Ann Garnier is CEO and founder of Lisa Health, the US company that launched an app for menopause called Midday in conjunction with Mayo Clinic. Ann has been a senior technology executive in the healthcare space her entire career, and it just so happens that when she started Lisa Health, she was also going through perimenopause.
The Midday app is on the cutting edge: soon it will be able to detect and predict hot flashes and other symptoms, and recommend remedies and solutions.
Highlights:
Where to find Ann:
Web: Midday.health
Instagram: @midday.health
Twitter: @MiddayHealth
Facebook: @MiddayHealth
Join the Hotflash Inc perimenoposse:
Web: hotflashinc.com
TikTok: @hotflashinc
Instagram: @hotflashinc
X: @hotflashinc
Episode website: Hotflashinc
See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information
Ann Garnier is CEO and founder of Lisa Health, the US company that launched an app for menopause called Midday in conjunction with Mayo Clinic. Ann has been a senior technology executive in the healthcare space her entire career, and it just so happens that when she started Lisa Health, she was also going through perimenopause.
The Midday app is on the cutting edge: soon it will be able to detect and predict hot flashes and other symptoms, and recommend remedies and solutions.
Highlights:
Where to find Ann:
Web: Midday.health
Instagram: @midday.health
Twitter: @MiddayHealth
Facebook: @MiddayHealth
Join the Hotflash Inc perimenoposse:
Web: hotflashinc.com
TikTok: @hotflashinc
Instagram: @hotflashinc
X: @hotflashinc
Episode website: Hotflashinc
See hotflashinc.com/privacy-policy for privacy information
I mean, I'm not gonna say that I didn't have my little period where it was like, oh my God. Like, it was hard. but I guess I just approached it from like, I am not putting up with this for a minute. I'm gonna figure this out. And then once I did, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna transform this for 3.8 billion women, cuz women should not have to go through this.
Ann Marie:hi there. Congratulations on everything that has happened this summer.
ann:Well, it feels wonderful to finally have our initial product in the marketplace midday, our app for menopause and healthy aging that we developed in collaboration with top experts at the Mayo Clinic and technology experts at S R I International. It's almost like being. Pregnant and having a baby. So now it's out in the wild and we're getting. Just tremendous feedback about filling the void, in menopause, you know, with a truly tech enabled solution, but also really bringing this evidence-based and science backed approach, to menopause as well, which has been a big gap.
Ann Marie:Well, I'm sure you looked at all of the apps on the market and spotted that none of them really. Did it right. So I'm just sort of wondering when you set out to do it, what did you want to give women
ann:So I have been an senior executive in the healthcare technology space my whole career, and so I've always used advanced technology to improve patient outcomes and access to care for very complex conditions. Along the way led the development of some of the earliest tech-enabled products for high-risk pregnancy, preterm birth, fertility. When I decided to start my own company, I was more interested in what was happening to women 40 plus, cuz it was really more reflective of where I was at. And do you know, just diving into the space just, you couldn't help but notice that menopause was a, massive market and B, incredibly underserved. Right. And it just coincided with my. Menopause transition and then all of a sudden overnight I just had all of these symptoms pile on. It felt like it was somebody flipping a switch for me personally. And I know every woman is different, but I just had like the typical experience that, you know, I pretty much. All women have, you know, that doctor visit that was disappointing. They really didn't know much. Going to Dr. Google and Facebook and you know, not getting good information and. You know, no technology, really no technology solutions in the market. So I just thought, wow, this is crazy. You know, there's 3.8 million women on this planet. We are all going to go through this life stage. my fundamental belief is that the only way to truly create transformational change for the menopause journey is with technology. Because very few physicians are actually trained in menopausal care. We're not gonna, unfortunately be. Adjust for that, you know, anytime soon. This is just like the perfect use case for digital health technology to step in because, you know, every woman pretty much has a smartphone and they know how to use it. Right there. It's, it's Gen X women, right? Pre primarily who are in. The more, I always say like, kind of the more acute phases where the symptoms are highly bothersome and that they're actively seeking relief. So why should we as, as midlife women be left out of the technology trend, the technology party, so to speak?
