Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good evening and welcome to another episode of
Nurse Maureen's Health ShowPodcast.
I'm Maureen McGrath, aregistered nurse, nurse,
continence advisor and sexualhealth educator.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I really appreciate it.
Of course, this show would benothing without you Tonight.
I'm really excited about myguest, because menopause is not
just having a moment, it ishaving a movement.
(00:25):
Yet so many women need support,they need help, they need
evidence-based information andmy guest is here to do that, and
she's also created somethingamazing and beautiful for women
as well.
Dr Malhotra is a MenopauseSociety certified practitioner
and sits on the MenopauseSociety's education committee.
She is one of the esteemedauthors of the Canadian
(00:47):
Menopause Guidelines.
Good evening, Dr Malhotra.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Hi, maureen, thank you for having me.
I'm doing very well.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I'm so happy about that.
I love your menopause journal.
I have shared it with so manyof my patients.
They greatly appreciate it.
Just for those who arelistening and are as excited
about it as I am, her website isthemenopausesitecom.
Menomedical is also the name ofthe company.
So, Dr Malhotra, this has to bea dream come true for you.
(01:19):
I know you have been talkingwith treating, sharing your
knowledge with patients and withwomen who are experiencing
perimenopause and menopause.
Can you tell us about theinspiration behind Menomedico
and what led you to create aplatform focused specifically on
menopause care?
And the Menopause Journal, Iwant to say, is just one
(01:39):
component of it.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thank you, maureen, absolutely.
So I appreciate you sharing sortof the work that I've done in
the past and I think I just wantto ensure people know that
there's a common thread to allof the work that I've done and
it really is to ensure thatpeople have access to care and
services and to reduce barriersto care.
And so over the course of time,it became more and more apparent
(02:03):
and you know, especially withthe menopause foundation report
coming out last year and stating, you know, 10 million Canadian
people are without menopausecare to serve them adequately,
and the Herb EC report comingout last year as well, stating
very clear that people arefeeling really lonely and
unsupported in this period oftime.
(02:23):
I thought, well, I'm acertified menopause provider and
I've done extensive training inthis area and seen many, many
patients over two decades.
So what can I do?
How can I put my energy andeffort towards really reducing
that, that care barrier and thatlack of access that people are
feeling and experiencing, whichwe know is very true, without a
(02:43):
sufficient number of access thatpeople are feeling and
experiencing which we know isvery true without a sufficient
number of providers that areproviding menopause care in the
country?
We really do need to findcreative solutions as we build
that up and we have more andmore confident providers to
really be serving women with thecare that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah.
So I thought why not create aplatform that is evidence-based
and is, you know, based upon themenopause society and the
Canadian menopause society,which you know, which is where
I'm certified through themenopause society, and really
have that available sort ofglobally for people?
And then I thought, you know,one of the biggest issues that
has arisen is actually that factthat you know people don't
(03:25):
necessarily have a bridge to thegap in care that we're talking
about, where you know people areexperienced things, lots of
things that are happening aschanges in their body, but then
how do they organize that, howdo they share that and how do
they take that forward to ahealthcare provider?
And so that was really thebirth of the menopause journal,
(03:46):
and so people can document andorganize their experience.
That can at times be extensiveand at times can just be a time
where we need some self-care andwe want to validate our
experience and then share itwith the healthcare provider,
even if they're not a certifiedmenopause provider.
It will be in a form thatpeople can advocate for
themselves really easily as faras what's happening and they can
(04:09):
have more of a collaborativeconversation approach with their
provider.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I can see that this menopause journal
specifically would fill thecurrent gaps in menopause
education and support within thehealth care system.
Because you know women and allpatients get 10, 12, 15 minutes
max with a general practitionerand you know they'll forget some
of the symptoms that they'vehad or they're not exactly sure,
(04:34):
they don't know that somesymptoms may be associated with
perimenopause, menopause andbeyond, and so having it all
together neatly, tidilydocumented over time is just
such a nice asset for women tohave to present to their doctors
and what makes Menomedicounique in its approach to
(04:55):
educating both patients andhealth care providers about
menopause.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, thank you.
I think really what ishighlighted in Menomedico is
that, for one, I am a person whois going through the same
journey and I'm also a healthcare provider on both sides.
