Dr Neil Stanley started working on sleep when he was 16 – working at the neurosciences division of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine in Farnborough. Since then he has been involved in numerous research studies, a notable one being a study in Pakistan where the team recorded sleep in 8 people for 6 nights at 18500 feet. In 1993 Neil took up a position in the human psychopharmacology research unit, university of Surrey, where he became the director of sleep research. There he created and ran a 24 bed trials sleep laboratory, primarily doing clinical trials into the effects of medications on sleep. He also set up and developed the sleep service at the London Clinic. If Neil is not talking about sleep, he is writing about sleep, if he is not writing about it, he is reading about it, and if not reading about it – he is probably asleep. He is author of the book – How to sleep well. The science of sleeping smarter, living better and being more productive which I highly recommend – as well as being full of evidence-based information about sleep – it is very funny. His latest book is coming out on 24th Feb 'Sleep Divorce: How to Sleep Apart, Not Fall Apart'. Everyone needs to sleep. Virtually every major disease has been linked to sleep. Sleep affects our work, school performance, relationships, emotional wellbeing and our health. But in today’s society we take in so much information - the need for good quality sleep is key to our wellbeing. In this podcast we discuss what happens when we sleep and how much sleep we should get - 8 hours a night is a myth. We are all individual and what works for us is what is important. What is your sleeping environment like and what do you do before you go to bed? How can coffee, alcohol and tech affect our sleep? Neil says that the issue with blue light is a myth. What about sleep during the life course? Should babies cry themselves to sleep? Are teenagers nocturnal? What about the perimenopause? And do we need less sleep as we age? There were so many questions to discuss, this is my longest podcast to date. Sleep well. 

 Date of episode recording: 2024-02-22T00:00:00Z
 Duration: 01.23.46
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter: Joyce Harper
 Guests: Dr Neil Stanley
 Producer: Joyce Harper
 
Transcription link: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Naomi Sutton graduated from Sheffield Medical School in 2003 and has been working as a Consultant Physician for the NHS at Rotherham Sexual Health Services since 2016. Throughout her career she has developed a passion for education and raising awareness of sexual health, both for other health professionals and the general public. Naomi starred in series 1 and 2 of the E4’s ‘The Sex Clinic’ which “helps young people get their sex lives back on track” and, as well as other media roles, she has talked frankly about vulvas, sex in old age, HIV and other sexual health subjects, on C4’s ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’. In conjunction with the charity ‘You Before Two‘ Naomi has recently developed PHSE accredited Sex Education materials, strongly believing fun, clear and accurate education is key to combatting a lot of the struggles she sees people presenting with in her clinics. Naomi is proud to be a Trustee for the charity Saving Lives UK https://www.savinglivesuk.com/ which exists to raise awareness of HIV and STI testing and reduce associated stigma – and is an Ambassador for the Eve Appeal, a charity that raises awareness of the five gynaecological cancers and is now thrilled to also be an FPA Ambassador.

Naomi and Joyce talked a lot about sex. Do you know your vulva from your vagina? What words would you teach your child to use for their genitals? Are you having enough orgasms? They are really good for your health and you can have them on your own or with your partner, with or without sex toys. But how we orgasm often changes as we age and we may have to alter the way we have sex. We discussed the worrying increase in some STIs and how easy it is to get tested, even at home. Both Joyce and Naomi are passionate about ensuring everyone knows about sex and reproductive health and we discussed how this should be taught and normalised. Some useful web sites: https://www.outspokeneducation.com/ https://www.labialibrary.org.au/ https://youbeforetwo.co.uk/ 

Date of episode recording: 2024-01-26T00:00:00Z
Duration: 01.01.58
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Dr Naomi Sutton
Producer: Joyce Harper

Baz, together with Dr Bella Smith and Dr Emma Ross, has set up the Well HQ to ensure we have a future where no woman lacks knowledge and understanding of her body, across the life stages. They are on a mission to ensure that everything that makes us extraordinarily females shouldn’t be medicalised or considered niche, but be fully considered in making us fitter, healthier and happier humans. In this episode, Baz explains why all women need to look after their wellbeing including exercise, nutrition, sleep and their mental health. But women are all individual and need to do what is right for them and this will probably change at different stages of their lives. Are you looking after your body? Read the Female Body Bible written by the Well HQ team.

Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Baz Moffat
Producer: Joyce Harper 

Date of episode recording: 2023-12-14
Duration: 00.53.51
Language of episode: English
 
Transcription link: 

www.joyceharper.com/podcasts

Welcome to season 2 of Why didn’t anyone tell me this?
This podcast is about health education with an emphasis on reproductive health. We do not cover these topics enough in school or beyond. Professor Joyce Harper and her guests want to give you the tools to empower you to live a healthy, happy and fulfilled life. And on the way, we will debunk some of the myths around our health. This podcast will include a wide range of amazing guests, discussing topics such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental health, happiness, cancer, periods, fertility, infertility, fertility treatment, preconception health, pregnancy, miscarriage, PCOS, endometriosis, menopause and much more. Joyce is a cold-water swimmer so expect some episodes about swimming! They will tell you about their work and life journey, what are the key messages they want you to know, their motivation, what makes them happy and their advice to their younger self. Joyce Harper is an award-winning author, educator, academic, and scientist with over 30 years’ experience in reproductive health. She is Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health at University College London where she heads the Reproductive Science and Society group. Her latest book, Your Fertile Years, is published by Sheldon Press, 2021. She is chair of the International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration (www.eshre.eu/IRHEC) and co-chair of the UK Fertility Education Initiative. She is founder of Reproductive Health at Work. Further information at www.joyceharper.com. 

Joyce is going to start each podcast season with a podcast by herself where she will update you on what she has been up to in the previous year. In 2023 she started the podcast and had 25 guests, plus herself, talking about many health topics, but mainly reproductive health. The podcast has been listened to in 72 countries. Joyce explains her main research projects. Her work as chair of the International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration (IRHEC) has resulted in 6 videos of personal stories, the teachers educational resource, an update of the fertility education poster and the preparation of 12 public information leaflets (www.eshre.eu/IRHEC). In 2023 her research on menopause led her to set up the development of the UK menopause education and support programme with Shema, Polly, Nicky and Florrie. The project will be inclusive and co-designed with the public. Joyce also shares how difficult juggling our work:life balance can be. In 2024, she will be interviewing 50 women over 50 who feel they are (mostly) happy to discuss a range of topics which she will share in her next book.

Date of episode recording: 2024-01-10
Duration: 00.46.56
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Professor Joyce Harper
Producer:  Professor Joyce Harper 
Transcription link: 

www.joyceharper.com/podcasts

Clare is an holistic, lifestyle chartered physiotherapist, motivational health and fitness speaker, having qualified from Guys Hospital in 1984 with distinction. She has a diploma in Health Education. Clare runs a number of PhysioYogaLates (a name devised by her!) exercise classes in East Sussex, where she lives and offers one off classes for corporate companies. Clare has just recently sold her practice The Westminster Physiotherapy and Pilates Centre, after 29 years, where she specialised in pain management, women’s health and all musculoskeletal conditions. She is now concentrating on corporate lecturing, Lifestyle coaching and teaching her PhysioYogaLattes classes. She has recently established men only PhysioYogaLattes classes, which are proving incredibly popular and beneficial. Clare has always had a specific interest in prevention and aimed to resolve the cause of pain in all her patients and bring about lifestyle changes, through understanding the why’s and how’s of the 5 pillars of health. In this episode Clare talks about the 5 pillars of health; exercise, nutrition, sleep, mental fitness and purpose, community connectivity, family, friendships, spirituality. And how the earlier we look after these, the better our health will be. Our body needs nutrition, water and oxygen and the best way to feed our body is through movement. We cannot dissociate mind from body with any condition and we need to do a range of movements. Why not turn your day into a fun workout? Clare gave us many great ideas – she did the podcast standing up and explained why sitting down is bad for us. Are you sitting down most of the day? Clare talked about the importance of getting outside and how this is beneficial to our health. When you get up – spend 10 minutes outside. And break up your working day by going for a walk. Instead of meeting someone for a coffee and sitting in a coffee shop, why don't you go for a walk instead, and take your coffee with you? What about dancing around your kitchen? We also talked about women working with their bodies at different times of their lives – we need to be body intuitive. When women have a menstrual cycle, they may feel physically and emotionally different throughout the month and how they want to exercise may vary. And when they get to the perimenopause, how they want to exercise may change. Clare’s advice is when you have lots of energy – go with it. When you don’t, work with that. We are all individual and how we exercise is individual. But one thing for sure – it is good for our health. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-11-29
Duration: 01.24.26
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Clare Fone
Producer: Joyce Harper

Nicky studied medicine at the University of Cambridge. She was part of the international medical team that developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. Nicky is an honorary clinical lecturer in the division of medicine, UCL. She lectures and researches in the areas of exercise endocrinology. She works mainly with exercisers, dancers and athletes and with women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. She is part of the UCL team developing a UK menopause education and support programme. Nicky is medical advisor to the Scottish Ballet. She is author of the book Hormones, health and human potential which we will talk about today. In this episode Nicky talks about her passion for dance and explains why she is fascinated by the amazing dance our hormones perform throughout our lives. Exercise is key for our mental and physical health. Nicky explains the importance of looking after our heart, bones, muscles, flexibility and balance. She talks about how exercise can help women with menstrual and menopause symptoms and why it is important to exercise when trying to get pregnant and throughout pregnancy. Nicky suggests different ways women can exercise, especially exercising in nature and with friends. Our social connections, our gut health and our sleep are also important for good health. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/ 

Date of episode recording: 2023-11-20
Duration: 01.16.12
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Nicky Keay
Producer: Joyce Harper 