Ann Marie:I think it's crazy that you were in this field, you know, again, another person sort of lost and going to the doctor. You hear the same stories over and over.
ann:Yeah. Right. and I'm This super, super knowledgeable and empowered healthcare consumer, like what is this like for the average woman? And then I went, and obviously then I had many, many conversations, did lots of surveys. We had a beta platform where we had thousands of women use. The patterns were so consistent, around, women feeling blindsided, feeling dismissed, feeling unacknowledged. You know, I mean, the list goes on and we need to flip that you know, we need to completely transform this experience.
Ann Marie:So I'm just curious, how did you tackle your own experience?
ann:Well, because I develop complex products for a living in the healthcare space, you know, I did this deep dive, into the literature cuz you know, I always come from a place of creating solutions that are evidence-based and science backed. And so the first place to start as the literature, sort of the second place, is to then go talk to the top experts and partner with the top experts. I think that in, or I've always believed for decades, that you know, really the only way to create, the kind of transformational change for patients, right, improving patient care is to partner with the people who are providing that. Because if you don't, if you're, if you're trying to kind of force a technology solution, on, you know, healthcare clinicians and other people within the healthcare industry, it's very hard because it can be disruptive to their workflows and their training and and so forth. So it's really actually important. To work together to bring solutions to market so that it meets the needs of everyone, for the patients, for the clinicians, for the scientists, the researchers, you know, everybody can collaborate together for a better, stronger solution.
Ann Marie:It seems to me that there's so many commonalities between symptoms, but then it's like our experience is universal, but it's not. Mm-hmm. does that make sense? Mm-hmm. like how do you wrap your head around that when you're developing technology?
ann:Well, you use deep talk You need, you know, a lot of data. You need data science. Techniques, artificial intelligence, machine learning, so all the things that we're using with our midday app those are the things that are gonna fundamentally, you know, help us understand what's happening with women's symptoms at a, deeper physiological level. And when you can understand that and, and then you can reveal that to the user in a way that, You know, is friendly and makes sense, then you can deliver these targeted therapeutic strategies. I mean, I think today what happens, we see it all the time, is women just go through these years long cycle of trial and error, right? Just desperation, right? I'm just try this, try this, try this, you know, without really understanding, you know, the underlying symptoms that they have, and what will work best for them.
Ann Marie:Can you just walk me through, The AI part of it, like how that just works. Like talk to me like on five, but just how we go from, I'm having hot flashes to this is how many you're having, this is when you're gonna have them and this is why you're having them.
ann:Sure. Well, You know, you know, hot flashes, it's the number one symptom of menopause that 80% of women will have for, you know, seven to nine years. We used to tell women, oh, they'll be gone in a few months, a year, maybe two years, but we now know that they last much longer. And no woman should have to, you know, Have to endure that degree of, you know, uncomfortable existence for that long. So we developed some novel technology. It's an ai, powered algorithm that can detect. And predict hot flashes with over 90% accuracy. So it's not in this version of the app, it's actually coming in the near future. But we basically use commercial wearable technology. So just, you know, whatever, wearable, you have to be able to detect that hot flash and then alert you as a user. And so then over time, As you know, your hot flashes are being detected. We can then see patterns and say, well, Annemarie, you know, you're 80% likely to have a hot flash, you know, between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM And if you've been inputting your triggers, like the things you think are causing your hot flashes, then we can start to associate, well, gee, You have that cup of coffee, right? Or for me, I know for example if I've had some red wine with dinner, I can pretty much guarantee that you know, you're gonna be hot flashing in that later part of the evening, right? So you can start to, to understand these patterns and then when you can do that. So remember I said like you need to kind of get to the. Cause, or the root of the symptomatology, that's when you can then start to recommend the kind of therapeutic strategies that would actually work. So, you know, if it was. Stress, for example. A lot of women stress and anxiety are triggers of hot flashes, particularly in the work setting. And so if you know that, then now we can deliver therapeutic strategies. It could be mindfulness, or hypnotherapy, which has a lot of evidence that it, provides relief for hot flashes. It could be cognitive behavioral therapy also as a high level of evidence, depending on where you're at in this journey, you may be eligible for hormone therapy. And we have an algorithm in the app that was developed actually by top experts at Mayo Clinic that helps women understand if hormone therapy is right for them, and then can connect them to a virtual care visit, with a Mayo Clinic.