So I've tried to make itaccessible in the language
that's used and the questionsthat have come up to me being
answered on the site and beingaccompanied by an Instagram and
(05:21):
social media platform thatallows for those, like ongoing
questions to be answered and,I'm hoping, in a really
approachable way, but also in away that allows people to have
some self care.
Is it's so clear that we aswomen, often put ourselves last
on the care platform in ourlives, in our homes and in our
(05:43):
communities?
And this is kind of a moment tosay you know what, what's going
on in my life is reallyimportant, and I'm going to take
a minute not only just todocument and have that moment to
myself, but also to say youknow, this is important, that
I'm going to raise it up in theconversation, not just with
myself and my healthcareprovider, with my community and
friends that we can share theseconversations with like an
(06:03):
evidence-based approach to itand really understand what's
happening to our bodies.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And the website, the menopause sitecom, is just
filled with so much greatinformation, articles about
empowering women to take controlof their health.
Many times I hear women sayingthis is the first step in taking
care of me.
You know my coming to see you.
There's also articles aboutmind, body and spirit, nurturing
self-care for holistic health.
(06:30):
So it really focuses on thewoman, which I think is missing
a little bit in health caretoday.
We focus so much on, you know,heart disease and not that
that's not important the numberone killer of women, but
hypertension,hypercholesterolemia, these
kinds of things that there's notime to actually focus on the
(06:51):
woman.
Or the heart of hormone therapyone of the titles of an article
on your website, you know.
And what is wellness inmenopause?
You know there's so much greatinformation on your website,
themenopausesitecom, that Ireally encourage women to go
there.
How does Menomedico supportclinicians in delivering
(07:12):
evidence-based menopause care?
Dr Malhotra?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, I think what's interesting in the menopause
realm is, although we feel likethere's a lot of information
circulating and at times it isfrom healthcare providers, we
have to remember that after theWHI came out the biggest trial,
the Women's Health Initiativethat came out in 2002, so around
the time I was finishing mytraining it then led to so much
(07:39):
miscommunication andmisunderstandings surrounding
hormone therapy that hormonetherapy went from the highest
prescribed medication to thelowest.
If we put on a platform here andI think it's important to then
remember that then it was infact because people weren't
using hormone therapy in droves,was removed from education, and
(08:00):
so most healthcare providersthat are practicing right now
have not had a lot of trainingin menopause.
So people like me that were verylucky that had the opportunity
to get extensive training orhave taken it upon ourselves to
do so over the last 20 yearsit's that's not everyone's story
, and so it's, I think, a reallynon threatening platform for
(08:23):
even healthcare providers to saywhat is it I don't know about
perimenopause and menopause thatmy patients are going through?
That, I think, is important toagain bridge that gap between
provider and patient, and italso, I think, levels things out
a little bit.
It says you know, we're all inthis together.
It's just a collaborativeopportunity for us to speak
(08:46):
together about this, and I thinkthen providers will also know
what are patients asking about,because that was really how the
FAQs and other pieces of thesite were prepared the blog,
that's all from what patientshave brought forward in visits,
and so now it's an opportunityto really share that information
but really give providers theopportunity to have a starting
(09:06):
place of, like.
You know, this is where peopleare at, this is the information
you need to have and these areresources for you as well.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Absolutely Now.
Now, menopause is experienceddifferently across cultures and
identities.
How does Menomedico ensure thatthe content and the resources
are inclusive and representativeof all people going through
menopause?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Absolutely, and that's a growing piece of the
work.
As a woman of color who is froma cultural background where
menopause is not necessarilydiscussed at the dinner table,
it's something that has been apriority in sort of the growth
of the information that comesout and you'll see as posts come
out and some of the blog poststhe information that comes out
and you'll see his posts comeout and some of the blog posts
(09:48):
in particular, are reallyfocused on different cultural
and racial aspects toperimenopause and menopause and
it goes towards, of course,communication between
generations.
But also, you know, what are theexperiences that people are
having, because we know thereare ethnic differences and
racial differences between whatsomeone will experience as far
(10:08):
as how long or how severe theirsymptoms are going to be.
But really important and thisreally goes to the extensive
work that I've done in the last10 years, in particular in my
career where we really need tohighlight the fact that a lot of
times the healthcare system hasan internal bias against people
of color in particular.
