40ish - Menopause News: How Much Do Doctors Learn About Menopause? HRT, Supplements & Midlife

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

It's a 40ish Midlife News Special, and this week we're asking a fairly important question: how much do doctors actually learn about menopause? An ITV News investigation into medical schools in England and Wales found that some student doctors receive as little as one hour of formal menopause teaching during their entire five-year medical degree, with around 20% of universities that responded reporting less than 90 minutes of dedicated menopause teaching. There's also a brilliant new midlife comedy-drama to talk about. Sharon Horgan's new series Youth follows Alex, a recently divorced middle aged woman who is juggling a teenage son, ageing parents, work and the pressure to find a new relationship before she gets "too old". It's the sandwich generation, dating, ageing and midlife anxiety wrapped up in a comedy-drama, and we are obsessed!  💌 Send us your dilemmas and rants: [e-mail]📱 Follow: @40ish.podcast Try AG1 now at https://drinkag1.com/selfcare and get £20 off your first order + 5 AG1 Travel Packs for on the go, a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2, and the Welcome Kit for FREE. No risk with the 30- day money-back guarantee.  Find all details about the health benefits in the link. Study results are on file with AG1, 2023.  Finally, we investigate the booming menopause supplement industry. A new review published in Climacteric looked at 201 menopause supplement products available in the UK and found huge variation in their ingredients, doses and prices, with products ranging from around £1.50 to £95 per month. The researchers also found that fewer than half contained vitamin D and only 23.9% contained calcium, despite the importance of both nutrients for bone health. With the global menopause supplement market predicted to reach billions of dollars, we ask what women are actually getting for their money and how to separate evidence-based menopause advice from clever marketing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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and they just clutter up your bathroom, your kitchen, your whatever. Yeah, well, that's why I approached our sponsor, AG1, as I approach all our wellness things, deeply suspicious and very cynical. It is your process. It is, but I have to admit, AG1 passed the test. It is a curated blend of vitamins and minerals and live cultures,

and they're clinically backed to support foundational news. nutrition gaps delivered in one scoop. So instead of rattling around with capsules every morning, it's just one scoop, water, shake, you're done. And how does it taste? Oh, refreshingly mangoy, pineappley, vanillay, and not the pond water that I expected it to be. Surprising, because it has got really good things in it like vitamin C and that helps to keep you a peptop and ready for anything. So you're listening to this. All you need to do is go to drink. ag1.com forward slash self-care or you can hit the link it's in our show notes isn't it Lauren and you get 20 pounds off of your first order plus five travel packs vitamin D3 and

K2 and a welcome kit all free that's amazing that's an amazing deal there's also a 30 day money back guarantee full details about the health benefits of the individual nutrients are also in our show notes. Then I said to the C. How's your bladder? What? Oh yeah, you do. I mean, do you think there was anyone that day

who asked the C.E. How his bladder was? Probably not that whole week. Thing is, cool is not something you aim for. Cool is something you just are. So you can't self-define. No. And you also can't try.

No. Because then that is uncool. The menopause supplement industry is basically the Wild West. That is the headline. It is predicted that the global market for menopause supplements is due to reach $25 billion by 2030. Hello everybody. Welcome to 40ish. I'm Nicole Goodman.

And I'm Lauren Mishkan. This is the podcast where we tackle all your midlife stuff and nonsense dilemmas. The news, your rants, your meltdowns, our meltdowns. and on Tuesday you left us with a cliffhanger. You said you said something to somebody about me and you weren't sharing it on Tuesday, but you were going to share it on Thursday. I don't know what it was.

I'm a little bit worried. I'm like a little bit embarrassed in advance of not knowing what it is. It's not that good. Oh, it's not like good. I don't want you to stress for two days. I've been stressed, 40 hours of stress. Have you? Just to say that Thursday's show has started.

to become a bit of like a catch-up show, hasn't it? I'd call it overspill. I mean, that's not as nice a word. Overflow. Overflow? The overflow. Yeah, I mean, that's not a delightful way to look at it, but that's kind of what it is.