Ann Marie:I was just thinking that if someone could come up with a red wine that didn't give you hot flashes, that would, that will sell I think someone, all these people are coming up with products and I actually had a hot flash on a flight recently when I spilled a glass of red wine. I had a hot flash. So it was like a neat little juxtaposition between wine and stress.
ann:Yes, cuz it was probably the embarrassment of like, oh it was, gosh, you know, I just spilled some wine on a plane and my seatmate is, you know, looking at me, glaring at me. like, oh, what are you doing?
Ann Marie:But we don't get this kind of insight. Right. To how about all the numbers of symptoms because I know when I looked at. Apps. They only had 60 or 45, and it just felt like, I always felt like I'd wanna put in my own and track them that way. Mm-hmm. but I could never find an app that would do that.
ann:Right. Well, you know, there's, there's not perfect agreement on how many symptoms are actually related to menopause. You know, there's always the sort of the number that gets thrown out about 34 symptoms. But, you know, you're right, they're in enumerable combinations. They change over the stages. And so it's really hard for women to get an understanding of that, and that's why we're introducing, we're the first actually to use wearable technology to help. Detect, you know, some of these symptoms so that women don't have to enter them, right? Because, you know, some women are highly motivated, but others over time, they get a little bit of fatigue about having to go and input, information, particularly on a daily basis, which actually isn't necessary for a lot of symptoms. For some, it's helpful, but for others, like they're, they're not really gonna change. That quickly in response to, um, whatever therapeutic solution you're using. So I think a good example of that is vaginal dryness. you know, the first line, recommendation is usually, uh, an over-the-counter moisturizer and lubricant. So you start to use that. Maybe you might see some fairly, you know, some really fairly quickly, like within the first week, or two. You know, there's not really a strong need to, to sort of track that on a daily basis. You just know that you've gotta make this easy on, on women. Right. Not an extra thing they have to do every day. So like, how can we be more clever about, checking in with women and doing it at the time? That makes sense. Rather than. Kind of like log everything every day, right? And then I also think what, where the value we're trying to deliver to women is to then interpret those, symptoms for them and give them insights. I think, you know, a lot of other products out there, you log, but then they don't tell you anything about it. So you have to sort of look at whatever information they might be giving to you and try to figure. How that applies to you. And so we're actually using data science techniques to, remove that burden or work from the user.
Ann Marie:As you've been planning this, have the wearables sort of been advancing to the point where it helps you do it?
ann:Well, the wearables are getting better and better all the time, and I think that's a benefit to all of us, particularly as we're aging and we take more accountability for our own health, and we're able to get more data, right. Again, just on our wrist or on our, on our phone. What's important is to make sense of it, right? So, you know, is the, are these wearable c. You know, analyzing and presenting this data in a way that's actionable. Cuz if it's not, it's like, well who cares? Right? it's gotta be actionable. And so that's what we're trying to do is to take this, this really, I think, valuable, data about your health and your menopause symptomatology and make it useful and actionable. Cuz I keep stressing at the end. You want relief. Right. Just getting this information and saying, oh, I have, you know, 30 hot flashes today. Okay, well, yeah. What are you gonna do about that? I know it, but Yeah. Right.