The healthcare system has aninternal bias against people of
(10:30):
color in particular, and how dowe now overcome that in
menopause?
How do we ensure that everyperson is being asked the most
appropriate questions for theirand getting the most appropriate
care, because we know in theSWAN trial from the US that
black women weren't necessarilyalways being asked and they were
using hormone therapy in farlower numbers.
And so how do we improve thatand how do we challenge that in
our system?
(10:50):
And that's, of course, the workthat I've dedicated the last
decade of my life to.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
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You know, dr Malhotra, how isMenomedico taking to ensure
better access to menopause care,particularly for rural,
indigenous or marginalizedcommunities, because oftentimes
they miss out just by thegeographical location alone?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Absolutely so.
I think one of the things thatMenomedico offers is that it's
available on multiple platforms,so we've ensured that.
Absolutely.
There's the website, butthere's also socials and I know
a lot of people can access thatquite easily on their phones and
things like that.
That's available for folks, butalso links to where there are
(12:09):
trusted sites and making surepeople can navigate the sort of
big web world of menopauseavailable right now in an easy
way, and we're putting more andmore posts up within the site
about you know.
Is this a trusted site and howdo we know that it is and what
does that look like?
Because misinformation, as weknow, within menopause and
perimenopause has been extensiveand we know the Menopause
(12:30):
Society put out a statement lastyear targeting that particular
fact.
And it gets harder and harderwhen you're away from a tertiary
care center to know what totrust because there's just less
available, and so we're reallytrying to ensure that we really
weed through what the confusioncould unintentionally or
(12:51):
intentionally be.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Recently I heard a physician say on social media
the number one treatment forurinary tract infection is low
dose localized estrogen therapy.
Now I knew what this physicianmeant, but that's not actually
the number one treatment that.
I knew what this physicianmeant, but you know, that's not
actually the number onetreatment.
That might be the number oneprevention, but not the number
one treatment for women inmenopause and perimenopause and
(13:14):
beyond.
But somebody might go to theirdoctor and say I heard this
particular doctor say the numberone treatment is estrogen.
I want estrogen as opposed to anantibiotic, which you need to
treat the urinary tractinfection before you start
preventing the next one, anyway.
So there's so muchmisinformation and you estrogen
as opposed to an antibiotic, butyou need to treat the urinary
tract infection before you startpreventing the next one, anyway
.
So there's so muchmisinformation and you hear it
from influencers, whether theyhave no medical training, or you
(13:36):
hear it at times from evenhealthcare providers, who are
influencers as well.
I think they just get soexcited about all of the
followers.
I'm not really sure, but anyway.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And I think a lot of us have been in this for a very
long time, and suddenly there'sso much attention, so it's so
very exciting, right?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, exactly, I've been educating about menopause
for like 15 years and people arelike why haven't you been
talking about it?
I'm like I've been talkingabout this forever.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
We're crying out loud , exactly, and suddenly people
are listening and so it's veryexciting.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Exactly.
It's like, okay, come on now,but let's get the information
correct.
Let's you know people come inwith their misinformation
because this person has 2million followers or whatever.
Let's get to your platform, theMenno Medico platform.
So how does it actually work,whether you're a patient or a
(14:31):
provider, and what can peopleexpect when they log in?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I think the platform is very easy to navigate.
We have a menopause websitewhich is themenopausesitecom,
and that offers FAQs.
It offers updated blogs on aregular basis that really do
target the questions that peoplecome into clinics asking, and
there's, I think, a tremendousamount of information and
(14:55):
resource just on the site itselfjust to read through, also on
social media, so sort of themainstay places like Instagram
and Facebook.
I think those are places whereyou can get really up to date,
sort of bi-weekly pieces ofbi-weekly postings that really
(15:15):
do allow for that on the pulseon the moment how do I know what
to trust and how do I not knowwhat to trust type of
information?
The menopause journal isavailable on the menopause
sitecom.
It's available if youdownloaded from that site.
It's a fillable journal.
It can also be printed out andfilled out and it's something
(15:37):
that I think is fairly easy toaccess on the website.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
So what are some of the biggest myths?
I just have to ask you aclinical question here.
What are some of the biggestmyths?
I just have to ask you aclinical question here.
What are some of the biggestmyths and I mentioned one that's
, you know been put out onsocial media recently about
urinary tract infections?
