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July 28, 2024 17 mins

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Is menopause being used to sell you snake oil? In our latest episode, we confront the issue of "menowashing" with Dr. Kelly Anderson, Medical Director at Felix Health, and Dr. Natalie Gamache, a distinguished menopause specialist. These experts guide us through the murky waters of menopause marketing, helping you discern between fact-based treatments and exploitative products. You'll gain critical insights into the tactics companies use to target women at vulnerable stages of life and learn how to make informed choices about your health. Navigating menopause while balancing a career and family can be overwhelming, but virtual care may offer a lifeline. Dr. Anderson and Dr. Gamache share their expertise on managing the physical symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, with a special focus on the benefits of virtual healthcare. Whether it's hormone treatments or lifestyle adjustments, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you handle menopause with confidence. Tune in for a rich discussion on maintaining your well-being and standing strong against misleading menopause marketing.

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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This podcast is brought to you by Life360
Innovations, creators of theContino urethral insert, a
non-surgical Health Canadalicensed medical device for men
with stress urinary incontinence.
Contino is easy to use andblocks the flow of urine without
the need for adult diapers orpads.
More than just a medical device, the Contino care program

(00:24):
connects you with experiencedmedical professionals and
creates a personalized treatmentplan that provides ongoing
support so you can get back tolife.
Go to MyContinocom to see ifContino is right for you and
book your free continenceassessment.
Get bladder leakage controlwith Contino and get back to
living.
Remember, go to Mycontinocom.

(00:45):
That's M-Y-C-O-N-T-I-N-Ocom.
Ladies, do you leak with cough,sneeze and or exercise?
Did you know that leaking urineis never normal?
Hi, it's Maureen McGrath,registered nurse and nurse
continence advisor.
It's time to stop lettingbladder leaks hold you back, and
time to say goodbye to bladderleaks and hello to Moxie Patch,

(01:08):
a revolutionary new device totreat stress urinary
incontinence.
Moxie Patch is ultra discreet,effective, reusable and
eco-friendly, empowering you tolive life to the fullest, free
from the worries and limitationsof stress urinary incontinence.
With Moxie Patch, you canchoose freedom from the hassle
of bulky pads and embrace lifeagain.

(01:29):
Stop letting bladder leaks holdyou back.
Say goodbye to embarrassingmoments and hello to unstoppable
confidence with Moxie Patch.
For more information or toorder your Moxie Patch, go to
MoxiePatchcom today and discovera new level of confidence.
Moxiepatchcom, because youdeserve to feel confident.

(01:49):
Moxie patch is also availableat select retailers and on
amazoncom.
Good evening, welcome to anotherepisode of my health show
podcast.
Thank you so much for tuning infor your downloads, for your
follows.
Really appreciate it.
You know the podcast is goingpretty well.
We have 54 episodes up there.

(02:11):
I urge you to go and take alook, because there's a
smorgasbord of health subjects,but one of the most important
subjects I think that is outthere today and is having a bit
of a moment, if not a movement,is menopause.
Out there today and is having abit of a moment, if not a
movement, is menopause, and I'vedone a few episodes on
menopause, but I did one afterspeaking with some menopause

(02:32):
experts from Felix Health.
Felix Health is Canada's firsttruly integrated healthcare
platform.
They provide on-demandtreatment for everyday health
needs like weight loss, mentalhealth, sexual health and
menopause, and all of thosethings can occur during the
menopause or during theperimenopause period of time,
and that episode was so popularI had to invite those experts

(02:53):
back again.
So tonight we're going to betalking again with Dr Kelly
Anderson, who is medicaldirector at Felix Health and
she's also a practicing familyphysician, and also going to be
talking with Dr Natalie Gamache,a menopause expert, who has
just an incredible backgroundand is very skilled in this area
, and so this is such a vastarea and the last episode that

(03:18):
we aired was really about thephysical symptoms and just about
some hormone treatment, and sowe kind of covered that aspect
of it and also the virtual care,and virtual care is so
important, especially atperimenopause and menopause,
because women are so busy,they're often at the peak of
their careers and they'reraising their children.

(03:38):
But you know, something thathas concerned Dr Anderson, dr
Gamache and myself is a termknown as menawashing.
This is a time of life whenpeople, companies, oftentimes
women try and capitalize onvulnerable women.
We call that menawashing.
So I'd like to start there withDr Kelly Anderson, medical

(04:02):
Director at Felix Health, justto tell us what menowashing is
and how can we be aware of theseclaims when they're not
substantiated.
Good evening, dr Anderson.
How are you?

Speaker 2 (04:16):
I'm great.
Thank you so much for having usagain.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Thanks so much for returning to the program.
I really appreciate it.
So can you tell the listenerswhat menowashing is?

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Menowashing is when a company, you know, uses
menopause to try to sell aproduct.
Basically, and because, as yousaid, menopause is having a
moment.
You know, we, in our sort ofcultural story, women are
familiar with things likepregnancy, like you know.