Ann Marie:You know, you're bothered by hot flashes, so you know, you have 30, it's almost worse, like if you don't have a solution for it, right?
ann:It's like, no, we've gotta, we've gotta then go to where the real value is and deliver. A solution that is personalized to that woman that caters to her preferences. you know, there's a broad range of therapeutic strategies, that are available. I think we need to make sure that we're guiding women towards those that are evidence-based and sciences back, or at least. Safe and not harmful. A good example of that, I was at the North American Menopause Society's annual meeting a couple weeks ago, and they had a half day on, vasa motor symptoms. So basically hot flashes and night sweats, and there was a presentation on, you know, what's the latest evidence for the behavioral strategies for managing hot flashes. So the very top, you know, or best strateg. Cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy has the most evidence. And then at the bottom of the list, like having the least evidence, ways, things like yoga and exercise. So, okay. There's, there's not much evidence. Like it's, the evidence seems to indicate that it doesn't help. But in that instance, I would say there's so many benefits to exercise. Like it's undisputed that exercise and yoga. Tremendous benefit. So even if they're not necessarily relieving your hot flashes, there's still good things to do, right? It's still good for our health to engage in those, but we wouldn't necessarily say to a user like, okay, you're having hot flashes. Do yoga. We could say that's. If you wanna do it, go for it. Maybe it'll make you feel like you're able to better manage those hot flashes. Cause it generally creates a sense of calm, it relieves stress and anxiety, which actually may in an indirect way, help those hot flashes. But if you really want to holistically. Lower the severity and frequency, those hot flashes, you should engage in hypnotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. And, and then if you wanna explore hormone therapy, like let's do that. There's a lot of misinformation out there about it, as a therapeutic strategy. And I think it's important for women to get the, the right information and a personalized, understanding of whether or not it's gonna work for them and what the options.
Ann Marie:What is the right information though? Because honestly it feels very confusing.
ann:Well, the top experts and researchers of course have spent a lot of time, Correcting the misinformation and misunderstanding around the studies that were done. The w h i studies that were done decades ago, which unfortunately, scared a lot of women and clinicians, you know, I mean, clinicians were telling women to, you know, taking them off of their hormone therapy and, and not prescribing. So it's not just been, you know, trying to, Dispel the myth and the misinformation around hormone therapy for women. It's also been for clinicians, again, going back to that, less than 7% of, you know, residents, feel, you know, comfortable taught you know, treating or talking about menopause with their patients. We have a job. To educate both. We rely on the North American Menopause Society. They just published their latest position statement, in 2022 for menopausal hormone therapy. Obviously they've had the top experts who have reviewed all of the studies of which there have been many very high quality studies that have been done in the last, couple of decades. And then of course we have a relationship with the Mayo Clinic and the top experts at the Mayo Clinic. Now, you know, again, we think it's important for women to understand for them individually, you know, what's the risk benefit. and have shared decision making with a clinician. But you need to try to source, an expert, right? And you can do that through physician finders on the North American Menopause Society website. There's also physician finders on the, British Menopause Society site and the Australasian, so I know, it's hard for women to find these, certified menopause, practitioners, but they're out there. And then we think actually, again, the power of technology, right? If you have an app that has, you know, a science backed algorithm that's been developed by top experts that can help you understand your risk benefit, you know, that is very empowering. It puts that power and knowledge right at your fingertips. So if you are struggling, and I think a lot of women around the world probably, will to find a trained clinician, then you've got technology that you can go to that's affordable. I mean, think about these healthcare deserts, not just, you know, here in the US where I am, but. Around the world. Right? There are, many parts of the world where women don't have access to good healthcare services. But they must likely have a smartphone because smartphone penetration right now is over 85% worldwide. And I know from working, volunteering with, different populations of women that it's the first, oftentimes it's the first bill they pay because it's the lifeline. It's like a lifeline for them.
