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The Laura Dowling Experience

The Laura Dowling Experience

De : Laura Dowling
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Conversations about health, science, wellness, life, love, sex and everything in-between. Laura is a Pharmacist who loves to talk to interesting people about their unique life and work experiences. See @fabulouspharmacist on instagram for more information.

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© 2025 The Laura Dowling Experience Hygiène et vie saine Psychologie Psychologie et psychiatrie Sciences sociales
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  • Why Prescribing HRT Made Her a Target with Dr Louise Newson #193

    Why Prescribing HRT Made Her a Target with Dr Louise Newson #193
    Oct 29 2026
    Dr Louise Newson, GP, menopause specialist and founder of Newson Health and the Balance app, joins Laura Dowling for a frank conversation about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the barriers women face in accessing treatment and the criticism she has faced for challenging established approaches to menopause care.Louise traces her advocacy back to the 2002 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study and the publication of NICE's first menopause guidance in 2015. She explains why she believes the risks of HRT have been misunderstood, why prescribing remains low, and why the distinction between different types of hormones matters.Laura and Louise discuss testosterone for women, starting HRT later in life, individual responses to estradiol, and difficult questions around hormone treatment following breast cancer. Louise also explores progesterone, PMS, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postnatal depression, including the influence of Dr Katharina Dalton's work. These are complex areas where treatment decisions require individual medical advice.Louise speaks openly about professional opposition, BBC Panorama, correspondence involving the British Menopause Society and the scrutiny of her clinic. She reflects on the personal cost of speaking out, why she continues to campaign for better menopause education and what she hopes will change for women's healthcare.🔑 Key PointsHRT prescribing fell off a cliff after 2002Louise kept prescribing HRT as a GP for decades and only realised after NICE's 2015 guidance that many colleagues had stopped, while her friends were being given antidepressants instead.Guidelines are only a guideShe says the NICE guidance mentions risk 22 times more than benefit and groups synthetic and bioidentical hormones together, which leaves busy clinicians confused.The over-60 risk came from synthetic hormonesThe heart attack signal in the Women's Health Initiative study was in women given horse-derived oestrogen and a synthetic progestogen, not the estradiol and progesterone she prescribes.Testosterone has a long history in womenIt was prescribed in the 1940s and '50s for period problems and menopausal symptoms, and she says its reputation comes from the synthetic anabolic steroids of the '60s and '70s.Some women need more than the licensed doseSkin varies in how much estradiol it absorbs, and her clinic's published data shows about a fifth of patients need a higher than licensed dose.Progesterone changed her thinking on PMDDA colleague's own postnatal illness led Louise to Katharina Dalton's work, and her clinic now prescribes progesterone for PMS, PMDD and postnatal depression.Ten years of being targetedLouise says the emails she obtained show people trying to silence her, and the pressure on her and her family brought her close to giving up.Only 5% of menopausal women get HRTEvery menopause guideline calls HRT first-line treatment for most women, yet she says only 14% of menopausal women in the UK and 5% globally are prescribed it.📚 ResourcesNewson ClinicThe hormone clinic Louise co-founded with Dr Rebecca LewisBalanceLouise's free app for tracking symptoms and learning about hormone healthConfidence in HormonesThe hormone health education programme for doctors and healthcare professionals⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome to The Laura Dowling Experience03:47 — Rereading the WHI study after NICE's 2015 guidance11:18 — Why HRT is scrutinised like no other medicine15:43 — Testosterone's forgotten history in women20:43 — Starting HRT after 6024:43 — "A body of people trying to take me down"29:33 — If she were a male gynaecologist32:07 — Are her doses too high?35:45 — HRT after breast cancer39:43 — Progesterone, PMDD and postnatal depression42:16 — The Care Quality Commission inspection45:47 — Running a private clinic48:27 — Has the pendulum swung too far?53:02 — Advice for young people and the meaning of lifeThanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    55 min
  • Bitesize Moment: "Midlife Muscle Matters." — Dr Clare Cromwell on Strength in Midlife

    Bitesize Moment: "Midlife Muscle Matters." — Dr Clare Cromwell on Strength in Midlife
    Oct 27 2026

    In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clare Cromwell explains why muscle is just as important as bone in midlife, and lays out a simple twice-weekly strength routine that protects against falls and fractures.