(04:49):
You know people who have beenpregnant, you know people who
have had children, you knowstories around like what that
process is like, what thesymptoms are like.
It's something that's like inthe cultural conversation.
Menopause hasn't been for overtwo decades because of the
women's health initiative.
It's been removed from medicalschool training.

(05:10):
It's been, there's been a voidof really truthful conversation
around menopause and that's leftwomen like grappling for true
information and that's sort ofpaved the way for menowashing.
So women are experiencingsymptoms of perimenopause and
menopause and because at timesit can be so severe and you can

(05:34):
feel so alone and without youknow, adequate education that
you really you'll grasp atanything to get relief of your
symptoms, you really you'llgrasp at anything to get relief
of your symptoms.
And I told you in our lastpodcast that I felt like I was
receiving a lot of predatorysocial media aimed at me because
of my age, demographic and youknow, I think to your point on

(05:58):
our prior podcast.
If, if someone's offering youlike a menopause supplement and
they're promising you that itwill absolutely address all of
their menopause symptoms, likethat is a red flag.

(06:25):
You want to be talking with alicensed healthcare practitioner
in Canada, whether that's anurse practitioner or a
physician or, you know, aspecialist like a gynecologist.
Um, ideally, you like to seethem offering Health Canada
approved medications forperimenopause and menopause
symptoms.
There are many companies thatare offering compounded or quote
unquote bioidentical hormoneoptions that are not Health

(06:50):
Canada approved, which meansthey haven't gone through sort
of vigorous assessment to makesure that they're
well-researched and that they'reactually going to address your
symptoms safely.
Um, dr Jen Gunter sayssomething really great about
compounds.
She says, like, would yourather buy your gas on the side
of the road and you don't knowthe guy that made it or what's

(07:13):
in it, or do you want to buyyour gas at the gas station?
And at Felix we offer HealthCanada approved menopause
hormone therapy.
So you know, in terms, whenyou're online and looking for
ways to avoid this menowashingphenomenon, you want to talk to
a licensed healthcarepractitioner.
You want Health Canada approvedmedications.

(07:34):
You want to be wary whensomeone's offering compounded
medications as their first lineapproach, wary of supplements
that are not Health Canadaapproved, or perhaps wary of
supplements in general.
And, of course, you want acompany that has an advisor like
Dr Gamache, who you know is oneof the preeminent menopause

(07:58):
experts in the country.
You want to make sure that you,your healthcare information is
being safely stored, thatprivacy is of high level value.
Those are some of the ways thatyou can avoid this mental
washing phenomenon.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Right.
And you know, with theonslaught of digital marketing
and you know it's a saturatedmarket and anybody can get on
there and basically sellanything.
And you know repeated adscoming at you all the time with
unsubstantiated claims, noresearch behind them.
You know it's unreliable dosingOftentimes they put several

(08:40):
different hormones.
You know different types ofestrogen, for example in the
cream.
You know that they'recompounding it with.
They're a lot more expensive.
But again, you know, I see onsocial media, you know people
will say you know well, yourdoctor won't listen to you.
But I'm listening to you.
I have no credentials, nobackground, or I'm a personal
trainer, I'm a coach and that'ssuch a good point that it has to

(09:04):
be a licensed healthcarepractitioner to see and
hopefully somebody who is a NAMSNational Association of
Menopause Specialty Certifiedperson or somebody who
understands hormone therapy andhow they can treat you.
Dr Gamache, thanks so much forjoining the podcast again.
Really appreciate it.

(09:24):
We talked about a lot of thephysical symptoms of
perimenopause and menopause inthe last episode and I urge you,
if you'd have not listened tothe last episode, to go back
listeners and take a listenbecause it has some great
information.
But what are some of theemotional and psychological
changes women might experienceduring perimenopause and
menopause.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
Maureen, it's such a pleasure to be here again.
Thank you for the invitation.
It is such a broad and it issuch a misunderstood and
important topic, as women haveoffered an important topic.
As women have offered, sufferedbefore perimenopause with PMS
and postpartum depression andmood issues and depression and

(10:06):
anxiety.
We know we have a very complexbrain that is more at risk for
all of these entities and wewalk into perimenopause and
start suffering the ramificationof the changes of our ovarian
hormones on and the impact onour brain health.

(10:29):
So we actually know bring onfive to 600% more likelihood
than at any other time in awoman's life, independent of
past history, of developingdepression and anxiety and we

(10:53):
recognize this as part of theperimenopausal transition risk.
And what we know is that we canactually mitigate those risks
and we can mitigate the issuesby applying hormone therapy.
So the hormones are changing,they're impacting the brain

(11:16):
neurotransmitters and we canredress all of this with hormone
therapy.
It is so confusing out therebecause the teaching is lagging
and it is so obvious thatphysicians and healthcare
professionals who are trainedrightfully so to recognize
depression and anxiety, will notconnect it with the passage

(11:40):
into perimenopause and will notbe aware that hormone therapy
has as great a chance to redressissues as would antidepressant
and anxiety medication, but withthe added benefit of redressing
the sleep, redressing hotflushes, night sweats, vasomotor

(12:01):
symptoms and so on.
So we have to spread the newsout there and say that it is
okay to reach out for hormonetherapy when it is actually, at
the base, a hormone issue.
A lot of women are also findingthemselves out of sort.
As you mentioned already, it isa very busy time of life.

