The Dr Louise Newson Podcast Dr Louise Newson

This week Dr Louise is joined by sprinter Desirèe Henry who is representing Team GB at the Paris Olympics this year.
Desirèe is no stranger to the Olympics – she was one of seven young athletes who lit the Olympic caldron at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Games, plus she took home a bronze medal in the 4 X 100m relay at the 2016 Rio Games.
And she’ll be heading to Paris on a high after being part of Team GB’s gold medal-winning women’s 4x100m relay team at the European Athletics Championships in Rome in June.
Desirèe talks about the challenges of competing throughout the menstrual cycle and coping with heavy periods, plus the importance of talking openly about these issues, maintaining a healthy weight and body positivity.
Finally, Desirèe shares three tips to help you lead a happier and healthier life:
Set one goal every day. It doesn’t have to be anything big, it could be drinking water or having a piece of fruit every day, but it's something that will add up over the week and benefit your lifestyle in a positive way.
Try to incorporate exercise into your lifestyle. It could be watching a YouTube yoga video or anything that just allows your body to move, that increases blood flow around the body and helps you get in some extra stretching.
Check in on other people more often. Just find out how they are and show them that somebody cares – you’ll be appreciated.
You can follow Desirèe on Instagram @desiree_lh
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This week on the podcast, Dr Louise is joined by Manisha Morgan, whose own experience of menopause led her to train as a nutritionist.
Manisha offers support to women who are fed up with yo-yo dieting to build a positive relationship with food, lose weight, and lead a healthy lifestyle. She helps women learn mindset techniques to help improve self-confidence and implement habits that can lead to long-term success.
Manisha talks about the importance of acknowledging cultural attitudes and approaches to food, and how genetic doesn’t necessarily dictate your future health.
Finally, Manisha shares three achievable goals:
Manage your expectations, start small and then gradually build up. So for example, if you don't go for a walk, start going for a 20-minute walk and then maybe gradually increase that over a period of time.
Start to include protein in every single meal that you're having, breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you're having three different meals, there are lots of different things that you can have.
If you have a 'bad' day, don't let that throw you off. Just pick yourself up the next day and continue with whatever new habits you’re establishing.
You can follow Manisha on Instagram @manisha_your_nutritionist
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This week on the podcast, Dr Louise is joined by Osama Naji, a Consultant Gynaecologist who is an expert in advanced gynaecological scanning at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

In this episode Osama shares his vast knowledge on fibroids – common, benign growths that usually develop during a woman’s reproductive years when oestrogen levels are at their highest. He explains the impact menopause can have on fibroids, treatment options and the possibility of HRT.

Finally, Osama advises on things to consider if you’ve recently been diagnosed with fibroids:

Find out all the facts about your fibroid - number, location and size – as knowledge is power. You can usually get this from an ultrasound scan. Use that knowledge to get professional guidance about managing your fibroids.

HRT is safe. The benefits of it usually outweigh the risks. The only thing to consider is if the fibroid is causing problems before starting HRT but even in this scenario, HRT may worth trying.

If you experience rapid growth in the fibroids or accelerated symptoms seek help to determine the right treatment.

Find out more about Osama here and read his feature on balance on fibroids and the menopause here.

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This week on the podcast, Dr Louise is joined by Dr Corinne Menn, a New York-based, board-certified OB-GYN and North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner, with more than 20 years of experience caring for women.
When she was 28, Corinne was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following her BRCA2+ diagnosis, she underwent multiple surgeries and chemotherapy then navigated pregnancy and menopause plus longer term survivorship issues.
Corinne received support from the Young Survival Coalition, an organisation that advocates for women under 40 with breast cancer, and worked with her oncologists to manage her pregnancy, menopause and treatment options.
She feels passionately that women who have or have had breast cancer receive individualised care and treatment for their cancer and menopause symptoms, and shares three tips to help with quality of life:   
Do not minimise your menopausal symptoms, your hot flushes, your night sweats, sleep etc. So whether you use hormonal therapy or non-hormonal medications, make sure you get help and can sleep so you function better and breaking the vicious cycle of spiralling menopausal symptoms.
Please do not neglect vaginal sexual health. Again, if you can preserve a little bit of that, it can stop a negative cycle of suffering, of urinary tract infections and relationship and intimacy issues.
Scheduling time to have a separate appointment with your oncologist and your GYN. Come prepared. Listen to Louise's podcast. Listen to Menopause in Cancer podcast and Instagram page. Be empowered because you and your quality of life are worth it.
You can follow Corinne on Instagram at @drmennobgyn
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This week on the podcast with Dr Louise, Consultant Dermatologist Dr Sajjad Rajpar returns to talk about acne and its effect on women during the perimenopause and menopause, including on their self-confidence and mental health.
Dr Saj explains the causes of acne and the different treatments available, including an encouraging new treatment that could make a big difference to acne sufferers in the long term.
Finally, Dr Saj shares his three tips for anyone who might have acne:
Keep skincare simple and targeted. Pick one of three active ingredients – retinoids, benzoyl peroxide or azelaic acid – and give it three to six months to work. Only supplement it with a very simple supporting skincare regime.
Assess the impact of the acne – if it is leaving persistent blemishes, pigmentation or scars, then escalate the treatment. If the first line treatment hasn’t worked, give it three months and see a medical professional to try to get it under control because prevention of scars is so much easier than trying to reverse and cure them.
Be mindful about all the different risk factors and triggers, and do not underestimate the impact of diet and stress. Where we can treat acne holistically, we should.
You can follow Dr Saj on Instagram @dr.rajpar_dermatologist
There is a chapter dedicated to skin and hair in menopause in Dr Louise’s bestselling book, The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause, which includes expert contributions by Dr Saj. Order your copy by clicking here.
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About 28 million people in the UK are thought to be living with chronic pain – that’s 43% of the population, according to the 2011 Census.
But what is chronic pain, and how can it overlap with the perimenopause and menopause?
In this week’s episode Dr Louise is joined by Dr Deepak Ravindran, a consultant in pain medicine and author of The Pain-Free Mindset: 7 Steps to Taking Control and Overcoming Chronic Pain.
Dr Deepak unpicks the science behind chronic, or persist, pain and the two discuss the relationship between hormones, inflammation and pain.
Dr Louise and Dr Deepak have co-authored a new article which offers 10 top tips for primary care practitioners on improving care for women with fatigue and/or pain. You can access the article here.
Follow Dr Deepak on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
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