GP Dr Safia Debar discusses how we can leverage emerging knowledge of neuroscience to help us more effectively manage our stress.

This is something, she has personal knowledge of after finding herself burnt out as a GP, when she turned to her first degree in neuroscience to see how it could help her rethink her approach.

Safia argues it is not so much the stress that we face, but how we think about that stress and the processes that we put in place to manage it.

It is now implicated in almost every disease you can think of and intriguing new research suggests that using meditation as a calming technique, doesn't just affect the mind, but can create genuine biological change, switching our genes on and off.

The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/

Psychiatrist Professor Joanna Moncrieff discusses her new book Chemical Imbalance: The Making and the Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth.

I first spoke to Joanna two years ago, just after she had published a review paper suggesting that there was no link between depression and an imbalance of serotonin in the brain.

And her book picks up what happened next. As her article gained more and more attention, she found herself in a political maelstrom facing vitriolic personal and professional criticism.

Because if the serotonin hypothesis was false, what could be the possible grounds for prescribing the popular antidepressants - the selective serotonin uptake inhibitors - better known as the SSRIs? It’s been claimed in the past they can alter brain chemistry and correct imbalances, but how can they work if Joanna is right and no imbalance exists?

What followed illustrates the fierce political divide in psychiatry between those who remain sceptical of her claims and believe that the current medication for depression is a vital tool and those such as Joanna who are unconvinced by its value.

And we also discuss why much to her surprise, Joanna – although she has always been a socialist - found far more sympathy for her research from right wing media sources rather than the left.

Chemical Imbalance: The Making and the Unmaking of the Serontonin Myth by Joanna Moncrieff is published by Flint Books.

The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/

Dr Louise Newson, who runs a menopause clinic, discusses many of the myths about Hormone Replacement Therapy for women - or HRT for short. What are the risks? Who should take it and for how long? It's a subject which has been much misunderstood.

Too frequently, women in either the years leading up to the menopause or during the menopause itself, get misdiagnosed when they go to see their GP about symptoms. That can mean they end up on antidepressants, sleeping pills and potentially a cascade of other drugs, some of which may be very difficult to stop once they start, and don’t actually treat the underlying issues caused by the menopause.

Shockingly, Louise has even met women who have been given electro-convulsive therapy for their menopausal symptoms.

Recently, there has also been controversy about dosage levels of HRT and why doctors like Louise sometimes prescribe higher doses of the hormone estradiol. But she argues this is because these women are poor absorbers of HRT. They need higher levels of the hormone to achieve an effective level of estradiol in their bloodstream.

In a recent paper, she and colleagues explored the variation in estradiol levels in women using transdermal patches.

Louise Newson's book: The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause is published by Yellow Kite.

The host of this award nominated podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director. You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/WhatYourGPDoesntTellYou or via PayPal at https://www.whatyourgpdoesnttellyou.com/support/