It's like there's just too much to say, not enough time to say it in. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, last week, Lauren and I were recording at the Apple Studios. We're lucky enough that we can record. Oh, my God.

I know exactly what you're going to say. Go on. I know what you're going to say. Anyway, they're quite swish these studios, aren't they? They're really cool. And everyone in there is really cool. Because mostly they're recording music there. No, because they do have a podcast studio, which we use.

They do, but I think the majority of the space is used for composing, recording music, for whatever. It's just a real cool place. Yeah. As you would imagine, because it's like Apple. Yeah. It's very how you would imagine Apple Studios to be. Yeah. Anyway, the owner of the studios, we haven't seen him for ages,

he's such a nice guy. And he was there and he said hi and he's, how are you? It's so nice to have you and just so gorgeous and sweet. And we were starting to recall. We went into the studio and then he knocked on the door and he said, I hope you don't mind, but I've got a visitor and I just wanted to show him, you guys, wanted to introduce you.

And I wanted to show him the studio. I said, okay, if I come in? I'm like, of course, come in. And it happened to be the CEO. Why are you laughing? It was the CEO. No, it was. But like, you don't meet that, him every day.

You just don't. So then he said, oh, what are you guys recording? What are your podcast? We told him about a podcast. He said, what are you recording you say? I said, oh, we have a urologist coming on the show. And we are talking about, we're talking about urinary incontinence,

bladder prolapse. All the fun things that happen to midlife women. And then I said to the C. How's your bladder? What? Yeah, you do. I mean, do you think there was anyone that day who asked the CEO how his blood it was? Probably not that whole week.

Just no. No. What is wrong with me? Probably not even his wife. No. Well, when was the last time you asked your husband how his blood it was? I don't think I've ever asked him. No.

No. Unless he had ever expressed a problem with it, I wouldn't be just generally asking about his organs. You don't know if he has a wife. No, you're right. I don't. I thought you're going to say, do it don't know. he's got a bladder but I think he does have the bladder. He looked fully functional.

He did look fully functional. Yeah. Anyway, what would someone look like without a bladder? You wouldn't know because they'd have a bag. You wouldn't see the bag. You wouldn't unless they were in swimwear or a very tight top. He didn't neither. He was in normal and very appropriate.

He was not in swimwear. The Apple Studios and he was not in a very tight top. No, he was an appropriate workwear. He doesn't have a bag. I wasn't suggesting he did. You kind of were. No, you said how would you know? Because he'd have a bag but you wouldn't see the bag.

Hopefully not. Anyway, we started talking about Lottments. I don't know, it was a weird five minutes. It was really weird. I can't do think about it. We talked about bladders. Chronic health and allotments. And weeds,

weeds that you can make into tea or something. He said he was going to send us the link. Maybe he doesn't have our phone numbers. He was he going to send us the link. No, because he talked about some miracle weed that turned his friend's kids life around. Yeah, yeah.

That's what he said. It was weird. It really was weird. Imagine like what we would only discuss if we went out for a drink with him. So many things. Anyway. He then left.

Yeah. He was very cool. Let me give you, he had like a cool haircut. You know sometimes when they have sort of like spiky hair and then like it's a bit sort of blunt cut on the forehead. It was that kind of vibe. Not Oasis, much more modern. I did not notice that at all. He had rings on every. He just had big rings on each other. He was cool and he had his presence about him and he was tall and he had a real like he was in the room. He's the CEO. right he's gonna have breath young he was like mid 40s something like that i don't know anyway rings on every finger like he he was just he had a vibe anyway he left Lauren then says she says you know she says the story that you told the man yes oh right okay but he didn't find it that funny i was never met me so amused but he doesn't know you yeah so you said yeah You said

He is going to be my second husband No I said if I was to have a second husband No you didn't you said he's going to be Oh yeah I said if I was ever to have a second husband It would be him Something like him No no no no

Not him Him him No you said if I was ever going to have a second husband It would be him Yeah And you And I said She was so rude

And I said And there was a lovely audio engineer In the room at the time Wasn't there setting the room up. I said to her, just to be clear, I am happily married and I don't want a second husband.

