Your Brain On... Menopause Hormone Therapy

Ayesha Sherzai (0:00)

Ladies, if you're in your 40s or 50s, and if you've ever forgotten a word or a name mid-sentence, or you missed an appointment, or say you walk into a room and you don't know why you're there, and you felt your stomach drop, and then you open Instagram or TikTok to a reel telling you that your brain is shrinking or it's eating itself without any hormones, I want you to take a breath, because today we're going to tell you what the science actually says about menopause hormone therapy and brain health. And it's not what the algorithm wants you to believe. I'm Dr. Ayesha Sherzai.

Dean Sherzai (0:35)

And I'm Dr. Dean Sherzai.

Ayesha Sherzai (0:37)

This is Your Brain on Menopause Hormone Therapy. I'm so excited to be back with another season of amazing conversations with incredible doctors, scientists, and people who are experts in their field for the Your Brain On podcast.

Dean Sherzai (0:55)

I'm always excited about a new season because it's incredible conversations with wonderful people. And it's not just that conversation. So much comes out of that. And I absolutely love our community that follows this, I think, science-based medium that we've created.

Ayesha Sherzai (1:10)

I agree with you. And I didn't know if I should include this in the podcast or not. It happens that today is our anniversary. And here we are, the two of us sitting together around a table, talking about brain health, and starting this amazing season.

Dean Sherzai (1:25)

23 years ago, our first conversation was about our grandparents. But then the work we were doing was around women's health, wasn't it? I mean, I created the Women's Empowerment Program in a country that had none of that. And you were doing, with the Doctors Without Borders, you were doing work on women's health and prevention and reproductive rights. And everywhere we've gone, actually, we've had the women's issues at centerpiece. Even our work in stroke and dementia, a major part of it is women and their women's involvement, women's maladies, the diseases they suffer, but also more importantly, the fact that much of what happens in the communities, as far as the positive work, the changes that happen, are driven by women.

So I love that this episode starts, this season starts with a very important issue for women.

Ayesha Sherzai (2:14)

I agree, full circle moment, isn't it?

Dean Sherzai (2:15)

It is, it is.

Ayesha Sherzai (2:16)

To help us expand on the conversation, today we present to you two brilliant women. Dr. Jen Gunter, OBGYN speaker, author of The Menopause Manifesto, The Vagina Bible, a New York Times columnist covering women's health, and the author of the fantastic substack, The Vagenda. And Dr. Sarah McKay, a neuroscientist and a science communicator, author, speaker, and founder of the Think Brain and the Neuroscience Academy training programs, who brings a perspective on the aging brain that we think every woman needs to hear. She's written three books, The Women's Brain Book, Demystifying the Female Book, and The Baby Book. We're going to walk you through what the best evidence says, and what the algorithm is selling you, and exactly what to do about it without any fear mongering or hype.

Dean Sherzai (3:05)

This is a real issue that we see every day.

Ayesha Sherzai (3:07)

Oh, absolutely.

Dean Sherzai (3:08)

When we go to the clinic, there's not a single day that I don't see a woman come to me or to you, and say that there's so much confusion, they're so worried about their brain, they just heard that somebody on social media say that it's menopause, it's during menopause, that women actually have their brain shrink significantly, and they don't know what hormones to take, nutraceuticals to take. Every day, somebody else is pushing one nutraceutical, or one vitamin, or one food, or hormone therapy in general. And the confusion is real in the face of real fear that's being created. I see this even with my sisters. For those that don't know, I have three older sisters. They come to me, their friends come to me, they come to you.

And it's one of the most prevalent, most common questions that we're asked.

Ayesha Sherzai (3:54)

Oh, not a day goes by where I actually don't talk about it. And like you said, it could be about one of the modalities that is being pushed by someone to help people with their journey during menopause, whether they have symptoms or they don't.

Dean Sherzai (4:08)

And it's not lack of science. It's the fact that there's more science, but there's nuance in science and in social media, nuance is not something that they want to propagate. It's the absolute yes or no, absolute this or that, which is destructive.