Dr. Louise Newson

Well done.

It's great, isn't it?

Yeah, it's very interesting because I've written a few books and my first book on menopause was probably about six years ago.

And it was Penguin that was my publisher and I wanted to have perimenopause on the cover.

So not just menopause.

And they said, no, it's too long a word.

You can't do it.

No one uses that word.

And I said, well, okay.

If you want to publish my book, you have the word perimenopause on.

And it's really interesting because a lot of people still don't know what it is or what's going on.

Menopause has always been about stopping periods and hot flushes.

Whereas actually the perimenopause, the lead up to the menopause, is often far worse for women.

because you get these real shifts and changes in hormone levels.

And the biggest symptoms or the most commonest and most severe symptoms are those affecting the brain and mental health.

And so, so many women have been misunderstood for decades because they have been misdiagnosed with anxiety and depression and it's all in your head and it can't be.

It can't be your hormones because you're still having your periods.

So it's so interesting because I feel very strongly that women are really intuitive and actually give them the information they can work it out themselves.

But often they haven't had the information.

So what you're doing is completely just validating them, that you're allowing them to be heard and understood, which perhaps they haven't been before.