Ann Marie:Do you think we'll have menopause? Specific wearables. I mean, I know there's a bracelet that does a cooling thing. Is there gonna be a meta menopause applications in the metaverse? Like where could we take this in your wellness stream?
ann:Well, I mean, certainly if, if somebody wants to create, a wearable specifically for women over 40, they could, but, you know, it's a, it's a rough road, I'll tell you that. Hard hardware is hard. it's very hard. And so we believe that, you know, the mainstream wearables like your Fitbit, your Apple Watch, Garmin, Samsung, they're really oring. They're really good. And they're, they're doing the hard work, right? That's their area of expertise, and we're getting more and better. Biomarkers from those wearables all the time. And so I think from my perspective, let's let them do the thing that they're really good at and rely on that, but at the same time, put pressure on them to pay attention to midlife women's health. And menopause and make sure that, they're prioritizing that on their product roadmap so companies like us who are taking that data and contextualizing it and making it meaningful for. Women over 40 that we are able to get, data that is aligned with some of the top concerns that women have, like cardiovascular disease, for example. Number one, killer of women by orders of magnitude. You know, many women, it's interesting. They're really, really concerned. Having breast cancer and granted you might have, a particular risk factor because of family history or something else. Totally get that. But for the average woman, like say me who has, who has none of that, you know, I should be more worried about cardiovascular disease. Like definitely do my breast exams. My self exams, I'm mammograms. Like, no question because you want to have a early detection and you wanna minimize your risk of cancer. but wow, like that is not at the top of my list of things for me to be concerned about as I age, like not, anyway, I wouldn't even say it's in my top five And I would really love if women, you know, really better understood the types of chronic disease that they're more at risk of and addressing those. and doing your preventative care for all the other stuff, but like get, you just need to understand like what you're really at risk.
Ann Marie:Well, and understanding that you hear heart disease, disease and it's just so far off. Right. I had a funny doctor in, my forties and I was quite health anxious cuz I had all these weird symptoms mm-hmm. and she said, people are always so scared of cancer, but if you get heart disease, like you could be dead within a year. And I was like, great,
ann:Unfortunately, you know, no people who have had an untimely death, and no warning signs. I mean, I guess really they were there, but you know, they weren't being picked up. And so, I think that it's important to get, you know, to go to your doctor, get a baseline. On, you know, your heart, metrics and then, you know, really engage in, lifestyle behaviors that are gonna help lower that risk. I mean, there's definitely medications and some people need to be on those, but, you know, I think the medical community is pretty well aligned now just to, in their thinking around you. Lifestyle matters, right? And lifestyle can lower your risk. Lifestyle can actually reverse some of these chronic conditions that we have. So rather than relying on medication to manage it, you know, and you might have to do that for a period of time, like really double down on a healthy lifestyle. Even well before you might think you are in sort of the danger zone because we are seeing that. Young people in their twenties and their thirties are already, have, you know, already are, have the signs, of heart disease. So we need to like be ringing the alarm bell about things like this and getting women activated around it.
Ann Marie:Yeah, because there are some, there are those people that have no, no warning signs or whatever, but there are. Understanding the links between insulin resistance and how that all plays out. I mean, Even just those indications from the research that a lot of hot flashes and severe hot flashes could be some sort of indicator of issues. Some sort of signal that cardiovascular disease disease could be a more of a factor. Since I've gotten in this, it's always bothered me when people are just like, oh, hot flashes. Ha ha ha. Because if you're having really, really bad hot flashes, more than one person has said, I think it's a signal and there's, there's the research there