Myths or misconceptions aboutmenopause that you hope
Menomedico can help to dispel?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, you know, in in line with that.
Like, really the core piecehere is that a couple of things.
One is a lot of people don'tfeel believed when they come in
with their symptoms, becausethey have many symptoms and it's
sort of a constellation.
It's confusing to them and theyaren't able to necessarily
verbalize that and communicatethat in a way that the provider
(16:22):
understands really effectively.
And so I'm hoping that thejournal is a place and a space
for people to not only havevalidation of what's going on
but be able to sort of createsort of a organized and provider
friendly conversation, friendlycommunication opportunity to
(16:43):
have with your healthcareprovider.
So it's sort of one big one.
And then I think the other thingis, is a lot of people think
that maybe, because this isn'tmaybe a sort of common menopause
symptom I won't bring it up andI think what's really important
you'll see, on the menopausejournal in particular, we have a
lot of spots for.
Is there anything else, otherother items that you wish to
(17:07):
discuss?
Because I'll be really honest,Sometimes those are some of the
most important things that willcome forward is things that are
really impacting someone'squality of life, their
day-to-day living, If they areunable to function because of
some new and changing symptom.
I want to know about it as ahealthcare provider because,
whether or not it is menopause,it is happening at this time and
(17:29):
we need to know what'soccurring in this period of time
.
So I think, that that's like theclarity piece and that
communication bridge are the twobiggest things that I'm hoping
to achieve here.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Excellent, and so would you say that's your vision
for how menopause care willchange in the next five to 10
years, and is it something elseLike how do you think it could
be delivered more effectively?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, I think that we all have work to do in the
healthcare system to reallyimprove the communication pieces
between sort of how we'rereceiving information and what
that looks like.
But the system has a lot ofwork to do on its own, as we all
know, and then we need to makethings as easy as possible for
people coming into our offices.
We always have to remember thatthis isn't always their first
(18:18):
language.
You know, like that, medicallanguage is not everyone's lingo
.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And so we have to be really open to how do we
creatively ensure that peopleare able to take part in the
health care system in ameaningful way, way that will
allow them to have the best lifethat they can have, and also
ensuring and this is the piecesof like, where we have other and
we want to know everythingthat's going on piece is that if
something's impacting someone'squality of life to a point that
(18:46):
it's a negative impact upontheir daily activities, we're
trying to say you know, let'simpact cardiac health and you
know diabetes and all these.
Well, what if they can't getthere because all of these other
things that are happening?
So how do we facilitate easewithin the system for people?
So I think it's a collaboration, but it should always come down
(19:07):
to conversations right, itshould always be conversations
between provider and patient,and it should always be as easy
as possible and accessible aspossible.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And I think the menopause journal, one of the
key components of the menopausesite, is poised beautifully to
help with that goal and thatvision.
And, dr Malhotra, I want tothank you so much for not only
creating this, the menopausesitecom, and all of the heart
and soul you poured into it, butalso the tools for women to
(19:36):
make their perimenopause andmenopause journey that much
easier nicer, if you will.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You're so welcome.
It's my pleasure to have you,and may I recommend those of you
who are listening to head onover to the menopause sitecom
and if you know somebody who maybenefit from the information
provided by Dr Malhotra on thisepisode, feel free to share this
episode with them.
But if you are struggling withsymptoms at midlife and you're
(20:05):
not sure if it is menopause ornot menopause, I recommend you
head to the menopause sitecom,download the menopause journal
and also just sit back, have acup of tea and read through all
of the amazing information thatDr Malhotra has provided on
Menno Medico.
(20:26):
And it was my honor to have DrMalhotra on the episode tonight.
She and I have worked togetherin the past and I know her work
and I honor her work so much.
She's just been just amazingand incredible beyond what she's
done for women.
I cannot even there's notenough time in this podcast to
(20:49):
talk about that.
She's just an amazing personwho's empowered so many women
and has helped so many womenalong their menopause journey.
So it's an honor to have her onthe podcast.
Thank you so much, dr Malhotra,for joining me.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Thank you, Maureen.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I really, really appreciate it.
That was Dr Anjali Malhotra.
The website isTheMenopauseSitecom.
I'm Maureen McGrath and you'vebeen listening to Nurse
Maureen's Health Show Podcast.
