unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Hillary McBride, a psychologist, researcher, and author whose work focuses on women's lived experience of embodiment across the lifespan, and particularly what happens during the perimenopausal and menopausal transition. She brings a feminist, biopsychosocial lens to the work, looking at the intersection of biology and culture and how the stories we are handed about aging as women can shape what we actually feel, right down to measurable health outcomes.

Dr. McBride opens by naming what the research literature has gotten wrong. Women's voices have been largely absent from the empirical conversation about perimenopause and menopause, and what women are actually saying when asked about their experience is strikingly different from what the medical literature reflects. They are describing not just difficulty but clarity, not just loss but a deepening sense of self, not just symptoms but a portal.

Guest links:

Hillary L. McBride 

Hillary L. McBride (Instagram)

Hillary McBride (Facebook)

Hillary McBride (X)

Books:

Hillary L. McBride

For full show notes, please click here.

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In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with Dr. Tony Youn, board certified plastic surgeon, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media. In part two of this conversation, Dr. Youn moves from skincare into devices, lifestyle, and the bigger picture of how women can think about aging and anti-aging without getting swept up in the extremes.

Dr. Youn walks through the most commonly asked about in-office treatments, explaining what each one actually does and where the limitations are. He covers IPL for hyperpigmentation and sun damage, fractional CO2 lasers and how they differ from older more aggressive approaches, chemical peels and how depth determines results, and radiofrequency microneedling including what it can realistically achieve and where it falls short. He also addresses at-home devices, covering red light therapy and what the studies actually show about collagen and elastin, and what to look for in a dermal stamper.

Guest links:

Anthony Youn, MD

Tony Youn, MD (Instagram)

Doctor Youn (TikTok)

Dr. Anthony Youn (Facebook)

Doctor Youn (YouTube)

The Doctor Youn Show (Apple Podcasts)

Books

“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

“The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver“Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn

⁠"Playing God"⁠ by Anthony Youn

⁠"The Age Fix" ⁠by Anthony Youn

⁠"In Stitches"⁠ by Anthony Youn

For full show notes, please click here.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Tony Youn, a board certified plastic surgeon nationally recognized as one of the top plastic surgeons in the United States, bestselling author of Younger for Life, and the most followed plastic surgeon on social media with more than five million YouTube subscribers and eight million TikTok followers. In part one of this two part conversation, they take on a question that sits at the intersection of hormones and skin health that most doctors have never connected for their patients: what estrogen is actually doing to the skin, and what women can do about it.

Dr. Youn opens with a statistic that women lose 30% of the thickness of their collagen in the first five years after menopause, and then continue losing collagen at twice the rate of men for every year that follows. He explains exactly why this happens, how estrogen interacts with the fibroblasts that produce collagen and elastin, what declining estrogen does to hyaluronic acid and skin hydration, and why women are not imagining it when their skincare suddenly stops working.

Guest links:

Anthony Youn, MD

Tony Youn, MD (Instagram)

Doctor Youn (TikTok)

Dr. Anthony Youn (Facebook)

Doctor Youn (YouTube)

The Doctor Youn Show (Apple Podcasts)

Books

“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

“The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver“Younger for Life: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity, Nutrition and Self-Care for a Youthful Life,” by Anthony Youn

"Playing God" by Anthony Youn

"The Age Fix" by Anthony Youn

"In Stitches" by Anthony Youn


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In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver answers your most asked questions about hormone therapy, menopause symptoms, and how to advocate for yourself when your doctor doesn't have answers. She walks through who actually qualifies for HRT, what the real contraindications are versus conditions that simply require a different delivery method, and how to think about continuing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone therapy after 60.

Dr. Haver explains the estrogen patch absorption problem, with research showing that up to 20 percent of women on transdermal therapy never reach physiologic estradiol levels regardless of dose. She breaks down SHBG, the protein that can bind your hormones and render them inactive even when your numbers look adequate on paper, and walks through what optimal estradiol levels look like for bone density and osteoporosis prevention specifically.

Books:

“The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan: Help Prevent and Treat Osteoporosis and Arthritis,” by Jocelyn Wittstein“The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Resources:

Women’s Health Initiative
Estradiol (University of Rochester Medical Center) Meet Dr. Heather Hirsch
Alloy Health
Midi Health
Menopause Quiz
Lab Test Checklist
Blueprint to close the women's health gap

For full show notes, please click here.

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In this bonus episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver is joined by Dr. Zachary Rubin, double board certified allergist and immunologist and New York Times bestselling author of All About Allergies, to dig into the connection between histamine, mast cells, and women's hormonal health.

Dr. Rubin breaks down what mast cells are, how histamine works across multiple organ systems, and why women are disproportionately affected by mast cell related conditions including mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS). The two dig into the estrogen and histamine connection, why perimenopause can trigger or worsen symptoms like anxiety, brain fog, and histamine intolerance, and what MCAS actually is and how it is diagnosed. Dr. Rubin also addresses the viral H1 and H2 blocker combination that has been circulating online, explaining the real science behind why it may be helping some women with PMDD, endometriosis, and perimenopausal symptoms, while being honest about what we still do not know.

They also cover quercetin, DAO supplements, low histamine diets, and how to think about self experimentation safely. If you have been wondering whether histamine could be a piece of your hormonal health puzzle, this conversation is a great place to start.

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