Claire is a renowned leadership development professional, performance coach and author with over 21 years’ experience as a facilitator, thought leader and global speaker innovating in the field of Physical Intelligence. With a background in science, executive coaching and Contemporary dance Claire created the Physical Intelligence® methodology to bring together neuroscientific research on embodiment, practical knowledge of movement and physiology, and a lifetime of study researching how human beings behave. Her book ‘Physical Intelligence®’ won Business Book of the Year award in 2020. In this episode, Claire explains why she developed the Physical Intelligence methodology, and what it is. There are 4 elements of physical intelligence and we discuss all of them: strength, flexibility, resilience and endurance. Hormones, nutrition, fitness, sleep, relaxation, reflection and relationships are threaded through these. We discuss how working at home can hugely affect our wellbeing and that we have to address this. Work:life balance is more important now than ever, and we need to prevent burn out. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/ 

Date of episode recording: 2023-09-28
Duration: 01.11.55
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Claire Dale
Producer: Joyce Harper

Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl is the co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles, the women’s health company that developed the world’s first birth control app. The app is powered by an algorithm that uses body temperature to determine each user’s daily fertility status.  As a Class II medical device, the NC° app is cleared by the FDA in the United States and certified to be used as a contraceptive in Europe, Australia, and Singapore. It has also received regulatory clearances to integrate with third party wearables. Prior to founding Natural Cycles, Elina was part of the team that discovered the Higgs boson at the CERN laboratory, which led to the Nobel Prize in physics in 2013. Following this success, Elina was looking for an effective, natural birth control and decided to apply her skills from particle physics to create a unique algorithm that could accurately pinpoint when a woman was fertile using body temperature. From there, Natural Cycles was born. Today, Natural Cycles has over 3million registered users.

In this episode Elina tells us about the amazing start to her career, working in the CERN laboratory and why she wanted to develop a contraception app. Natural Cycles went through many issues to become the only contraceptive app to be certified, being both CE marked and FDA cleared, which was not an easy process. Elina explains how the app works as a form of contraception or is flipped to be a fertility app. It is important for new techniques to have academic and scientific collaborations. Natural Cycles have published many scientific studies, including two with me. And Natural Cycles have now joined with the Oura Ring and Apple Watch to make it easier for women to determine when they are ovulating and when is their fertile time. We discuss how apps generate big data and how this can be used for scientific studies.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-09-15
Duration: 00.55.44
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Dr Elina Berglund Scherwitzl
Producer: Joyce Harper

Rachel Lankester is the author of Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond, and host of the Magnificent Midlife podcast. After a shocking early menopause diagnosis at 41, she scratched her own itch and created what she wasn't able to find to help herself. This includes 1-1 and group midlife mentoring, courses and educational resources to help women vibrantly transition through the sometimes messy middle of life. She’s also a founder of MenoClarity, the information hub about menopause. In her spare time, she’s doing a Masters in Gerontology! In this episode, we discuss why Rachel wrote a book called Magnificent Midlife. The podcast is in two parts – our discussion of the menopause and then a discussion of positive aging. We start with big questions, such as why Rachel does not think menopause is a hormone deficiency disorder and why she does not think everyone should take hormone therapy. Rachel is often misquoted about her views of hormone therapy – she took it for 7 years and feels it has a place for some women. But will it prevent dementia and other disorders? Rachel and I both feel that for us, the fog lifted when we hit post menopause and there are many advantages of being post menopause. It is not a mid-life crisis – it is the upward part of the U curve of happiness. Now is our time. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-10-12
Duration: 01.07.22
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Rachel Lankester
Producer: Joyce Harper

Mr. Vikram Talaulikar is an associate specialist at the reproductive medicine unit in University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and hon. associate professor at University College London. 

In this episode, Vikram is asked similar questions to the previous 2 clinicians; Susan Davis and Isaac Manyonda. How does Vikram define the perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause? He explains what he thinks about menopause testing and what are the main menopause symptoms. Vikram explains why he thinks that lifestyle is really key to help control menopause symptoms. We tackle the controversial topics such as whether HRT will reduce the risk of dementia and what Vikram thinks about high doses of HRT. Vikram does a lot of important research on menopause and we discuss some of his current studies. Vikram has been working hard on education and it is great to hear his clear and concise answers to these key questions. 

He graduated in medicine in India in 2003 and completed postgraduate degree in obstetrics and gynaecology in 2007. He was awarded FRCOG in 2022 and completed PhD degree at St. George's University of London in 2016. He cares for women and couples who have difficulty conceiving, and his clinical interests include reproductive endocrinology, premature ovarian failure, polycystic ovary syndrome, recurrent miscarriage, menopause and male factor subfertility. He is a certified ‘menopause specialist’ by the British Menopause Society. He has published widely in the area of reproductive medicine. His research focuses around events at the embryo-maternal interface in early pregnancy, ovarian response to stimulation in various endocrine conditions and menopause. Vikram is the co-founder of the Menopause Clinic London on Harley Street along Professor Isaac Manyonda.