(12:23):
Women are questioning theirplace in life, they're
revisiting their career, theirrelationship, their friends,
their selves, they're raisingchildren, they're adopting the
care of elderly parents and theyfeel lost at the most fragile
time of life where there are somany hormonal changes impacting

(12:44):
health and wellness.
So no wonder we have torecognize those entities and be
supportive of them.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
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Thank you sincerely for yoursupport.

(13:17):
I truly appreciate it.
This podcast is brought to youby Life360 Innovations, creators
of the Contino urethral insert,a non-surgical Health
Canada-licensed medical devicefor men with stress urinary
incontinence.
Contino is easy to use andblocks the flow of urine without

(13:39):
the need for adult diapers orpads.
More than just a medical device, the Contino Care Program
connects you with experiencedmedical professionals and
creates a personalized treatmentplan that provides ongoing
support so you can get back tolife.
Go to MyContinocom to see ifContino is right for you and
book your free continenceassessment.

(14:00):
Get bladder leakage controlwith Contino and get back to
living.
Remember, go to MyContinocom.
That's M-Y-C-O-N-T-I-N-O dotcom.
Ladies, do you leak with cough,sneeze and or exercise?
Did you know that leaking urineis never normal?
Hi, it's Maureen McGrath,registered nurse and nurse

(14:21):
continence advisor.
It's time to stop lettingbladder leaks hold you back, and
time to say goodbye to bladderleaks and hello to Moxie Patch,
a revolutionary new device totreat stress urinary
incontinence.
Moxie Patch is ultra-discreet,effective, reusable and
eco-friendly, empowering you tolive life to the fullest, free
from the worries and limitationsof stress urinary incontinence.

(14:44):
With Moxie Patch, you canchoose freedom from the hassle
of bulky pads and embrace lifeagain.
Stop letting bladder leaks holdyou back.
Say goodbye to embarrassingmoments and hello to unstoppable
confidence with Moxie Patch.
For more information or toorder your Moxie Patch, go to
MoxiePatchcom today and discovera new level of confidence.

(15:06):
Moxiepatchcom, because youdeserve to feel confident.
Moxie Patch is also availableat select retailers and on
Amazoncom.
Available at select retailersand on amazoncom.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I'm Maureen McGrath and youhave been listening to the
Sunday Night Health Show podcast.

(15:26):
If you want to hear thispodcast or any other segment
again, feel free to go to iTunes, spotify or Google Play or
wherever you listen to yourfavorite podcasts.
You can always email me,nursetalk at hotmailcom or text
the show 604-765-9287.
That's 604-765-9287.

(15:47):
Or head on over to my websitefor more information.
Maureenmcgrathcom.
It's been my pleasure to spendthis time with you, my pleasure
to spend this time with you.
This podcast is brought to youby Life360 Innovations, creators
of the Contino urethral insert,a non-surgical, health Canada

(16:08):
licensed medical device for menwith stress urinary incontinence
.
Contino is easy to use andblocks the flow of urine without
the need for adult diapers orpads.
More than just a medical device, the Contino Care Program
connects you with experiencedmedical professionals and
creates a personalized treatmentplan that provides ongoing
support so you can get back tolife.
Go to MyContinocom to see ifContino is right for you and

(16:33):
book your free continenceassessment.
Get bladder leakage controlwith Contino and get back to
living.
Remember, go to MyContinocom.
That's M-Y-C-O-N-T-I-N-O dotcom.
Ladies, do you leak urine withcough, sneeze and or exercise?
Leaking urine is never normal.

(16:54):
Hi, I'm Maureen McGrath,registered nurse and nurse
continence advisor.
Ladies, it's time to stopletting bladder leaks hold you
back.
Say goodbye to embarrassingmoments and hello to Moxie Patch
, the revolutionary solution forstress urinary incontinence.
Moxie Patch is ultra-discrete,effective, reusable and
eco-friendly, empowering you tolive life to the fullest without

(17:17):
worries or limitations.
So, ladies, ditch the bulkypads and embrace freedom with
Moxie Patch.
Experience unstoppableconfidence.
Today For more information orto order your Moxie Patch, visit
MoxiePatchcom.
That's MoxiePatchcom, becauseyou deserve to feel great again.
Moxie Patch is also availableonline at select retailers and

(17:40):
on Amazoncom.
Get your Moxie Patch today.
You'll be glad you did.
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