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Good evening and welcome to another episode of
Nurse Maureen's Health ShowPodcast.
I'm Maureen McGrath, aregistered nurse, nurse,
continence advisor and sexualhealth educator.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
I really appreciate it.
Of course, this show would benothing without you Tonight.
I'm really excited about myguest, because menopause is not
just having a moment, it ishaving a movement.
(00:25):
Yet so many women need support,they need help, they need
evidence-based information andmy guest is here to do that, and
she's also created somethingamazing and beautiful for women
as well.
Dr Malhotra is a MenopauseSociety certified practitioner
and sits on the MenopauseSociety's education committee.
She is one of the esteemedauthors of the Canadian
(00:47):
Menopause Guidelines.
Good evening, Dr Malhotra.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Hi, maureen, thank you for having me.
I'm doing very well.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I'm so happy about that.
I love your menopause journal.
I have shared it with so manyof my patients.
They greatly appreciate it.
Just for those who arelistening and are as excited
about it as I am, her website isthemenopausesitecom.
Menomedical is also the name ofthe company.
So, Dr Malhotra, this has to bea dream come true for you.
(01:19):
I know you have been talkingwith treating, sharing your
knowledge with patients and withwomen who are experiencing
perimenopause and menopause.
Can you tell us about theinspiration behind Menomedico
and what led you to create aplatform focused specifically on
menopause care?
And the Menopause Journal, Iwant to say, is just one
(01:39):
component of it.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thank you, maureen, absolutely.
So I appreciate you sharing sortof the work that I've done in
the past and I think I just wantto ensure people know that
there's a common thread to allof the work that I've done and
it really is to ensure thatpeople have access to care and
services and to reduce barriersto care.
And so over the course of time,it became more and more apparent
(02:03):
and you know, especially withthe menopause foundation report
coming out last year and stating, you know, 10 million Canadian
people are without menopausecare to serve them adequately,
and the Herb EC report comingout last year as well, stating
very clear that people arefeeling really lonely and
unsupported in this period oftime.
(02:23):
I thought, well, I'm acertified menopause provider and
I've done extensive training inthis area and seen many, many
patients over two decades.
So what can I do?
How can I put my energy andeffort towards really reducing
that, that care barrier and thatlack of access that people are
feeling and experiencing, whichwe know is very true, without a
(02:43):
sufficient number of access thatpeople are feeling and
experiencing which we know isvery true without a sufficient
number of providers that areproviding menopause care in the
country?
We really do need to findcreative solutions as we build
that up and we have more andmore confident providers to
really be serving women with thecare that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah.
So I thought why not create aplatform that is evidence-based
and is, you know, based upon themenopause society and the
Canadian menopause society,which you know, which is where
I'm certified through themenopause society, and really
have that available sort ofglobally for people?
And then I thought, you know,one of the biggest issues that
has arisen is actually that factthat you know people don't
(03:25):
necessarily have a bridge to thegap in care that we're talking
about, where you know people areexperienced things, lots of
things that are happening aschanges in their body, but then
how do they organize that, howdo they share that and how do
they take that forward to ahealthcare provider?
And so that was really thebirth of the menopause journal,
(03:46):
and so people can document andorganize their experience.
That can at times be extensiveand at times can just be a time
where we need some self-care andwe want to validate our
experience and then share itwith the healthcare provider,
even if they're not a certifiedmenopause provider.
It will be in a form thatpeople can advocate for
themselves really easily as faras what's happening and they can
(04:09):
have more of a collaborativeconversation approach with their
provider.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And I can see that this menopause journal
specifically would fill thecurrent gaps in menopause
education and support within thehealth care system.
Because you know women and allpatients get 10, 12, 15 minutes
max with a general practitionerand you know they'll forget some
of the symptoms that they'vehad or they're not exactly sure,
(04:34):
they don't know that somesymptoms may be associated with
perimenopause, menopause andbeyond, and so having it all
together neatly, tidilydocumented over time is just
such a nice asset for women tohave to present to their doctors
and what makes Menomedicounique in its approach to
(04:55):
educating both patients andhealth care providers about
menopause.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yeah, thank you.
I think really what ishighlighted in Menomedico is
that, for one, I am a person whois going through the same
journey and I'm also a healthcare provider on both sides.
