Sex, Body, and Soul

Esther Blum is a very cool best selling author and nutritionist, think Sex and the City meets Martha Stewart! She runs a virtual practice that helps women balance hormones, lose stubborn body fat while treating root causes of health struggles especially at time of menopause. She does this while sipping a martini! You get the picture, Esther is cool. She has authored many books "Cavewomen Don't Get Fat", "Eat Drink and be Gorgeous" and her latest "See Ya Later Ovulator". We discuss all the tricks of how to sail through menopause while being healthy, sexy and fabulous. It's really all about the balancing of hormones....

Dr Edie Zusman is a world-renowned board-certified top brain and spine surgeon. Among many professional appointments she has served as Chief of the Neurosurgery division at her Mayo Clinic Network affiliated Northern Hospital. Dr Zusman works all over the world in her field but has a particular passion in concussion screening for family violence victims. In that vein she has started her own organization called Safe living Space.

We have a fascinating discussion about the gap in our healthcare system for concussion screening of victims of domestic abuse and the stats are through the roof! We also talk about how to have a healthy brain and the damage we can do, especially from alcohol and drug abuse.

Dr. Elisseeff is the Professor Director of the Translational Tissue Engineering Center at Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering.Jennifer received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD in Medical Engineering from the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. 

Jennifer’s initial research efforts focused on the development of new biomaterials for medical implants, understanding stem cells and designing technologies. In recent years, she developed a passion for women's health and aging research– including the science behind adverse events to breast implants, new options to regrow tissue lost during lumpectomy, and deciphering the mechanisms behind fibroid development. On this podcast we discuss the very common issue of fibroids, what they are and their risks as well as aging and those treatments, yes Botox! 

Dr Singla is a practicing gastroenterologist with Capital Digestive Care who specializes in colon cancer screening, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease. He spent 15 years in the US Navy as flight surgeon and gastroenterologist before settling down in the DC area with his wife and his son. I came across Dr Manish due to my own concerns and symptoms with Colon Cancer and he just did my colonoscopy. We delve into preventive care, symptoms and what a healthy colon should be doing....yes including how often you should be pooping!  

Dr Montes brings a wealth of experience in minimally invasive surgical procedures. She completed her residency with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center training at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Texas. A Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of OB/GYN. Dir.. Montes is fluent in both Spanish and English. Dr. Montes embraces her relationship with patients having recognized the gap especially within Hispanic communities. To that end she started a Spanish speaking blog "Modern Mujer" (Modern Women).  We discuss the gaps in female healthcare especially with minorities and Spanish speakers, also the barriers.

Vulvas need love too, especially when we are having painful sex. Vulva health is something that is not usually discussed, another ridiculous taboo subject! We are lucky to have vulva expert Dr Jill Krapf on the show today who is a board-certified Obstetrician Gynecologist specializing in female sexual pain disorders. We discuss everything to know about why you might experience painful sex, especially during menopause and generally how to care for your vulva.

Always honored to be featured on other podcasts. This one with Dr Kelly Casperson's "You are Not Broken".

Kate Roberts has 30 years of experience working in global development, philanthropy and business. She has tackled some of the most challenging women’s issues, including HIV/AIDS, sexual reproductive health, menstrual hygiene, sanitation, maternal health and gender-based violence. She is a founder of The Body Agency, which provides a single source for all things fem-care, normalizing the conversation around women's natural being and eliminating fem-shame once and for all.

Medicine is finally starting to catch up with the times, but there's a long way to go. On this show we talk with Dr Blair Peters, a board certified surgeon who specializes in gender affirming surgery. Historically, a majority of gender-affirming surgeries had been performed, in a sense, behind closed doors -- barely visible and hidden away from mainstream academic medicine. Dr Peter's is not just one of the first surgeons trained in gender fellowship, he is at one of the few centres in the country performing phalloplasty. Dr Peters is also an incredible advocate for the LGBTQIA community for equal rights in gender alignment healthcare.

Time to talk everything menopause. Dr Heather Hirsch is an internal medicine physician specializing in women's health and menopause care. She primarily focuses on the education and treatment of symptomatic perimenopause (the first stage of menopause) and menopause. There is so much that potentially can happen to our bodies during this time such as painful sex, bone density reduction, night sweats, low libido, sleepless nights, vaginal dryness....lovely right? The good news is that doesn't need to be the case. All I know is I wish Dr Hirsch was my doctor, she is not just lovely but brilliant too, how lucky we are to have her on the show.

Dr Shannon Clark is a double board certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist focusing on the care of women with maternal and/or fetal complications of pregnancy. We talk about our dual journeys of trying to get pregnant at the age of 40, both having IVF and both successfully having children, Shannon with a donor egg, giving birth to twins! It's all too common that we are delaying our pregnancies, so this podcast discusses the options, opportunities, and risks.