over on X, The Wiser Woman Tania Elfarsy has some issues with the wording on that last point. And I agree, it’s a bit of a word salad.
ChatGPT chooses me!
Thank you Suzanne Yates (you are going to be hearing more about her brilliant work very soon, right here) for pointing this out. She writes: “I went onto Chat GPT and asked what are the top menopause podcasts and guess what?”
🎙 Hotflash inc Podcast
“Supplements aren’t bad — but they’re not a cure‑all. Sometimes your body doesn’t need a pill. It needs you.”
– Yours truly rethinking a life spent reaching for answers
Listen to solo episode 165: ‘Let’s maybe cool it a bit on the supplements’
Read + watch, think + know
Melani Sanders’ We Do Not Care club gets the New York Times treatment — well deserved: Women in Menopause Don’t Care Read via NYT. And over on The Root: How A Black Woman Said This and Got 1 Million TikTok Followers And Started a Hilarious Movement And this weekend, the movement landed in Australia’s Daily Telegraph: ‘We refuse to be quiet’: Why menopausal women are speaking out. As, one Reddit user described Melani: “She’s so raw about what we’re all feeling and I love her for it.”
Fellow journalists Fawnia and Cheryl over at Whatever Nevermind are the only people who could write a long article about ‘mature’ makeup and skincare that I would read all the way through. This is how it should be done: The Beauty Industry Is Suddenly All‑In On Gen X
Fake Science in Femtech: 3 Ways to Spot Red Flags Before You Buy, a newsletter aimed at potential investors, but with some great tips for getting to the bottom of product claims.
What a lame headline for a great topic. Of course it can. It already is. Kera Bolonik in the New York Times asks Can Menopause Be Funny? These Baroness von Sketch alums think so, making it the main character in their new comedy. (Also: Go Canadian actors and writers!)
Sari Botton over at Oldster fills me in on this: Menopunks, a forthcoming documentary from filmmaker Alicia J Rose. From the website: “Menopunks is a bold, unapologetic documentary that exposes the truth behind the science and the silence. Backed by a fierce lineup of iconic Portland musicians, hormonally radicalized medical practitioners, and celebrity powerhouses, we’re cranking up the volume on a conversation long overdue.”
Blast from the past: Denise Austin’s “gentle” standing core workout for menopause via Prevention.
This Anne Marie (Chaker) is a bit of an overachiever: I’m 50, in Perimenopause – and About to Compete as a Pro Bodybuilder via Yahoo News.
Editor’s note
📖 Reading: I’m working my way through Maureen Murdock’s The Heroine’s Journey Handbook. It’s so strange – I’ll answer the questions, but sometimes I don’t feel the memories about them for a few days. It’s important work, it’s hard, and I can only do a bit at a time. I recommend it highly.
🔥 Looking forward to: I was on a call Saturday night with a group of fabulous crones from the UK (hosted by Gate-way Women founder Jody Day). The topic was Life after Menopause but it got really juicy really fast. Not only did I feel inspired to spill the beans about my raucous dating life in my last years of perimenopause, I left utterly inspired about the future of my sex life. Seventy looks pretty good.
📺 Watching: Enlightened, a Mike White show starring Laura Dern that I half-watched the first time around. I see myself in there, when I was younger, spouting off a lot of wellness rhetoric. I’m lucky I still have friends.
AMx
