Most women have heard of fibroids—and most women will have them—so let’s talk about Fibroid Facts!  Fibroids are the most common type of non-cancerous tumors in women.  But just because they aren’t cancer doesn’t mean they are “benign”: they can be asymptomatic, but more often, they can cause a wide range of physical symptoms, including heavy menstrual bleeding and an overall reduced quality of life.     Uterine fibroids occur in more than 80% of African American women and nearly 70% of Caucasian women by the time they are 50 years old.  Fibroids are also the leading reason for hysterectomies performed in the U.S.   My guest today, Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell knows a lot about fibroids, both personally & professionally.  She is a practicing, Board-certified ob-gyn and section head of women’s services at Ochsner Kenner in New Orleans. She is the Medical Director of programs with the LA Department of Health as well as an associate professor and director of the Center for Minimally Invasive Treatment of Uterine Fibroids.   She earned her medical degree from Meharry Medical College and completed her residency training at Ochsner Health System. She also earned a Master of Applied Science in Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Additionally, she has received certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

In the Ladies' Room with Dr. Donnica

148: Fibroid Facts with Veronica Gillespie-Bell, MD

Did you ever meet someone at a meeting & immediately decide that you want to get to know this person better?  That you want them to be on your team?  That’s how I felt when I met Lisa Charles several years ago when we were both speakers at Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs’ annual women’s health conference.  It’s no surprise that this inspirational speaker is known as “Coach Lisa”.  She’s the CEO of Embrace Your Fitness, a health & wellness consultancy.  She has walked the talk, having to overcome her own health & weight management challenges.  She’s a life coach who has also had an incredible diversity of life experiences from being a state and federal prosecutor for more than a decade, becoming a jazz and opera singer and actor, and then changing lanes to focus on health & fitness.  She is the Research Coordinator for the Rutgers University Aging and Brain Health Alliance & today adds 2 new accolades to her resume:  she is a new author of the motivational book “Yes! Commit. Do. Live.”  And she is my official new health & fitness trainer. 

147: Embracing the Brain-Body Connection with Lisa Charles

In case anyone ever wondered if LinkedIn actually works, the answer is YES! I learned about today’s guest through a LinkedIn post about Suzanne Sinatra being named to the Forbes 1000 List which recognizes bold and inspiring entrepreneurs on their way to breakthrough success.  And she is well on her way with the launch of her company “Private Packs”.  I immediately invited her to join us In the Ladies’ Room!    Private Packs is a consumer products company that makes wearable, reusable hot and cold packs to relieve pain, swelling, and discomfort in the lady parts on-the-go.   Suzanne is a pioneer in the SexTech and FemTech spaces.  In addition to making the Forbes 100 list, she has been honored by Yotpo’s 2020 Amazing Women in E-Commerce. Through her exciting entrepreneurial journey, Suzanne was also forced to embark on a journey no one wants:  battling breast cancer. She now describes herself as a proud breast cancer survivor, who is committed to helping other women by sharing her story to raise awareness about women’s health and sexual wellness.   Originally from Toronto, Suzanne served in the Royal Canadian Armed Forces where she was one of three women in Canada selected for a highly competitive Aircrew Search and Survival course.  She is also a skilled markswoman. 

146: Private Packs for your Private Parts with Suzanne Sinatra

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve been asking each of our guests to describe their personal and professional pandemic experiences.  Today’s guest, Shari Wallack sums it up in the title of her new book, “From Hell To Challah”.  As the founder of Buy The Sea, the largest and most decorated cruise and all-inclusive brokerage company in the industry, Shari experienced a mind-numbing professional crash in one day when cruise ships stopped sailings & her days became filled with arranging refunds for her clients rather than bookings.  Her adult children came home to roost & with increasing anxiety, depression and despair Shari just wanted to run away from home.  Unfortunately, the first stop on her journey was an involuntary commitment to a mental hospital.  The rest of the story—3 months of travel & cooking in far-flung kitchens-- is far more uplifting. 

