Wellness Unmasked Weekly Rundown: FDA Reverses Course on HRT: What Women Need to Know + Health Update on Sen. Fetterman

Dr. Nicole Saphier breaks down the FDA’s decision to remove the long-standing black box warning on hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—a major shift that could change how millions of women approach menopause care. She explains why the update matters, what the latest science shows about HRT safety, and how early treatment can improve long-term health outcomes. Dr. Saphier also addresses public questions surrounding Senator John Fetterman’s recent cardiac scare, offering a clear medical assessment of his condition and recovery.  Wellness Unmasked is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Friday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Wellness sun masks. I'm doctor Nicole Saffire and
this is your weekly rundown and let me tell you,
it's been a busy week, so I'm going to try
and jam pack some stuff into a couple of minutes.
The biggest thing to come out of the news cycle
this week, in my opinion, is the fact that the
FDA is removing the black box warning from hormone replacement
therapy for women. For decades now, because of old, antiquated studies,

(00:26):
old formulations of medications, women and physicians have been afraid
of offering these medications to women as they are going
through perimenopause and menopause. Now, just because you remove the
black box warning, that does not mean that they are
not still risk associated. Of course, there's risk with every medication,
and not everyone is eligible for hormone replacement therapy. But

(00:47):
what the overwhelming data show right now is women who
begin hormone replacement therapy before they go through menopause, maybe
even ten years before menopause, it actually can lower the
risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, cognitive decline, maybe even lower
their risk of breast cancer as well as other things.
So women you don't have to suffer through menopause perimenopause symptoms.

(01:11):
Talk to your doctors. We're talking about esrogen, progesterone, and
even testosterone. That's right, testosterone is for women too. They
have oral medications, but the more commonly used ones these
days are patches, significantly fewer side effects. There's also creams,
vaginal creams. You may have heard of pellets. I'm not
a huge fan of pellets. Maybe we can do a

(01:31):
longer episode later on and I can tell you why. Ultimately,
everything works differently for other people. So if you're considering
hormone replacement therapy, talk to your doctor. There's lots of
options and you don't need to be scared away. Removing
the black box warning is well overdue. It should have
been done a long time ago. Another big thing that
happened this week. Just yesterday, Senator Fetterman took to X

(01:52):
and he said that he was out for a walk
and he fell, got some scrapes and bruises to his
face and was taken to the hospital. The spokesperson said
it's because he was having a quote unquote flare up
of ventricular fibrillation. I am really hoping they're meaning atrial fibrillation,
because when someone goes into ventricular fibrillation in the hospital,

(02:14):
oftentimes we're calling a code blue. So what that means
is it's an arrhythmia of the heart and it can
lead to stroke. It can lead to someone passing out,
it can lead to a heart attack, it could lead
to someone dying. Now we know Senator Fetterman has a
history of heart disease. A couple of years ago, he
had atrial fibrillation, or the top chamber of his heart

(02:35):
was in an arrhythmia, and that caused clots to form.
Those clots got sent off to the brain and that
is what caused his stroke. And he had at that
time a pacemaker implanted to help pace his heart, and
it was also a defibrillator to shock him should his
heart go into arrhythmia. Again. Now he's saying that he
had a quote unquote flare up, but again he said

(02:57):
ventricular fibrillation, which is the lower chamber of heart, and
that's more of a medical emergency. So all I can
say is I wish the senator well. I love that
he still kept his sense of humor as his posting
on X but it's scary. It's incredibly scary. He has
a very complicated cardiac history, and he is one of
the only moderate common sense Democrats who I am just

(03:21):
truly grateful, has a name and has a voice, and
I just hope nothing but the best for him. So
best of luck, Senator. I hope you are well. I'm
sure you have a wonderful team of doctors. Rest up
and look forward to being what you do next. That's
it for me. This is Wellness on Mass. This has
been your weekly rundown. Make sure to listen to Wellness
on Mass on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get

(03:44):
your podcasts, and we will catch you next time.