No, you said that after. Yeah, because I didn't want her to get the wrong impression. You said that after I said, I love you. You did not say that. You just looked to me and you said, I'm sorry, he is much too cool for you. That's what she said.

What? She's like, he is much too cool for you. He's got like bracelets, he's got jewelry. And you were like, yes. Then you said, yes, it's true. I don't actually like jewelry. Well, there you go then.

I don't like men in jewelry. It's not for me. So that, exactly. Yeah. A ring, a bracelet and necklace. Right, it gives me the ick. But I wasn't the one that said it anyway. You were like, you were really offended.

You were really, you were really offended. You were really offended. Then I said, that's when I said, I love you. I said, I love you. But he's just not your vibe. And you're like, what do you mean he doesn't want a middle-aged woman with three kids who can just bake for him all the time? I'm like, he's the CEO. Just pay for someone to do that.

He doesn't want someone to do that. No, it's fine. It's okay. I keep thinking about now I'm thinking about him. I'm thinking about that real housewife, I can't remember her name, but she had the husband who always wore the black cord pendant necklace. Do you know who I mean? They got divorced because they had some sex. flat and some open marriage.

Come on. Bronwyn. Bronwyn and her husband and he had the black cord pendant necklace and it like it it gave me such an ick and I can kind of imagine him maybe wearing a black cord necklace with a pendant. I don't want to cuff him. Now he's got a colostomy bag. And he's got some icky pendant.

This guy was perfect. He was great. He was lovely. If you had your zip fixed on the black jumpsuit, I could be cool with him somewhere. Into a house in a bar. I don't think your cool is not a word I would use to describe you. You're wonderful. And I love you.

One of my favorite people on the planet. But you are, I wouldn't describe you as cool. I don't think I should be aiming for that at nearly 50 anyway. way. You know what I mean? I think that's probably best. That would be so sad. I think it's not like the goal for 50.

Is it anymore? Was it ever the goal? Not really. Thing is, cool is not something you aim for. Cool is something you just are. So you can't self-define. No. And you also can't try.

No. Because then that is uncool. Very. Who's the coolest person? you know. Oh, the guy who's 50th birthday, I went to the other weekend. Yeah. But he has been cool since we were 14. Yeah, that's what I mean. He was cool then. You're either in, you're just, you just, oh. Yeah, he was a skateboarder. He was into cool band. He just had it. He was just cool. And then when he was cool when he was 30, he's still cool at 50, but also he doesn't try to be

cool. Nobody tries to be cool. Nobody that is cool tries to be cool. And his wife also cool. He's got kids and they have also got this just very cool laid back vibe from him. You can't buy it, you can't manufacture it. No. You just can't. No. It's just. Yeah. It just is. Just is. It just is. Yeah. Yeah. I am really pleased that we have taken the first segment of the show to figure out what cool is. Because you know what? Two nearly 50 year old women talking about what is cool is so desperately uncool. Visit BetMGM Casino

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Anyway, you have talked about that there's apparently a lot of midlife news going on. Oh my God, there's so much midlife news going on. This one's going to make you very, very cross. Oh, very, very cross. ITV news revealed an investigation into medical schools in England this week. And they found that some student doctors received, how much menopause teaching in their five-year degree? How much menopause teaching?

