Welcome to Menopause Research Review! Now that menopause has hit the mainstream, we’re swimming in a steady stream of studies, which is great and can also be overwhelming. So for 2025, we’re introducing a regular segment called Menopause Research Review where we break down key research as it comes out with resident reproductive endocrinologist and menopause performance specialist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo. This week we kick it off with a study published in Menopause: The range and variation in serum estradiol concentration in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women treated with transdermal estradiol in a real-world setting: a cross-sectional study. We dive into hormone testing, what it tells us (and what it doesn’t) as well as what it means (or not) to have therapeutic levels.

Carla DiGirolamo, MD, PhD, is a Double Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Obstetrician/Gynecologist specializing in infertility and menopausal medicine. She is also a Crossfit Level 1 trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach, and member of CrossFit Health. She is a MedFit Care provider and provides weekly workouts and medical updates at her Substack Athletic Aging. She is an Endocrine Consultant for Wild Health. Most recently, she has launched her own private practice specializing in helping active and high-performing women reach their performance potential from puberty through menopause. Dr. DiGirolamo is now seeing patients for virtual consultations for menopausal care and performance optimization. Visit her website www.drcarlad.com to learn more about her services and schedule an appointment.

Resources

The range and variation in serum estradiol concentration in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women treated with transdermal estradiol in a real-world setting: a cross-sectional study, Menopause

Hormone replacement therapy (oestradiol-only preparations): can the laboratory recommend a concentration of plasma oestradiol to protect against osteoporosis?, The Association of Clinical Biochemists

Join the Feisty Girona Gravel Camp: https://www.thomsonbiketours.com/trips/feisty-girona-gravel-camp/

Subscribe to the Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page

Follow Us on Instagram:

Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099

Support our Partners:

Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/

Nutrisense: Go to nutrisense.io/hitplay and use code: HITPLAY to get $125 off

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Spikes, crashes, excursions, and elevated numbers. Blood sugar is on a lot of active midlife women’s minds. But what do we really know about what this all means…and what it doesn’t, especially when it comes to long term health? This week’s guest Oxford nutrition scientist and globally recognized type 2 diabetes expert Dr. Nicola Guess helps sort through all things elevated glucose and helps separate what we need to worry about with what we don’t.

Nicola Guess, RD, MPH, PhD, is a dietitian based in London specializing in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Westminster, Research Fellow at King’s College London, and Head of Nutrition Research at the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait. She also runs her own private clinical practice. Her primary research interests are in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, including the effects of nutrients on the underlying pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. Dr Guess is a National Institute of Clinical Excellent (NICE) scholar investigating meal provision for inpatients with diabetes; a member of the NICE expert committee; a member of the Diabetes UK Clinical Study Group, and previously a Winston Churchill Travel Scholar investigating approaches to type 2 diabetes prevention in the UK and China and a Diabetes UK Academic Health Partnership Fellow investigating the role of diet in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. You can learn more about her work and follow her research at drguess.substack.com/

Resources

Erratic glucose in normoglycaemic athletes: insufficient protein? blog

How useful are CGMs for athletes? blog

Blood Glucose Levels of Subelite Athletes During 6 Days of Free Living, Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (JDST)

Join the Feisty Girona Gravel Camp: https://www.thomsonbiketours.com/trips/feisty-girona-gravel-camp/

Subscribe to the Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page

Follow Us on Instagram:

Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099

Support our Partners:

Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/

Nutrisense: Go to nutrisense.io/hitplay and use code: HITPLAY to get $125 off

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Women are often accused of being “too emotional”, whether it’s PMS, perimenopause, or just plain life. Worse, we’re made to believe those emotions make us weak. What if the opposite were true? What if our emotions were our super power, a force we could channel to give us strength in and out of the gym? This week’s guest Aimee Anaya Everett is living proof we can do just that, as she has channeled her own emotional turmoil into a world class Olympic coaching and lifting career. Now she helps other women in midlife and menopause do the same.

Aimee Anaya Everett is the co-owner of Catalyst Athletics. She has devoted the last 29 years to the sport of Olympic Weightlifting as an athlete and a coach. In her time as a coach, Anaya Everett became the second female International Coach in USA Weightlifting, and the first American female coach to coach at the Olympics. Aimee is also the head lifting coach for Mat Fraser’s HWPO Training. Aimee coaches Olympic Weightlifting athletes across all levels, including a multiple American and Pan Am record holder, World Championship multi-medalist, and a Youth World Champion. She also loves coaching beginners and garage lifters with no desire to compete. Aimee has a passion for mental training and toughness, and has a Masters Degree in Human Behavior Psychology. You can learn more about her and her work at

www.aimeeanaya.com

Join the Feisty Girona Gravel Camp: https://www.thomsonbiketours.com/trips/feisty-girona-gravel-camp/

Subscribe to the Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page

Follow Us on Instagram:

Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099

Support our Partners:

Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/

Nutrisense: Go to nutrisense.io/hitplay and use code: HITPLAY to get $125 off

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/