Dr Caoimhe Hartley

And then sure, you're oestrogen deficient forever.

You never get your oestrogen back, which is true.

But I don't think that equates to like that implies it's a disease almost that you're now living in this kind of pathological state of deficiency.

But that isn't really biologically what's happening.

Like your brain is equipped to adapt.

It goes through puberty and the same thing happens.

It's faced with this new, totally new hormonal environment.

It has to adapt to that, which it does.

Pregnancy, totally new hormonal environment.

It adapts to that.

It's very adaptable.

And I think that's what the research would bear out, is that with cognition.

So if you look at your hippocampal region or your hypothalamus, where your

There's a reason most women in their 70s and 80s are not symptomatic.

They've adapted.

Which is a positive thing.

It's a hugely positive thing.

But I hope it doesn't take women 20 years to adapt.

But that's the difficult bit, is that I can't, if you come into me and say, look, I'm having these symptoms, when are they going away?

I'm like, I don't know, because I don't have a timeline.