This is a share of Kelly Casperson, MD You Are Not Broken podcast episode 259. This podcast series is about empowering women (and the partners who love them) to live their best sex lives. Combining the power of mind-work, body-science and relationships, Kelly Casperson, MD joyously smash the societal barriers that are keeping us from living our best intimate lives.
You Are Not Broken Episode 259 [Extract]
In this episode, my panel of menopause expert physicians and nurse practitioners discuss the recent four-part article series on menopause published in The Lancet.
We address the agenda behind these articles and the implications for menopause care. The panel strongly disagrees with the claim that menopause is being over-medicalized and emphasizes the importance of hormone therapy in managing menopausal symptoms and preventing long-term health issues.
We also criticize the suggestion that cognitive behavioral therapy should be the first-line treatment for menopause symptoms, highlighting the barriers to access and the lack of evidence supporting its effectiveness.
The panel advocates for a comprehensive and individualized approach to menopause care. The conversation methodically identifies the principal themes discussed in the Lancet article on menopause.
We cover topics such as biased review articles, the citation of the author’s own studies, the lack of balance in the article, possible reasons for publication, surprising reactions from colleagues, the lack of education and training, the dismissal of women’s experiences, ageism in medicine, the importance of treating perimenopause, ignoring the suffering of perimenopause, setting the stage for future health issues, empowerment through hormone therapy, misconceptions about hormone therapy and breast cancer, estrogen’s protective effects on breast cancer, lifestyle factors and breast cancer risk, advocating for access to menopause specialists, and the importance of seeing a menopause specialist.
Continue to the Podcast and Full Overview >>
Dr Brenda Masters is a Canberra GP, President of the AFMW (2024-2026).
Brenda grew up in rural SA, studied Medicine in Adelaide, and has worked in Practices around the country before settling in our beautiful National Capital over 20 years ago.
Brenda is keenly involved in the Medical Women’s Society of ACT and Region, a group who provide both networking and peer support. She believes that everyone should be given the opportunity to realise their full potential in life and applies this to both her work and her relationships.
Brenda enjoys gardening and singing in her spare time and tries to make the most of Canberra’s proximity to the snow.
