What menopause really does to your brain, heart, gut, bones and skin – with Professor Mary Ryan
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What is the pituitary gland and why is it called the hormone control centre?
There's a hormone control center called the pituitary, which is a little pea-sized gland on the top, right between your eyebrows, really, and to the top of the nose. So that controls your thyroid hormone, your growth hormone. It controls prolactin, which is the hormone that goes up if we get stressed. And there's a little lovely feedback loop that happens that detects if you have enough hormone and it shuts it off and so forth. So it's really good, whether you're eating food, digesting food. Food. Every muscle in the body is controlled by hormones. Every emotion is controlled by hormones. Your kidneys, your heart, none of them can work without hormones.
Mary Ryan is a professor of endocrinology and she's here to explain that hormones aren't just about fertility and hot flushes. They really do affect our health from head to toe. I'm Liz Earl, welcome to Age Better, and it is my mission to change the conversation around ageing. You see, women's health, particularly as we age, has just been underfunded and overlooked for far too long. And I don't know about you, but I really think it's time we pushed back. Now we get taught from a young age, of course, that we'll have hormonal changes in puberty, in pregnancy, and of course in more recent years we've come to understand what a huge hormonal transformation menopause is too. But what does that really mean?
You know, I had very little idea and I feel embarrassed saying that as a health writer. I've had five children, five opportunities for everybody from obstetricians, midwives, health visitors, GPs, you name it, to say, Oh, by the way, Liz, when you hit your midlife, you may begin to feel a bit different. But don't panic, come and talk to us about hormones and we can help you out. Well, Mary Ryan is an endocrinologist who, over her career, has taken special interest in female infertility, obesity, osteoporosis, and of course menopause. She's also the author of a book called It's Probably Your Hormones, and her latest book is called It's Probably Your Period. Now, I have to say, there is so much I want to cover with Mary.
Literally, we could be here all day. health, heart health, cognition, weight, UTIs and way more. So I guess fundamentally, how are all of these things impacted by our hormones? Mary, a real pleasure to have you on the show here. I know that we've been kind of circling around each other on Instagram for quite a long time now, haven't we?
Absolutely. I've been a huge admirer of yours, as you know,
Liz. Oh, that's very kind of you. Very kind of you to say Well, I think we share a common interest and goal and passion, don't we, in women's health?
Totally, totally. And I love your realistic approach, which I think in medicine we need to look at as well. That, you know, you need to look at the whole patient, uh, taking everything into consideration and and that's what really gets everything right. So, you know, the days of just prescribing um shouldn't be it should be looking at the whole patient and what's involved. And that's how you get your patient to the to the best that the that they can be. I think that's very important, really is.
Now, where are you based? You have the most wonderful accent. Tell us where you're based and and where you're working at the moment.
So it's a long way to Tipperary, so I'm from County Tipperary, right? And then I work. I'm a professor here in Limerick. And I also um uh lectured the students here in the beautiful University of Limerick. So it's a beautiful town on the Shannon in Ireland, it's gorgeous. And then I also lectured the students in Trinity College Dublin, which is actually my where I came from, it's my alma mater. And then I also do clinics in Kilkenny.
And you talked about originally being uh trained at Trinity. Why did you initially choose to specialise in endocrinology? Because it's sometimes seen as a little bit of a Cinderella subject, isn't it?
Okay, so I was going down the cardiology route because I have a huge instance of heart disease, particularly women in heart disease.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the pituitary gland and why is it called the hormone control centre?
0:00–6:02
2
How does declining estrogen during perimenopause affect the brain, heart and blood pressure?
6:02–11:18
3
What lifestyle habits (sleep, diet, exercise, stress) can recharge the hormonal system?
11:18–17:21
4
How does fibre intake and healthy bowel movements help clear excess estrogen?
17:21–23:42
5
Why is vaginal estrogen essential for urinary health and preventing UTIs?
23:42–29:16
6
How does hormone‑replacement therapy protect bone density and reduce osteoporosis risk?
29:16–35:03
7
What is the impact of endocrine disruptors (plastics, fluoride, additives) on hormone balance?
35:03–39:50
8
How can women combine systemic HRT, vaginal estrogen and lifestyle changes to optimise overall health?
39:50–47:33
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Age Better with Liz Earle
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