145: From Hell to Challah with Shari Wallack

So here’s a novel concept:  a new pharmaceutical company focused on women’s health has launched with the strategy of actually LISTENING to women!  Their strategy is to put women at the center of everything they do—and not just their customers.  70% of their Board of Directors—including the Chairman of the Board—are women.    Another company leader, Organon’s Head of Research & Development, Dr. Sandra Milligan is our guest today.  We have a broad agenda planned including talking about how she got here--& why she went to both medical and law school first.  We’re also going to discuss Organon’s “Here for Her Health” campaign & how you can share your voice; why a new kind of women’s health pharmaceutical company is needed now; How our understanding and appreciation of wellness/healthcare has evolved in a near post-COVID world; and her perspective on Innovation in women’s health – the current state of it and what’s needed.  And because we’re both women physicians of a certain age, we’re going to discuss our own experiences with menopause, as well as some other women’s health topics that remain overlooked, misunderstood, & undertreated ranging from post partum hemorrhage to endometriosis.    Before joining Organon, Dr. Milligan served as Merck’s senior vice president and head of global regulatory affairs and clinical safety. Previously, she served as vice president of product development regulatory for Genentech, and prior to that, she was at Amgen for 10 years in positions across legal and regulatory affairs functions. She also proudly served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps for 7 years. Dr. Milligan has also served on the Board of Directors of the Drug Information Association (DIA) for several years, as well as serving as their Board Chairman. She is a graduate of both George Washington University School of Medicine and Georgetown University Law Center.

144: Here for Her Health: How Listening to Women Fuels Women’s Health Innovation

For more information: https://www.twirla.com/pdf/Twirla%20FINAL%20PI%20IFU%20PPI.pdf#page=24 Currently, an astonishing 45 percent of the 6 million pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended. Every year, 2.8 million American women, married and unmarried, young and not so young, are expecting an outcome they didn’t expect. According to the Guttmacher Institute, another way to look at this data is that nearly 5% --or 5 in 100-- American women aged 15—44 have an unintended pregnancy each year. The Guttmacher Institute also reports that on average, U.S. women say they want to have two children. To accomplish that, a woman will spend close to three years pregnant, postpartum or attempting to become pregnant, and about three decades—more than three-quarters of her reproductive life—trying to avoid an unintended pregnancy. Here to discuss this & related issues is Dr. ALYSSA DWECK a practicing gynecologist in Westchester County, New York and a paid spokesperson for Twirla. She has delivered thousands of babies. . . and counseled thousands more women about how to prevent making babies when they don’t want to. A graduate of Barnard College, she has a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition from Columbia University and a Medical Degree from Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. She has been voted a “Top Doctor” in New York Magazine and Westchester County. You may have read one or more of the 3 books she has co-authored: The Complete A to Z for your V, The Sexual Spark, and V is for Vagina. This episode of “In The Ladies’ Room with Dr. Donnica” is sponsored by the makers of Twirla, the levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol transdermal system. Twirla is a weekly birth control patch for women with a body mass index, or BMI, less than 30 who can become pregnant. Twirla is less effective in women with a BMI of 25 or more. If you have BMI of 30 or more, please talk to your healthcare provider about which method of birth control is right for you. Please see boxed warnings regarding cardiovascular risks associated with smoking and with having a BMI over 30 as well as other safety information at the end of this podcast and linked above.

143: INNOVATIONS IN BIRTH CONTROL

You’ve heard a lot of doctors—including your own—talk about the importance of diet & exercise from many different perspectives.  But today we’re going to break down nutritional information into the particularly exciting area of cellular nutrition & preventing Age Associated Cellular Decline.  Today’s guest has been dancing through life from a young age.  Dr. Noelle Reid is a board-certified Family Medicine physician who was a trained dancer prior to medical school. She bridged her love for dance through the practice of Yoga, Pilates, & movement, which she has creatively made into a focal point of her medical practice. Dr. Reid is a graduate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine & completed her residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.  She has also been a medical contributor for ABC/ Good Morning America, & a frequent guest on other shows including Fox Soul TV, Good Day LA/ Fox 11, and “The Doctors”. This episode of “In the Ladies’ Room with Dr. Donnica” is sponsored by Celltrient Cellular Nutrition, a new line of nutritional beverages and supplements from Nestle Health Science that are formulated with cellular nutrients that go to work deep within your cells to address key sources of Age-Associated Cellular Decline (AACD).

142: Cellular Nutrition with Dr. Noelle Reid

Dr. Erika Moseson is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician aka a lung and ICU doctor. She’s a graduate of Cornell Medical School. She’s the founder of Air Health Our Health, an educational resource regarding the intersection of breathing healthy air and the well-being and weals of our communities. She hosts the Air Health Our Health podcast where she interviews experts on everything from tobacco and vaping to policy options to improve public health. She is one of the American Lung Association’s Health Professionals for clear air and climate action.   Erika and Donnica talk about clean air. Erika believes in the motto “don’t light things on fire and breathe them into your lungs”. This pertains to tobacco, marijuana, diesel, fire, and more. When you light something on fire, the particles that are generated hang in the air. Even though you can’t see them, they are there and you are breathing them in. This year we’ve seen an unprecedented number of wildfires in California. Californians are now having to check the air particles before they can walk outside to know if the air is safe to breathe. The particles that you inhale go into your blood veins and can stay there and lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases.   Erika goes over what needs to be done policy-wise to create cleaner air. A lot of companies rely on transportation methods that are terrible for the environment and finding cleaner solutions are key to cleaner air. They discuss how smoking and tobacco sales should change to support the environment and people who are looking to quit smoking. Tobacco companies target lower-income communities and people of color in their advertising. This is directly impacting the health of those communities at a disproportionate rate. Now kids are being introduced to vaping, which has an insanely high amount of nicotine compared to smoking cigarettes for something that is flavored like bubblegum.