So I've tried to make itaccessible in the language
that's used and the questionsthat have come up to me being
answered on the site and beingaccompanied by an Instagram and
(05:21):
social media platform thatallows for those, like ongoing
questions to be answered and,I'm hoping, in a really
approachable way, but also in away that allows people to have
some self care.
Is it's so clear that we aswomen, often put ourselves last
on the care platform in ourlives, in our homes and in our
(05:43):
communities?
And this is kind of a moment tosay you know what, what's going
on in my life is reallyimportant, and I'm going to take
a minute not only just todocument and have that moment to
myself, but also to say youknow, this is important, that
I'm going to raise it up in theconversation, not just with
myself and my healthcareprovider, with my community and
friends that we can share theseconversations with like an
(06:03):
evidence-based approach to itand really understand what's
happening to our bodies.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And the website, the menopause sitecom, is just
filled with so much greatinformation, articles about
empowering women to take controlof their health.
Many times I hear women sayingthis is the first step in taking
care of me.
You know my coming to see you.
There's also articles aboutmind, body and spirit, nurturing
self-care for holistic health.
(06:30):
So it really focuses on thewoman, which I think is missing
a little bit in health caretoday.
We focus so much on, you know,heart disease and not that
that's not important the numberone killer of women, but
hypertension,hypercholesterolemia, these
kinds of things that there's notime to actually focus on the
(06:51):
woman.
Or the heart of hormone therapyone of the titles of an article
on your website, you know.
And what is wellness inmenopause?
You know there's so much greatinformation on your website,
themenopausesitecom, that Ireally encourage women to go
there.
How does Menomedico supportclinicians in delivering
(07:12):
evidence-based menopause care?
Dr Malhotra?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, I think what's interesting in the menopause
realm is, although we feel likethere's a lot of information
circulating and at times it isfrom healthcare providers, we
have to remember that after theWHI came out the biggest trial,
the Women's Health Initiativethat came out in 2002, so around
the time I was finishing mytraining it then led to so much
(07:39):
miscommunication andmisunderstandings surrounding
hormone therapy that hormonetherapy went from the highest
prescribed medication to thelowest.
If we put on a platform here andI think it's important to then
remember that then it was infact because people weren't
using hormone therapy in droves,was removed from education, and
(08:00):
so most healthcare providersthat are practicing right now
have not had a lot of trainingin menopause.
So people like me that were verylucky that had the opportunity
to get extensive training orhave taken it upon ourselves to
do so over the last 20 yearsit's that's not everyone's story
, and so it's, I think, a reallynon threatening platform for
(08:23):
even healthcare providers to saywhat is it I don't know about
perimenopause and menopause thatmy patients are going through?
That, I think, is important toagain bridge that gap between
provider and patient, and italso, I think, levels things out
a little bit.
It says you know, we're all inthis together.
It's just a collaborativeopportunity for us to speak
(08:46):
together about this, and I thinkthen providers will also know
what are patients asking about,because that was really how the
FAQs and other pieces of thesite were prepared the blog,
that's all from what patientshave brought forward in visits,
and so now it's an opportunityto really share that information
but really give providers theopportunity to have a starting
(09:06):
place of, like.
You know, this is where peopleare at, this is the information
you need to have and these areresources for you as well.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Absolutely Now.
Now, menopause is experienceddifferently across cultures and
identities.
How does Menomedico ensure thatthe content and the resources
are inclusive and representativeof all people going through
menopause?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Absolutely, and that's a growing piece of the
work.
As a woman of color who is froma cultural background where
menopause is not necessarilydiscussed at the dinner table,
it's something that has been apriority in sort of the growth
of the information that comesout and you'll see as posts come
out and some of the blog poststhe information that comes out
and you'll see his posts comeout and some of the blog posts
(09:48):
in particular, are reallyfocused on different cultural
and racial aspects toperimenopause and menopause and
it goes towards, of course,communication between
generations.
But also, you know, what are theexperiences that people are
having, because we know thereare ethnic differences and
racial differences between whatsomeone will experience as far
(10:08):
as how long or how severe theirsymptoms are going to be.
But really important and thisreally goes to the extensive
work that I've done in the last10 years, in particular in my
career where we really need tohighlight the fact that a lot of
times the healthcare system hasan internal bias against people
of color in particular.
The healthcare system has aninternal bias against people of
(10:30):
color in particular, and how dowe now overcome that in
menopause?
