Hormones and Menopause - the Great Debate

Dr Louise Newson: Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate, Warwick Arts Centre, Saturday 9 November.

Review by Hilary Hopker

Dr Louise Newson is hailed as ‘the medic who kick-started a menopause revolution. More recently she’s also been the subject of a Panorama documentary for the levels of hormones she prescribes.  These two elements meant I expected a lively discussion, but instead of a ‘debate’ I’d badge the evening as more of a one-sided presentation.

I was intrigued to see how the menopause could be turned into a stage show. Anticipating the subject to be a little dry (pun intended), Louise is accompanied by comedian Anne Gildea as a way of lightening the subject.

The first half tells quite a depressing tale of how women can suffer a range of symptoms in perimenopause and menopause itself that can lead to women feeling suicidal. The saviour in this tale is the prescription of hormones we know as HRT.  I admit to feeling a bit scared at this point. I’m on the verge of 50 and my mother has told me for about the last ten years that the menopause is about to ‘get me’. Should I rush to the doctor on Monday to get some before osteoporosis sets in or my brain function decreases?

I write a card for the Q&A that simply asks if I have to have HRT or can I ride this natural aging process out?

The second half is thankfully lighter than the first, as Louise takes us through a male doctor’s view of the menopause in times gone by.  Highlights include the trouble the womb causes as it travels around the body seeking sperm and the menopause massage therapy that results in repetitive strain injury.

By the end the message is clear. Don’t suffer. Take the hormones. The answer to my question? Do I think it’s natural that I live past my childbearing years? If not then hormones are here to help.

As I leave, I discuss the evening with a friend who has seen Dr Louise Newson as a patient and has experienced first hand the benefits of HRT. We agree that it’s great that we can talk about the menopause and get better informed as women. We also think education for all – men included, from lots of teachers, not just a doctor who makes her living from prescribing HRT would be beneficial.

I found it hard to warm to the waif-like Newson after she told me she never eats processed food or chocolate and does yoga every day. There was a video of her dressed in a tight crop-top doing a headstand as proof. Yet at the end of the evening, I feel more confident that if I needed to I could call my GP and ask for HRT. So from that perspective the great debate won me over.

Discover more from the Warwick Arts Centre: https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/