141: Don’t Light Things on Fire and Breathe Them Into Your Lungs with Dr. Erika Moseson

If you’ve watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, you know organ transplant is a TV writer’s dream for high drama. In real life, roughly 20 people on transplant lists die everyday while donors remain elusive. This gap is particularly significant in New York, which is home to approximately 10 percent of those waiting in the US for organs but has a lower donor registration rate than the national average. A single donor can save up to eight lives and aid up to 50 more through tissues like blood cells, bone, and corneas.   Dr. Amy L. Friedman is a transplant surgeon and the Chief Medical Officer/Executive Vice President of LiveOnNY, the non-profit that oversees transplant donations in the greater NYC area. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Princeton University, her MD from Downstate Medical Center/SUNY in Brooklyn, her training in general surgery also at Downstate, and her training in transplant surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, the Yale University School of Medicine, and SUNY Upstate Medical University.   She talks about the importance of blood and organ donations. She goes through the life of a donated organ, which can include anything from a liver to a face. She also tells us about the effects of COVID on organ donations and transplants. You can be an organ donor living or dead, and it is absolutely essential to helping  other people get the organs they need to survive.

140: Don’t Take Your Organs to Heaven with Amy Friedman MD

Like 3.4 million people in the U.S., Laine Richards has active epilepsy and faces the daily challenges of this commonly - but also misunderstood - condition. People living with epilepsy are in the constant state of the in-between - an anxious juggling game of seizure activity, recovery, and wondering when the next episode will occur. During a seizure, patients can experience a wide range of symptoms that can include loss of consciousness, inability to swallow, tremors, and rigid or tense muscles. Regardless of the severity of their disease, epilepsy can be incredibly frightening for patients and their caregivers.   Laine has been inspired to help others in her shoes. She has been to Capitol Hill to speak with members of Congress about the importance of epilepsy research and funding, and for the past four years, she has represented the state of Michigan with the Epilepsy Foundation of America’s “Teens Speak Up!” program. She is a freshman at Grand Valley State University and plans to advocate for greater accessibility on campus while pursuing her dream of becoming a special education teacher.      Laine talks about her misdiagnosis with ADHD as a child and then finally getting the correct diagnosis of Epilepsy. There are numerous types of seizures that people can have, and they affect everyone differently so it’s important to talk to your doctor and get a proper diagnosis. Laine opens up about explaining epilepsy to roommates and friends to create clear communications of what to expect in the case of a seizure.

139: Championing Epilepsy: From College to Capitol Hill with Laine Richards

Are you sick of false information circulating in the news and social media about important health care topics from COVID 19 to vaccines to what we should eat to what undies we should wear? Well, so am I and so is today’s guest Dr. Nina Shapiro, a graduate of Harvard Medical School. She is the Director of Pediatric Ear, Nose, and Throat at the Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. With more than two decades of experience in clinical and academic medicine, she’s a trusted expert whom her patients and the media rely on to set the record straight about health fads and misconceptions. Her book “HYPE: A Doctor’s Guide to Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims, and Bad Advice - How to Tell What’s Real and What’s Not” addresses these myths.   Today in the ladies’ room, Dr. Donnica and Dr. Shaprio go through some of the big hype that we hear about medical issues and figure out what is true and what isn’t. There are so many products and trends about our health, but it’s important to remember to get the medical information as opposed to the hype about medical treatments. She also talks about the importance of risk. Every day there is a certain amount of risk we face, but how do we factor in risk when it comes to medical procedures? And they talk about the celebrities who try to sell dangerous, overpriced products to women.

138: Hype! with Dr. Nina Shapiro

You may know today’s guest Terri Cheney from Amazon Prime’s “Modern Love. Her struggle with bipolar disorder was portrayed by Anne Hathaway, who wrote that “Terri Cheney’s unflinching commitment to telling her own truth on her own terms moved me into a new place of compassion. Hers is an unparalleled—and deeply necessary voice.” Terris is a New York Times bestselling author of “Manic”. She now has a new book “Modern Madness: An Owner’s Manual”. Publicly, Terri was an entertainment attorney, but she struggled with managing bipolar disorder behind the scenes. Terri’s writings and commentary about bipolar disorder have also been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, NPR, PsychologyToday.com, and countless articles and blogs. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at USC; the Honorary Board of Directors of the International Bipolar Foundation; and the Board of Directors of Project Return Peer Support Network. She also founded and facilitates a weekly mental health support group at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute.   Terri joins Dr. Donnica to open up about her experience with depression and feeling manic. Terri talks about how to communicate with your friends and family who have bipolar disorder in a way that is understanding and encouraging. She talks about the importance of creating clear communication with your loved ones so you know how to talk about cycling between moods. Terri makes the connection between mental and physical health that are often treated as two separate things.

