Before menopause, our risk of heart disease is HALF what a man's is. Within a few years of our last period, it is EQUAL. By our seventies, it is HIGHER. So why is nobody screening us for it?
This is the conversation midlife women have been waiting for. I sat down with Dr. Jayne Morgan, a research cardiologist and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Hello Heart, who is calling out menopause itself as the most missed opportunity in preventive cardiology. She is the creator of the Stairwell Chronicles, a science communicator who translates complex cardiology into kitchen-table language, and she has spent 25+ years researching what is actually happening to our hearts in midlife.
This is our fourth cardiologist on the show. And she is different. She brings the research, the data, and a fierce honesty about why our healthcare system was built around the male body, and what we do about it now.
WE GO DEEP ON:
• Why menopause is a CARDIOVASCULAR event, not a gynecologic footnote
• The half / equal / greater stat that every midlife woman needs to memorize
• The 37-minute delay women face in the ER for cardiac care, and the exact phrase that gets you seen
• Why hot flashes, night sweats, palpitations, and brain fog are cardiovascular signals, not just inconveniences
• What estrogen actually does for your heart and what happens when it drops, and the 10-year HRT window
• Her take on statins, the online backlash, and what the research actually says about LDL
• What to do if you tried a statin and felt terrible —
• Why it is LDL AND insulin resistance AND inflammation — not one versus the other
• The labs to demand: ApoB, Lp(a), hs-CRP, fasting insulin, CAC scan
• Why women were excluded from cardiovascular clinical trials until 1993, and how that built the entire field on the wrong data
• The exact advocacy phrase that gets your concern documented in your chart
• Three things you can do this week that actually move the needle
This is not a doom episode. This is the conversation you bring to your doctor tomorrow.
TIMESTAMPS:
• 00:00 — Why menopause is a cardiovascular event
• 12:00 — The symptoms women miss and the 37-minute ER delay
• 26:00 — Estrogen, HRT and the 10-year window
• 42:00 — LDL, cholesterol and the statin debate
• 54:00 — What to test, what to track, what to demand
• 66:00 — Health equity and self-advocacy
• 76:00 — Three things this week
Catch the full episode on YOUTUBE HERE: https://bit.ly/MidlifeConversationsYouTube
Learn More About Dr. Jayne Morgan
Instagram ➜ http://www.instagram.com/drjaynemorgan
Website ➜ https://drjaynemorgan.com/
Hello Heart➜ https://www.helloheart.com/
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Disclaimer: Information provided in the Midlife Conversations podcast is for informational purposes only. This information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. Do not use the information provided in this podcast for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing medication or other treatment. Always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before making any changes to your current regimen.
Information provided in this podcast and the use of any products or services related to this podcast does not create a client-patient relationship between you and the host of Midlife Conversations or you and any doctor or provider interviewed and featured on this show. Information and statements may have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent ANY disease.
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