Episode 46 - Kate Muir on Everything you need to know about the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask)

Join me this week as I talk to writer and filmmaker Kate Muir. Kate’s book - Everything you need to know about the Menopause (but were too afraid to ask) has recently been released in paperback. She is also the producer of the Channel 4 documentaries with Davina McCall: ‘Sex, Myths and the Menopause’ and ‘Sex, Mind and the Menopause’ (with another instalment due for release later in 2023). 

Kate and I are both ‘daughters of Alzheimers’ (Kate’s mother passed away from this cruel disease and my own mother is now in the later stages) and we kick off by discussing some of the research into the impacts of HRT on Alzheimer’s risk and cognitive decline. 

Kate is a vocal proponent for HRT and we delve deep into Kate’s own experience (which included taking 5 years to get her HRT settled and stable), the various health benefits that HRT can confer, the different HRT types (including progestins vs progesterone), and the ongoing struggles of accessing appropriate treatment on the NHS. 

We talk - of course, how could we not! - about the Channel 4 documentaries, which were turned down twice “because menopause is boring and for old women” before being commissioned by Dorothy Byrne as her final project before stepping down as Head of Current Affairs. Since the first programme aired, half a million more women are now taking HRT - often dubbed the ‘Davina Effect’ - but despite (or perhaps related to) this increased awareness and uptake, there continue to be HRT shortages. 

Kate is currently working on two new books - one looking at the contraceptive pill and how this impacts on our brains, and another which looks at midlife and how we can age well. 

You can find Kate at https://katemuir.co.uk/ (including links to the book), on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/menoscandal/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/MenoScandal