Newson Health and the menopause industry

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8e5y4e83lo

Keeping an eye on this. Newson makes an awful lot of money out of HRT.

MP is a quack isnt she?

I have suspicion about this too. I was really interested to hear what she has to say but I don't see how she's qualified to give the advice she's dishing out - she's not an endocrinologist, nor even a medical doctor, she's a chiropractor who has a degree in exercise!

For me, her banging on about non specific 'toxins' was a bit of a red flag (often a sign of unscientific nuttery). Then the defining moment when I really thought 'oh no' was when she advises a cyclical fasting regime for post menopausal women based on the phases of the bloody moon, fgs!

I mean WTAF? Based on what evidence?

I was so keen on her approach of taking women's cyclical hormone fluctuations into account, but she just spouts such bs is difficult to know whether anything she comes out with has value or not.

She is an eating disorder made flesh

Enjoy food. Enjoy the food that YOU like. Don't eat too much of it and eat lots of veg.

I think the difficult thing with HRT is getting real information to balance your own risks and benefits, as so many GPs know bugger all about women's health and don't seen to care.

Clearly it's not a magic bullet for all women but it should be accessible in the NHS for those that need it.

I was offered it by one GP and decided to hold off for a while. 18 months later, she had left so I saw a different GP who wouldn't let me try it because my periods were still reasonably regular (despite some women like my mum being regular until they stop).

A few months later I went back again, saw a lovely different male GP who listened to me, discussed risks and benefits reasonably and agreed it was worth a try.

There needs to be more consistency in approach, it seems like women's health issues are down to individual GPs preference and it shouldnt be the case.

I have found low key (14:10) fasting to be beneficial though, as I like food a bit too much, but there's no way I would do the water fasts that she advocates.

Sounds really unhealthy as you say.

Yes I have found that 16:8 fasting has worked really well for me in my early 50s for all sorts of reasons. Have never heard of Mindy Pelz though.

Yes I have done not eating until 12pm and it does seem to be good for me. It's the long fasts that I have an issue with.

9 in 10000 risk which is incredibly low for a normal BMI and no history or clots. This was discussed widely at BMS conferences. There was ALOT of big pharma to push for patches and new preparations. Good GPS, both private and nhs will discuss the risks and benefits.

Stacy Simms has better advice if you are active

I adore that woman. It's hard work untangling the messages as she's speaking to athletes as well as active women but the basics have been really helpful

I use fitr woman app to track period as they're very random now, which is free and give lots of tips around fuelling for activities, as well as if you're bleeding irregularly. Lots of recipes too.

When you log symptoms it's suggests foods and recipes

Told me to eat these just now; no problem!!

I’d be interested to know where that figure comes from as the research is so patchy that I don’t know how anyone can quote that categorically. The previous big studies into HRT when women were taking it in tablet form seem pretty chaotic in the way they were organised - all sorts of ages of starting HRT, often many years post-menopause, with many women having comorbidities or high BMI. I’m not sure how it’s possible to work out a figure for the risk in this way.

Is cacao different from cocoa?

https://www.themenopausecharity.org/2021/10/21/menopause-and-clots/

'The more recent, good quality evidence shows us:

There is a small risk of a blood clot associated with oral oestrogen tablets.7 High levels of oestrogen in the liver (which can occur when oral oestrogen is taken) can lead to sticky blood changes that increase the risk of VTE. This does not occur with oestrogen used through the skin as a patch, gel or spray.
To understand how small this risk is, imagine a healthy woman of 50 years of age; she has a VTE risk of around 6 in 10,000 per year. If she took oral oestrogen tablets, this would double her risk to around 12 in 10,000 but it’s still a small risk overall.
The good news is that estrogen absorbed through the skin is much safer and does not cause sticky blood changes and therefore does not increase the risk of clot. Transdermal oestrogen is the type of HRT that comes in a sticky skin patch, or a gel or spray that you rub into your skin.'

References to evidence at foot of page.

https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.k4810#:~:text=Numbers%20needed%20to%20harm%20and%20excess%20risk%20of%20VTE&text=For%20overall%20oral%20HRT%20use,to%2010%3B%20table%204).

So transdermal of course ‘safer’ but know its not that much different IF you are a normal bmi/non smoker/no clot History/unexplained miscarriage. As I said before good specialists know their stuff

Yes, I don't make the recipe, just make a hot chocolate and scoff some nuts

I'm on a type of oral oestrogen in tamoxifen. Blood clots are an increased risk.

Thank you for that - actually, this is where I think Louise Newson is good at talking about the evidence (I think that’s the charity she set up)

Thank you for the link to the study. Quite complicated trying to unpick the statistics! It’s interesting how many women were actually being prescribed HRT tablets I think.

I’m also on tamoxifen. How are you finding it?
I would love to take HRT as it’s the only thing I found to stop my Achilles tendinitis but alas.

Tamoxifen isn't an oral oestrogen. It blocks oestrogen receptors so stops you responding to oestrogen.

It’s a selective oestrogen receptor modulator so although it blocks some oestrogen receptors (such as those pesky breast ones) it acts differently on others such as the ones in the womb, hence an increased risk of endometrial cancer, and in bones - so is actually thought to help prevent osteoporosis.

@GrandmaMazur true but I think on a thread about HRT it isn't clear to describe tamoxifen as 'a form of oestrogen' when it is anything but.

I went to Newson in desperation. I was having constant cystitis. Imagine that burning feeling when you have a uti. Now have it daily for 6 months - 180 days. Then tell me you wouldn’t feel a little bit down! I also had periods every 2-3 weeks which were so heavy I had to wear period pants, super plus tp and a pad. Of course I didn’t feel anxious in work at all!
I was going to the gym 4-5 days a week, had lost weight, eating healthy. But oh the pain. Back and forth to the GP - well I never actually ‘saw’ a dr - they just left a prescription for me for antibiotics. Each time I would tell them about my periods, ask if it was menopause. After my 7th course, I asked for help. Got ignored. Wrote a letter of complaint to the practice. Saw a GP who did the first internal - told me bluntly I had vaginal atrophy, and I could be put on a waiting list for the menopause clinic.
I went private to a urologist gynaecologist who told me to stop taking the NHS prescribed antibiotics as they were not for UTI’s, he had never seen them prescribed for UTI’s, the ones I was given were for chest infections. Would be doing f all for my v! I had a scan, was diagnosed with ademyosis, and told I had 4.5cm fibroids. So those had to come out, and a mirena coil put in to help with the periods.
At Newson I had a lovely GP who spoke to me for at least 45 minutes. We went over everything, she asked for the letters from the gynae and decided we would try vagifem and patches. The awful hot flushes I’d been having (which I would have / could have born if it were not for the daily pain) stopped. I felt so much better.
The bleeding has stopped, the flushes have stopped, the pain has stopped.
The NHS on here needs to remember that they make mistakes every day. And people like me are left to suffer. But you know, I’m sure going to the gym helped!

Really glad to hear you got.good care in the end. It's clear that many women don't get access to good quality healthcare.