How do we ensure that everyperson is being asked the most
appropriate questions for theirand getting the most appropriate
care, because we know in theSWAN trial from the US that
black women weren't necessarilyalways being asked and they were
using hormone therapy in farlower numbers.
And so how do we improve thatand how do we challenge that in
our system?
(10:50):
And that's, of course, the workthat I've dedicated the last
decade of my life to.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
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You know, dr Malhotra, how isMenomedico taking to ensure
better access to menopause care,particularly for rural,
indigenous or marginalizedcommunities, because oftentimes
they miss out just by thegeographical location alone?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Absolutely so.
I think one of the things thatMenomedico offers is that it's
available on multiple platforms,so we've ensured that.
Absolutely.
There's the website, butthere's also socials and I know
a lot of people can access thatquite easily on their phones and
things like that.
That's available for folks, butalso links to where there are
(12:09):
trusted sites and making surepeople can navigate the sort of
big web world of menopauseavailable right now in an easy
way, and we're putting more andmore posts up within the site
about you know.
Is this a trusted site and howdo we know that it is and what
does that look like?
Because misinformation, as weknow, within menopause and
perimenopause has been extensiveand we know the Menopause
(12:30):
Society put out a statement lastyear targeting that particular
fact.
And it gets harder and harderwhen you're away from a tertiary
care center to know what totrust because there's just less
available, and so we're reallytrying to ensure that we really
weed through what the confusioncould unintentionally or
(12:51):
intentionally be.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Recently I heard a physician say on social media
the number one treatment forurinary tract infection is low
dose localized estrogen therapy.
Now I knew what this physicianmeant, but that's not actually
the number one treatment that.
I knew what this physicianmeant, but you know, that's not
actually the number onetreatment.
That might be the number oneprevention, but not the number
one treatment for women inmenopause and perimenopause and
(13:14):
beyond.
But somebody might go to theirdoctor and say I heard this
particular doctor say the numberone treatment is estrogen.
I want estrogen as opposed to anantibiotic, which you need to
treat the urinary tractinfection before you start
preventing the next one, anyway.
So there's so muchmisinformation and you estrogen
as opposed to an antibiotic, butyou need to treat the urinary
tract infection before you startpreventing the next one, anyway
.
So there's so muchmisinformation and you hear it
from influencers, whether theyhave no medical training, or you
(13:36):
hear it at times from evenhealthcare providers, who are
influencers as well.
I think they just get soexcited about all of the
followers.
I'm not really sure, but anyway.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
And I think a lot of us have been in this for a very
long time, and suddenly there'sso much attention, so it's so
very exciting, right?
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, exactly, I've been educating about menopause
for like 15 years and people arelike why haven't you been
talking about it?
I'm like I've been talkingabout this forever.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
We're crying out loud , exactly, and suddenly people
are listening and so it's veryexciting.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Exactly.
It's like, okay, come on now,but let's get the information
correct.
Let's you know people come inwith their misinformation
because this person has 2million followers or whatever.
Let's get to your platform, theMenno Medico platform.
So how does it actually work,whether you're a patient or a
(14:31):
provider, and what can peopleexpect when they log in?
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I think the platform is very easy to navigate.
We have a menopause websitewhich is themenopausesitecom,
and that offers FAQs.
It offers updated blogs on aregular basis that really do
target the questions that peoplecome into clinics asking, and
there's, I think, a tremendousamount of information and
(14:55):
resource just on the site itselfjust to read through, also on
social media, so sort of themainstay places like Instagram
and Facebook.
I think those are places whereyou can get really up to date,
sort of bi-weekly pieces ofbi-weekly postings that really
(15:15):
do allow for that on the pulseon the moment how do I know what
to trust and how do I not knowwhat to trust type of
information?
The menopause journal isavailable on the menopause
sitecom.
It's available if youdownloaded from that site.
It's a fillable journal.
It can also be printed out andfilled out and it's something
(15:37):
that I think is fairly easy toaccess on the website.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
So what are some of the biggest myths?
I just have to ask you aclinical question here.
What are some of the biggestmyths?
I just have to ask you aclinical question here.
What are some of the biggestmyths and I mentioned one that's
, you know been put out onsocial media recently about
urinary tract infections?
