Critically Speaking

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Tami Rowen discuss the listener questions that arose from her last episode on Critically Speaking. From drinking soy milk as a substitute for estrogen, the complex relationship between the number of children you have and breast cancer risk, dense breast tissue, early menstruation, hormone replacement therapy, and more. Listen in for the answers to your questions!
 
 Key Takeaways:
Soy is not in any way a substitute for estrogen. How it affects your circulating estrogens depends on your age.

While the number of kids you have is inconclusive regarding its relationship to breast cancer, breastfeeding has been shown in every study to be preventative against breast cancer.

The number one killer of women is heart disease. It's not breast cancer.

 
"A period is a bleed in response to ovulation, and that is coming from the level of the hypothalamus, pituitary, ovary, and uterus, so you can have a problem at any of those levels." —  Dr. Tami Rowen
 
Episode Reference:
Welcome to the Wild West of Testosterone: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/welcome-to-the-wild-west-of-testosterone/id1708072320?i=1000743735353 

 
Connect with Dr. Tami Rowen:
Professional Bio: https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tami.rowen 
Website: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/tami-rowen 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtamirowen/ 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: [email protected]
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Haley Hersant discuss a study by Dr. Hersant and her colleagues that reviewed over 100 brain and memory supplements. They found 18 common ingredients grouped into three categories: those with scientific evidence of benefit, those with no compelling evidence, and those with mixed results. They discuss the results of this study and emphasize the need for more rigorous testing. While not giving medical advice, they caution against potential interactions with prescription medications and advise listeners to do their research as well as talk to their own providers.
 
Key Takeaways:
The most common factor across all of these ingredients that had some benefit is that, theoretically, they are known to decrease inflammation and help activate cellular repair pathways.
The FDA does not have the authority to approve dietary supplements before they are put on the market, so it primarily regulates them once they are already on the market. This is different from traditional pharmaceuticals.

If you are taking supplements, do report them when completing a medical history with your doctor, as they can interact with your prescriptions, vitamins, and other supplements.

 
"For many people, it could be harmless to be taking these supplements. They may be wasting their money without getting much benefit. But health-wise, they may be okay. However, whenever you start mixing a lot of different supplements, or are taking supplements with prescription medications, there are certainly some risks that can come into play." —  Dr. Haley Hersant
 
Episode References: 
Over the Counter Supplements for Memory: A Review of Available Evidence

 
Connect with Dr. Haley Hersant:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-hersant-79a0b12a4/ 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: [email protected]
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Adam Morgan discuss Adam's new book, A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls, which explores the life and legacy of Margaret C. Anderson. Margaret was a pioneering figure in modern literature, the founder of "The Little Review" in Chicago, and one of the key figures in fostering the Chicago literary renaissance. They talk about the challenges she faced, despite her initial successes, why her physical appearance often overshadowed her contributions, and the impact on young girls today that Margaret also faced during her time. 
 
 Key Takeaways:
"The Little Review" served as a platform for uncensored conversations about literature and art, including experimental works that were often undiscovered during her time.

The Comstock Act was a group of federal laws that banned the mailing of "obscene materials" and was upheld, in part, through censorship at what is now the USPS. This resulted in many copies of "The Little Review" being burned or otherwise destroyed before they could arrive at their subscribers.

We are seeing the same rhetoric used by conservative lawmakers today that was used in the early 20th century against Margaret Anderson, despite no evidence to support it. They argued that if young girls read "obscene literature," they would turn to a life of immorality, prostitution, or partner with people not approved of by their parents.

 
"She was not a saint, but there were a lot of things to admire about her courage and her sense of agency." —  Adam Morgan
 
Connect with Adam Morgan:
Professional Bio: https://adam-stephen-morgan.com/ 
Twitter: https://x.com/adamm0rgan 
Book: https://adam-stephen-morgan.com/a-danger-to-the-minds-of-young-girls/ 
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thefrontlist.org 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamm0rgan 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: [email protected]
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Elizabeth Burch discuss Elizabeth's new book, "The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America's Lawsuit Factory," which exposes a scheme where con artists, attorneys, and rogue doctors exploited women through mass torts involving pelvic mesh implants. Elizabeth explains how mass torts differ from class actions and explains how attorneys earn contingency fees. Throughout the episode, they discuss the ways in which the scheme was perpetuated and how vulnerable women were exploited by a data breach in India. 
 
 Key Takeaways:
A tort is a harm, such as a punch or a car accident. A mass tort is when those harms happen on a large scale. 

Mass torts can be a goldmine for lawyers (and there is a convention held twice a year regarding mass torts in Las Vegas). This can be concerning as more states are allowing law firms to be owned, even partially, by non-lawyers. 

Many of the women involved with this mass tort were conned by people who had their specific information, including birth dates, surgery dates, and other medical information. It created a lot of confusion for many. 

 
"You can imagine that your scam detector would probably go off if someone called you and asked you for that information. But if someone calls you and they already know your birth date and the name of your implanting doctor and the type of mesh that you have and exactly when you had the surgery and where you had the surgery, then all of a sudden it feels a lot more legitimate." —  Elizabeth Burch
 
Connect with Elizabeth Burch:
Professional Bio: https://www.elizabethchambleeburch.com/about 
Website: https://www.elizabethchambleeburch.com/ 
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/eburch.bsky.social   
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethcburch/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethcburch/ 
X: https://x.com/elizabethcburch 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ECBurch/
 
Pre-Order The Pain Brokers: How Con Men, Call Centers, and Rogue Doctors Fuel America's Lawsuit Factory here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Pain-Brokers/Elizabeth-Chamblee-Burch/9781668068861 
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: [email protected]
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow, Dr. Jerald Kay, and Dr. Joel Yager discuss the various forms of ambition: lack of ambition, mismatched ambition, Machiavellian ambition, and how to deal with malignant narcissists. 
 
 Key Takeaways:
There are biological underpinnings to ambition, but much of what we know about ambition is built on repeated interactions as children. 

Not everyone who is Machiavellian is ambitious. Not everyone ambitious is Machiavellian. But when you have people who have dark triad characteristics, it can mean trouble for those around them. 

There are levels of narcissism. Only some are treatable. The last division of severe narcissism is called malignant personality disorder and is relatively untreatable.

 
"It's both nature and nurture. We know ambition runs in families. And we know kids that are adopted into families with ambitious parents turn out to be more ambitious than if they weren't adopted into those kinds of families." —  Dr. Joel Yager
 
Episode References: https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/fulltext/2023/04000/ambition_and_its_psychopathologies.1.aspx
 
Connect with Therese:
Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net
Bluesky: @CriticallySpeaking.bsky.social
Instagram: @criticallyspeakingpodcast
Email: [email protected]
 
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.