ann:there is, I mean, they just presented, the latest paper on that at the North American Menopause Society annual meeting. There's still a lot more research to be done. We don't quite know, exactly what's happening. From my understanding in literature, we, the jury is still a little bit out on exactly what's happening, but we do have research that's underway, particularly on, around the link between hot flashes and cardiovascular disease. And at a very minimum, menopause symptoms will exacerbate, you know, chronic disease and, and sort of make that much more difficult for women. So last year at the annual meeting, there was a presentation by Dr. Cynthia Stunk, who's like one of the top experts, in menopause research and clinical care. And the title of her presentation was, Lifestyle is the silver bullet. you know, oftentimes we say things are not, they're like, there's no silver, silver bullet. And she was very, very clear and emphatic and passionate that engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors. So, you know, exercise, right? Preferably Vigo. You know, a super healthy diet, mindfulness, right? Like reducing the stress and anxiety, like those things matter. And I think we all, all of us, who've are doing work in this field, wish that women would, take that to heart, those messages to heart. But also understand that, you know, yes, we're all busy, like we get it cause you're like juggling all this stuff. But we need to start to prioritize our health, right? Like it's always taking a backseat to everything else we've got on our plate, but we need to start moving stuff off the plate. You know, like I, for example, had a conversation with my husband a few years ago. Look, you need to start taking more accountability for, you know, our household, activities and, you know, things of that nature. Now it was my fault because I, I was just by my nature, the one who was like doing everything. But I understood, I sort of had to step back and understand that, That was not like good behavior on my part. And that it should be a 50 50 partnership. And so he absolutely has stepped up and has taken more accountability. And that's now in term, has freed me up to have a little bit more, I kind of call it, you know, more me time, but to be able to ensure that I am able to have the time to do the things that I need to do to, ensure my health and
Ann Marie:well. I'm interested to hear you say that because I always think this time of life is about that too. Like just you having, the ability and the courage or whatever to say that that needed to be said this is why I don't like talking and gut silver bullets, except lifestyle is a silver bullet. Hormone therapy can be very, very helpful, but I worry that it takes up too much of the conversation cuz hormone therapy isn't gonna have that conversation you need, you needed to have with your husband. You know, there is evidence that if you don't speak your truth, if you don't have the conversations that you need to have, if you're, have a disconnect within yourself. That can also cause problems
ann:No, it's huge. And we actually say like you need to have the conversation, you know, right away. Like as soon as you're starting to experience symptoms or changes or you know, don't wait cuz it's only gonna get worse. It's only going to create more problems in your relationship and it's not gonna give you. Sort of the kind of support and relief that you need. And it's not just with your husband, it could also be with your children. You know, we always hear all the time that mom's crazy. Right? Or
Ann Marie:Yeah.
ann:Right. Or even maybe you're caring for elder parents. I've seen those situations where women feel like, oh, you know, I'm just kind of snapping at my, at my parents, you know, and Right. So, so the conversations need to happen probably with a lot of people, but they should start with your partner. First, and I think because a lot of women, like we're used to doing a lot, and it's hard for us to give up control. You know, we have to be able to, to, to transfer control for a lot of things, but then also to not be critical, of how that stuff gets done.
Ann Marie:You nailed it though. Cause we don't wanna give up control because it won't be done to our standards. I remember when my friend was married, first married, and you know, her husband was taking care of the kids and she went out one night and she came home and the kids were safe in bed and had their dinner, but the house, you know, the wet towels on the floor and all that. And I remember her saying, he said, I must just be exhausting to be you. Like the kids are. I got busy, and I think at that point in time she learned a lesson okay, it's not gonna be done exactly the way I would do it Exactly. But we have a lot of responsibility for that. We don't. Wanna give that up. We're not used to it.
ann:Absolutely. I mean, I think as women we need to recognize that this is a very complex life stage. There's, you know, a lot of change that's happening and we should not go it alone. Like this whole, like, I'm just gonna stay silent and suck it up and be stoic, you know, while you're having this, you know, incredible turmoil and, and you know, it's, it's potentially debilitating on your health and your wellbeing, like, why are we putting ourselves through that? Like, everybody needs to be educated, right? Everybody, you know, younger people, men. You know, our parents, like, we all need to acknowledge that, you know, this is a transformational time of change for women and we can navigate it. I firmly believe that we can navigate this, quite successfully and it should be something that we actually celebrate and, we just get joy out of it. Right. I don't, I think that's hard to do if you don't have like your team, right? And I think you need your team and I need, you need your, what I call your Thrive kit. and I've written articles about this, about, about all of these things, right? You just like need to take a step back and say, you know, What do I need from a support perspective, self-care perspective in order for me to, to best make this journey?