Myths or misconceptions aboutmenopause that you hope
Menomedico can help to dispel?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, you know, in in line with that.
Like, really the core piecehere is that a couple of things.
One is a lot of people don'tfeel believed when they come in
with their symptoms, becausethey have many symptoms and it's
sort of a constellation.
It's confusing to them and theyaren't able to necessarily
verbalize that and communicatethat in a way that the provider
(16:22):
understands really effectively.
And so I'm hoping that thejournal is a place and a space
for people to not only havevalidation of what's going on
but be able to sort of createsort of a organized and provider
friendly conversation, friendlycommunication opportunity to
(16:43):
have with your healthcareprovider.
So it's sort of one big one.
And then I think the other thingis, is a lot of people think
that maybe, because this isn'tmaybe a sort of common menopause
symptom I won't bring it up andI think what's really important
you'll see, on the menopausejournal in particular, we have a
lot of spots for.
Is there anything else, otherother items that you wish to
(17:07):
discuss?
Because I'll be really honest,Sometimes those are some of the
most important things that willcome forward is things that are
really impacting someone'squality of life, their
day-to-day living, If they areunable to function because of
some new and changing symptom.
I want to know about it as ahealthcare provider because,
whether or not it is menopause,it is happening at this time and
(17:29):
we need to know what'soccurring in this period of time
.
So I think, that that's like theclarity piece and that
communication bridge are the twobiggest things that I'm hoping
to achieve here.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Excellent, and so would you say that's your vision
for how menopause care willchange in the next five to 10
years, and is it something elseLike how do you think it could
be delivered more effectively?
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Yeah, I think that we all have work to do in the
healthcare system to reallyimprove the communication pieces
between sort of how we'rereceiving information and what
that looks like.
But the system has a lot ofwork to do on its own, as we all
know, and then we need to makethings as easy as possible for
people coming into our offices.
We always have to remember thatthis isn't always their first
(18:18):
language.
You know, like that, medicallanguage is not everyone's lingo
.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
And so we have to be really open to how do we
creatively ensure that peopleare able to take part in the
health care system in ameaningful way, way that will
allow them to have the best lifethat they can have, and also
ensuring and this is the piecesof like, where we have other and
we want to know everythingthat's going on piece is that if
something's impacting someone'squality of life to a point that
(18:46):
it's a negative impact upontheir daily activities, we're
trying to say you know, let'simpact cardiac health and you
know diabetes and all these.
Well, what if they can't getthere because all of these other
things that are happening?
So how do we facilitate easewithin the system for people?
So I think it's a collaboration, but it should always come down
(19:07):
to conversations right, itshould always be conversations
between provider and patient,and it should always be as easy
as possible and accessible aspossible.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And I think the menopause journal, one of the
key components of the menopausesite, is poised beautifully to
help with that goal and thatvision.
And, dr Malhotra, I want tothank you so much for not only
creating this, the menopausesitecom, and all of the heart
and soul you poured into it, butalso the tools for women to
(19:36):
make their perimenopause andmenopause journey that much
easier nicer, if you will.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Thank you, and thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
You're so welcome.
It's my pleasure to have you,and may I recommend those of you
who are listening to head onover to the menopause sitecom
and if you know somebody who maybenefit from the information
provided by Dr Malhotra on thisepisode, feel free to share this
episode with them.
But if you are struggling withsymptoms at midlife and you're
(20:05):
not sure if it is menopause ornot menopause, I recommend you
head to the menopause sitecom,download the menopause journal
and also just sit back, have acup of tea and read through all
of the amazing information thatDr Malhotra has provided on
Menno Medico.
(20:26):
And it was my honor to have DrMalhotra on the episode tonight.
She and I have worked togetherin the past and I know her work
and I honor her work so much.
She's just been just amazingand incredible beyond what she's
done for women.
I cannot even there's notenough time in this podcast to
(20:49):
talk about that.
She's just an amazing personwho's empowered so many women
and has helped so many womenalong their menopause journey.
So it's an honor to have her onthe podcast.
Thank you so much, dr Malhotra,for joining me.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Thank you, Maureen.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I really, really appreciate it.
That was Dr Anjali Malhotra.
The website isTheMenopauseSitecom.
I'm Maureen McGrath and you'vebeen listening to Nurse
Maureen's Health Show Podcast.
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