    We talk a lot about protecting our bones in midlife. But what if the real key to staying steady on your feet, and even to your brain health decades from now, is your muscles?


    🔑Key Points

    • As oestrogen drops, bone density naturally declines, but muscle loss speeds up too, especially after menopause

    • Strong muscles improve balance and reaction time, so you're less likely to fall, and better protected if you do

    • Aim for at least two strength sessions a week: roughly three exercises for your upper body and three for your lower body, a few sets of moderate reps

    • It doesn't need to be heavy lifting or a gym membership; a couple of dumbbells at home can be enough, as long as you feel it


    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    8 min
  • What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192

    What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192
    Oct 22 2026
    Charles Cosgrave grew up on a dairy farm in County Meath where the work never really stopped. His father was the local vet, farmers knocked on the door day and night, and Christmas dinner waited until the calls were done. He didn't realise that wasn't how everyone lived until he was older.He went to UCD, qualified, and left for the UK with no intention of coming home. He came back for a few months to earn a few quid before going travelling with his wife. They never went. He had seen what multi-site practice looked like in Britain, sat down with his dad and John Corrigan, and started building it here. Village Vets is now 35 sites across the country, with three 24-hour emergency centres.What makes this worth an hour is everything in between. Why a vet learns five species in one degree while a human surgeon learns one part of one body. Why the kids in the room give the best information about a sick dog. What actually walks through the door at two in the morning. And why, with 35 practices to run, he calls himself a pretend vet now and misses the room.🔑 Key PointsThe job was in the house before it was a careerHis father was a vet, farmers called at all hours, and the family didn't sit down for Christmas dinner until the morning's calls were finished.One degree, five speciesVets are taught cats, dogs, cows, horses and sheep, and it works because the muscles, the heart, the lungs and the gut are largely the same across all of them.He came home for a few months and never leftHe was between jobs and wanted a few quid together before going travelling with his wife — he started working with his dad instead, and never went.The night rota is why the business existsOn a one-in-two rota he was exhausted on his nights off, and the only way to fix it was more vets, so he grew the practice.The kids usually give you the best informationParents tell children to stay quiet in the consult room, but the children are the ones glued to the dog all day and they notice what changed and when.Two new vet schools open this year and it still won't be enoughGalway and Waterford will take about forty students each, UCD takes 120, and demand for veterinary care has risen far faster than the profession can train for.Neutering a male dog is a prostate conversationDogs have no outlet for testosterone the way humans do, so the build-up can cause testicular and prostate problems later in life.Pet insurance is worth having, and switching providers is the trapA new provider can exclude anything that happened under the old one, so research the policy properly at the start and stay with it.📚 ResourcesVillage VetsCharles's practice group, 35 clinics across Ireland and three 24-hour emergency centresUCD School of Veterinary Medicinewhere Charles trained, and still the main route into the professionDog microchippingwhat's required in Ireland, and the measure Charles says would curb puppy farming⏱️ Timestamps02:37 — Growing up on a dairy farm with a vet for a father03:04 — Christmas dinner waited until the calls were done05:59 — How one vet learns to treat five different species07:30 — Thirty-five sites, and how it started08:04 — Home for a few months before travelling, and they never went09:37 — No craic in the rota: the real reason the practice grew10:24 — Two new vet schools, in Galway and Waterford13:44 — Three emergency centres, open 24/714:38 — What actually comes through the door at night15:45 — Why the kids give the best information19:20 — Neutering, testosterone and the prostate33:44 — Pet insurance, and the catch in switching providers40:45 — "I'm a pretend vet now"50:15 — Be bold, be brave, back yourselfThanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    53 min
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