I think I know this. Go on. Isn't it like a weekend? No, no, no, no. No, no, no. But it's a weekend, but it's also optional. No. As little as one hour of formal menopause teaching

during their entire five-year medical degree. Your friend, Sarah, who is an endocrinologist, that is a hormone doctor said that when she was studying, which was how many years ago? 25 years ago. Right. They were offered this non-obligatory training weekend on the menopause

and let's bear in mind she was studying to be an endocrinologist. Yeah. Shocking. And most people didn't take the course. Yeah. So some universities apparently rely on students picking up menopause knowledge opportunistically during clinical, placements. The medical school council points out that menopause is now part of the licensing

exam and said that the ITV figures don't capture all the practical learning, but the menopause specialist interviewed by ITV said that the amount and quality remains hugely inconsistent. One GP men and menopause specialist said that she was taught an hour of menopause herself 25 years ago, like you said, like Sirea, and she was shocked that some students are still getting the same amount today and described it as bonkers. The research has found that women experiencing menopause symptoms often misdiagnosed and offered antidepressants instead of HRT, which we know, right? Dr. Olivia Hendricks, who led this groundbreaking research, said there was a study done in 2002

that alluded that HRT caused cancer. It's been debunked, but I think that doctors are still hung up on that study, and maybe that was the only one they were taught when they did their degree. There is a lot of medical misogyny going on with women going through the menopoles, she added. They are not being listened to. They're being invalidated and told that they're. they are wrong. Even when they're requesting certain treatments like HRT, they are being denied it and sometimes being outright told that the doctors don't know how to prescribe it, so we'll

just prescribe you an antidepressant instead. Oh my God. And in the meantime, these poor women are having to come out of the workplace because they're not coping and they're not getting on with their partners, their long-term partners, their friendships are declining. They can't go out the house. They don't want to, like they're losing themselves in and amongst all of their hormones draining out of their body. All they need is some proper support. Yeah. Yeah. It is shocking. Also, can we say we're in 50% of the population? It's not like you're dealing with a niche, a niche amount of people. 50% of us. Yes, I know. Will 100% go through it. Right. Yeah. Oh, I know. Right. I know. It's maddening. It really is. As Glennon Doyle says, if you're not,

angry, you're not paying attention. It really made me cross that. Okay, second thing was, aren't you watching youth on HBO Max? No. It is the new Sharon Hogan show. Oh yes, I love Sharon Hogan. It's been impossible to miss because she's on so much promo for the show.

It's kind of everywhere. I have watched two episodes. It's absolutely brilliant. So it's Sharon Hogan all over. Does she write it? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Okay. So she found herself single,

and divorced as she was about to turn 50. So she basically did what all good writers do and she made a show out of it. Made a show out of it. It's called Youth. She plays the role of Alex. She's a divorced sandwich generation woman trying to date whilst being caught between her job as a literary agent,

her teenage son who's like bunked off uni, basically started uni and left and her aging parents. And then she puts herself under a lot of pressure to find a partner before she's too old, whatever too old might be. And it is called youth because people in their 50s say that the 50s is the youth of old age. Oh, I like that. Do you?

Yeah. The youth of old age. Yeah. I don't know. Anyway, the critics want absolutely mad for this show. Yeah. The Guardian said it's utterly hilarious. The Telegraph said it's painfully true.

And it is a portrait of midlife that is anything but mid. It really is good. It's a really good show. I really recommend it. All right, I'm on. I'm on to that. You'll love it. Yeah.

Asim and Lily Rose going away for the weekend in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll save it for that weekend. And I plan to not to leave the house. Okay. Well, also slow horses is back. Yeah, we started watching it last night. Loving that so much. Nogela's on Bake Off.

I don't think I've ever been so happy as I was last Tuesday. I sat on the sofa. I was like, this is everything I've ever wanted in the world. It's Nigella and Bake Off in one show together, all in one place. I felt so happy in that moment. And you know what? That is not cool. Okay, I'm going to give you the last, my last new story of the week.

This will also come as no surprise to you. The menopause supplement industry is basically the Wild West. That is the headline. It is predicted that the global market for menopause supplements is due to reach $25 billion by 2030. But a new review published in Climacteric, and that sounds like a fun publication, found there is a significant variation in the ingredients and prices of supplements available in the UK. Less than half the products contain vitamin D and calcium, which are basically the only things you actually need in menopause for your bone health.