Ann Marie:Isn't it a little bit about just deciding you're worth it though, like having that. Worthiness. Like for me, I know it's been a lot of that, of just saying like, I'm worth this the trip to self, self-worth is different for everyone. But I believe for me it's been huge of just saying, no, I'm worth taking responsibility for myself. I'm worth spending the time. I'm worth having these conversations. Like, did you have that at all too?
ann:I dunno if I thought about it quite that way. I think it's an interesting perspective. I think, I think I just felt. That, you know, at this stage of my life, there's just so much I want still to accomplish so much. You know, just I, and I just wanna be an incredible shape, incredible health, you know, I just don't wanna feel out of control, which we hear a lot from women or that, you know, they don't feel like they can, you know, kind of keep pace with what they wanna do. So for me it was just around quality of life. And maybe that does get to sort of this like, I'm worth it kind of thing. That you mentioned. but we, I mean we definitely are. I think we just believe like, oh, we'll just keep powering through it. We'll be fine. And I question really, is that enough? Like to just be fine? I don't think it is, it's not enough for me. So I think women need to, to say, Hey, that that's not enough. I want more.
Ann Marie:I love it. Are you, how are you feeling now? How do you, do you have, do you experience symptoms? Where are you at?
ann:Well, it's funny, because I like to say that I'm donating my hot flashes to science. Because we do so much research in this area, along with, you know, many symptoms, sleep disturbance, and mood changes, I certainly was very interested in the opportunity around hormone therapy and having that relief from a hot flash is, but, Since we do a lot of research, it's actually been beneficial for me to keep having them. And it's really helped me gain, I think, a very connected and deep perspective on, the experience of hot flashes. Cause I really, really had to think about it, and I dunno how to, how to ex maybe expand on that. But, you know, really understanding. You know, sort of, I don't know if, do you have hot flashes or have you had hot flashes?
Ann Marie:I do, yeah. I have them occasionally. They either worse when I'm stressed and I'm tired and I'm busy. Right. That's when I know I'm having them, but I don't have very many, maybe one a day or one every couple days.
ann:Right, right. But really in trying to, during trying to understand sort of the physical ex manifestation of it, and then also the things that trigger it. But al and the things that make it better. So I know for me, even though I said a few minutes ago that exercise di you know, there's not a lot of evidence, that exercise is beneficial for hot flashes, but. I actually think for a lot of reasons, exercising every day is really, really important to my wellbeing and, and reducing my stress, my anxiety, anxiety that I never had before. You know, I think that's something that's new for a lot of women and we don't talk about it enough, anxiety and depression, the mental health aspects, but things like that, really help to lower that and create this sense of calm. So then you do see, at least for me, that, you know, I'm less likely to have hot flashes, pace respiration, which doesn't have a lot of evidence. But again, it's another sort of stress and anxiety diffusing technique we do in the app, have hypnotherapy and, if you need to like that cooling relief in the moment or to teach yourself how. to get that cooling relief. You know, we have that strategy, which is really beneficial, which helps you sort of visualize yourself in a cold environment and sort of gives mm-hmm. it's this like little brain trick, that actually works for a lot of women, which is excellent. And then behavior modification, right? So if you know that red wine is a trigger, Then maybe you dial back on that, or at least you know, Yeah.
Ann Marie:For a couple years. Yeah.
ann:Which I think, you know, just having knowledge is, is super helpful.
Ann Marie:So you go, okay, well if I'm at this party and I'm having red wine, right, do I want, do I wanna have hot flashes at a party or not? Maybe I'll have something else to drink. I've actually stopped drinking red wine. I don't want it because it just, not only does it give me hot flashes, it gives, it really messes with my sleep. Well, any alcohol too close to bed will just mess with my sleep. I used to just be like, oh, I, I would love to dive into a yummy, warm glass but now I don't have that feeling. I have a more of a like, sort of like a food that, you know, it's not gonna make you feel. I feel it's like a human sort. Protectant and I'm not alone. Again, if someone wants to make a red wine that we could drink, that would be absolutely fantastic.
ann:I agree.