137: Modern Madness with Terri Cheney

Dr. Carol Balthazar is an Internal Medicine physician specializing in aesthetic medicine, the co-founder and medical director of Longevity Medical Spa, and the co-founder of TheraPearl reusable hot and cold packs. She is a married mother of 3, and her oldest son has Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is an appointed member of the Maryland Behavioral Analyst and Advisory Committee and a member of the Howard County Autism Society. Her passion for advocacy in the Autism community led her to create The Autism Mom MD Podcast. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for topics you’d like to hear on her podcast, you can connect with Dr. Balthazar on Instagram @austim_mom_md or on Facebook @AustimMomMD.   Carol talks about what the spectrum of Autism means and how it affects different people. With her son, she suspected that he had Autism Spectrum Disorder based on his behavior as a young child. It was then confirmed when her son was in fifth grade. For a long time, people had dismissed his behavior as “oh he’s just being a boy” or “he’ll grow out of this”. So Carol had to take charge and get her son tested. Once her son was diagnosed, she then had to keep pushing his teachers to keep believing in him. Carol also discusses the importance of getting vaccinated and getting your children vaccinated. Dr. Donnica and Dr. Balthazar address the false information that vaccines can lead to Autism.

136: Doctor Mom: Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Carol Balthazar MD

Tracy Tutor is the first and only female star of Bravo’s hit show “Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles”, a Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author of “Fear is Just a Four-Letter Word”, and a multi-million dollar real-estate mogul. She is a divorced mother of two teenage daughters. During the painful time after her divorce, Tracy turned to fitness as a way to cope with the changes within her family. She encouraged her fans to put themselves first and take care of their bodies and their minds.   She steps into the ladies’ room today to tell us about her journey into falling in love with fitness and falling in love because of fitness. She talks about how she was able to make fitness a part of her everyday routine and something that she actually looks forward too! She believes that it’s important to keep trying new things. No one has it all figured out. So facing your fears is the thing that will keep pushing you to be better and achieve more.

135: Fitness is the Best Revenge with Tracy Tutor

Brittany’s new book “Instant Loss On A Budget” features delicious, crowd-pleasing meals that are friendly to both your wallet and waistline. She believes healthy eating is for everyone. She is the bestselling author of “Instant Loss Cookbook” and “Instant Loss: Eat Real, Lose Weight”. For years, she struggled with obesity, hypothyroidism, yo-yo dieting, and chronic fatigue before she changed her relationship with food. She started cursing out processed food and takeout and replacing them with healthier meals. Through her diet, she was about to lose 125 pounds and keep it off. Now she has been able to improve her health and the health of her young daughter, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2016.   When she started dating her husband, her eyes were open to a world of more than the cheapest white bread on the shelf. She and her husband started watching nutrition documentaries together, and she started her journey into health. When her husband got her an Instant Pot, she got excited to learn new healthy recipes that were fast. She talks about how her health issues informed her pregnancies.

134: Healthy Weight Loss On A Budget with Brittany Williams

“In the Ladies’ Room with Dr. Donnica” is the only public ladies' room you can enter any time without ever waiting on line! Hosted by women’s health expert and media commentator Donnica Moore MD, the podcast will feature real conversations, with real women, about really intimate issues. They may be embarrassing, sad or funny, but they will always be interesting & informative. You know, like the best conversations you've ever had in ladies' rooms with your best friends. . .or total strangers. . .and a physician! With a wide variety of guests with “been there, done that” expertise, Dr. Donnica discusses the health and wellness topics women often talk with her about in the ladies’ room. . . after speaking engagements, media briefings, at events, or just because they happen to be chatting anonymously while waiting on line or over the sink. Generally, these topics tend to be things that are embarrassing; issues Dr. Donnica calls “the Toilet Talk topics” (anything related to bowel or bladder issues, gas, bodily functions, periods, discharges, etc.); questions related to sex and intimacy; subjects women are uncomfortable discussing in public or in “mixed company”; challenges women are struggling with; or anything top of mind or in the news. In each topic, we add our Top Tips about that topic as well as a call to action.

hubhopper

In the Ladies' Room with Dr. Donnica

hubhopper