Those are the real ones. Senior author Professor Joyce Harper says that menopause can cause symptoms that affect daily life, the supplement market is growing rapidly, despite limited scientific evidence that many of these products improve symptoms. The menopause gold rush is growing as companies realize midlife women are an important consumer market for products such as supplements. Social media influences promote these products as effective solutions, despite many claims not being supported by scientific evidence. It's not good, is it, right? But that's the same with all supplements. That's not just the menopause space, but I know they've just made a new space out of it.

And also they think midlife women have got a higher disposable income so they can afford to buy all those stuff, right? It's really bad. There is limited research available to substantiate the efficiency of many menopause supplements. They said these researchers identify 201 different products available to purchase, but there was no single ingredient or even a category of ingredient that was common across all of the products. They varied in price, ranging from £1.50 a month to £95 pounds a month, with little evidence as to the effectiveness of even the most expensive ones. Do you take any supplements?

I've stopped completely. Since I started HRT, I now take zero supplements. All I do is between October and April, I take vitamin D. But even now, I listen to a whole podcast with Chris Van Tullochan, who said that actually you don't even need that. But don't you remember when we got all our bloods done at Wellbeck? and our vitamin D was fine because we're outside every day Yeah, through the roof

It wasn't through the roof Mine was, that's what she said, she said it's through the roof She said most people in the UK because of our terrible weather I've had amazing weather this year It's not good I mean it's just I literally take

creatine which helps me enormously with my aches and my pains and muscle recovery and all of that and I take I drink an electrolyte every day and sometimes if my sleep is a little bit disturbed, I take magnesium just before I go to bed. But that is, that's it. Yeah. Because the rest of it, really,

you can get through a healthy diet. And I'm lucky enough to have access to a healthy diet, as are you. And I think if you eat leafy greens and you eat your fruits and veg and you eat some proteins and you eat your carbs and you have a nice balanced diet, then really you should be getting everything from that. Yep, the British Menopause Society emphasizes the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise. For some women, ensuring a balanced diet, will provide most of the vitamins and minerals found in menopause supplements. Thank you. Thank you. And I do find now that I am postmenopausal, I have to be so careful with what I eat in terms of like, if I eat loads of sugar, I just get so bloated now. There's just certain changes that my body is just not massively coping with. And I just

don't want to feel lethargic and bloated and shit and just no. Just no. Anyway, that's our show. That was cool. Was it? Maybe you are cool. Well, you're cool to me. You're cool to me.

Thanks. Maybe we should ask the CEO. I found you cool on me. I don't think the CEO is going to even remember our five minutes exchange. Yes, he would. Why wouldn't he? Well, because he probably meets 1800. thousand people a day during his rounds

and his very important job. Rounds, he's not a doctor. You know, he was doing the round of the studio. He was coming to, the guy was showing the studio off. He was obviously looking to hire the studio for something. We don't know, we'll never know. No, but I would like to know what the weed was.

Oh, he said it grows in everybody's garden and it's a weed that you would normally just throw away. And it has changed this kid's life. He said the kid was very depressed, very down and it completely turned this kid around taking this very common, did you put it in a tea? Yeah. This very, very common garden weed that grows in New Scotland's, nothing special.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know what it was. I bet we could Google it. He said he will message us with it. Well, how will he psychically know our phone number unless you slipped it in his pocket? No, but you could, you could get in touch. No, I won't be doing that. No, but seriously he's reading.

I do want to know what that weed was. Okay. But the listeners can get in touch with us. Hello at 40ish.com. Nice. They can DM us. Thank you so seamless. They can DM us on Instagram at 40ish.

Dot podcast. Very nice. You can come join us on Substack. Oh yes. Midlife Club. You've got to come and join us on Substack. Come be a founding member of the Midlife Club. It's only going to be over.

How long is the founding membership over for? A month. Something like that. Yeah. And you'll get all the links to everything mentioned. Great. Share. Thanks for and that's cool. That is cool. That is cool. We'll be back next week. See you then. Bye.