Ann Marie:What would you want for research? Like what would be your dream be to spend for people to focus.
ann:Well, you know, so from the beginning I've been very passionate that this is not just about for me and the solution we're building, it's not just about helping to manage menopause symptoms and delivering those insights, which I think is really important. But to lower women's risk of chronic disease much earlier than when it's typically acknowledged. I think we really need to get ahead of it. By age 55. An alarming, 80% of women have at least one chronic disease and 50% have two like that. Well, it, it's just alarming and it's unacceptable. And so I think we wait far too long to really understand women's risk. So for me, I, I would like to see an acceleration of the research around the link between menopause symptoms and chronic disease, but also just in general, chronic disease and, you know, when and how that manifests, for women and how we can. Deliver, more and better preventative care earlier in this journey.
Ann Marie:I know one thing I wanted to ask you about the app. I noticed that it places you in the. The phases of perimenopause, like the four phases. You don't hear about that a lot. You don't hear cause right. Like the way people talk about, it's like, oh, it could be 10 years. But really there are distinct phases and your app tells people where they kind of are. It's sort of comforting to just know where you are.
ann:So we have the feature to assess women at where they're at in the journey, but on a more granular level than what is typical. So the three stages are, you know, premenopause, perimenopause, postmenopause, but we go a little bit deeper than that into early perimenopause, late perimenopause. It's a science fact algorithm. It's highly granular, very accurate. And we can. Track women's progression towards menopause. So couple things we heard over and over and over again. Is, where am I at on this journey? I think the terminology's confusing, but also women get a lot of misinformation even from clinicians because, the way that the criteria is set up. It's, you know, you're not perimenopause until you're having menstrual cycle irregularity, but we now know by recent research that symptoms are happening much earlier. And unfortunately, a lot of women are getting dismissed and saying, no, no, no, no, you're not in, you're not perimenopause. It's must be something else. And so unfortunately we're not you. I think effectively educating and giving them the help and support they need, but we're, we are really changing that with this science backed algorithm. So now you know where you're at. You know, you're tracking every month. And so you you know, what your progression is towards reaching menopause, which is for most women, 12 consecutive months without a period that's not due to some other reason. Um, and I think that's really empowering, right? I mean, it's just. You know, now we can edge. Now again, we can deliver the right kind of education at the right time. Mm. So that you're not sorting through all this stuff and trying to think, well, what applies to me, what doesn't, I don't really know where I'm at now. We're able to deliver very targeted, education, about what to expect, whether you're premenopausal, early Perry, late Perry, and then finally postmenopausal.
Ann Marie:Where I hear it's pretty nice over there, so yeah. I love it. you're there. You're there. You can report
ann:Oh, for sure. To the other side. Yeah, I'm definitely there.
Ann Marie:Okay. And the air is nice and the water's clear and.
ann:For sure. I mean, I'm not gonna say that I didn't have my little period where it was like, oh my God. Like, it was hard. but I guess I just approached it from like, I am not putting up with this for a minute. I'm gonna figure this out. And then once I did, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna transform this for 3.8 billion women, cuz women should not have to go through this. We deserve so much more, so much better for a life stage that should be the most rewarding and enriching and joyful of our life when we're at the peak of. Powers, you know, hopefully we've got kids that have gone off. And you really are able to really focus on, on you, and doing the things that bring you joy on a daily basis.
Ann Marie:Thank you so much for joining me. If you like this conversation, I hope you'll check out some of my other interviews on the Hot Flashing Podcast, subscribe, give a rating, maybe a review, and come back for more next week. Hot Flash Inc. Was created and is hosted by Annemarie McQueen, produced and edited by Sonya Mac. The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only, and is not intended for the purpose of diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing any disease. Before using any products referenced on the podcast, consult with your healthcare provider, read all labels, and he all directions and cautions that accompany the products. Information received through the podcast should not be used in place of a consultation or advice. Care provider. If you suspect you have a medical problem, ie. Menopause or anything else or any healthcare questions, please promptly see your healthcare provider. This podcast, including Annemarie McQueen and any producers or editors disclaim any responsibility from any possible adverse effects from the use of any information. Contains herein opinions of guests on this podcast. Are their own, and the podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about a guest's qualifications or credibility. This podcast may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products or services. Individuals on this podcast may have direct or indirect financial interest in products or services. Referred to here in this podcast is owned by Hot Flash, Inc. Media.