Arizona has long been known as a paradise for retirees. But what is it really like to grow old in the Grand Canyon State? In this podcast, reporter Kathy Ritchie explores the ups and downs of aging. Each episode takes a fresh look at important issues affecting the state's older population.
Period, The End Episode 6: Menopause and S-E-X
In this episode, we talk about the intersection between sex and menopause. Between 17% and 45% of postmenopausal women say they find sex painful, and that’s where Dr. Debra Wickman comes in. She is Director of Female Sexual Medicine Vulva Disorders and Menopause Health at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Wickman talks about how women often tolerate painful sex and why embracing our intimate anatomy can be the first step toward healing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/28/2023 • 11 minutes, 58 seconds
Period, The End Episode 5: Menopause And The Workplace
We know many women will experience menopausal symptoms, and they don’t just happen at home. Tamsen Fadal, an Emmy-Award winning TV journalist and now menopause advocate, talks about navigating those symptoms at work. We’ll also hear from Dr. Jewel Kling, a professor of medicine and chair of the division of Women's Health Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/14/2023 • 14 minutes, 36 seconds
Period, The End Episode 4: About Hormones
We’re calling this episode Menopausal Hormone Therapy 101. We won’t cover everything. Think of it like a primer so you can more comfortably talk to your provider — or know when to walk away. Joining us is Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of Mayo Clinic Center for Women's Health in Florida; she’s also medical director of the Menopause Society.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/31/2023 • 16 minutes, 31 seconds
Period, The End Episode 3: A Time of Risk
The menopausal transition can affect our cardiovascular health in ways that can’t be explained by age alone. Dr. Rebecca Thurston is a principal investigator for SWAN, the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, and also leads the MSHEART and the MSBRAIN studies, which look at menopause and the cardiovascular/brain connection.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/17/2023 • 11 minutes, 59 seconds
Period, The End Episode 2: Menopause in any Language
Vasomotor symptoms, aka hot flashes and night sweats, are the most common manifestations of menopause. Women of all cultures have different names for it and ways to cope. We talk to Professor Lynette Sievert, a biological anthropologist at UMASS Amherst, whose studies of menopausal women span the globe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
10/4/2023 • 13 minutes, 15 seconds
Period, The End Episode 1: The Grandmother Hypothesis
KJZZ's Kathy Ritchie likes to talk about things that make most people uncomfortable — like menopause. In this episode, Kathy dives into the big why. Why do we go through "the change?" Anthropology professor Kristen Hawkes takes us to Africa, where the study of one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes led her to this conclusion: menopause is an adaptive advantage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/18/2023 • 8 minutes, 5 seconds
Inaccessible: Downwinders of Mohave County
During and after World War II, the United States conducted hundreds of nuclear tests in the American Southwest, mainly Nevada and New Mexico. The radioactive fallout produced by these explosions traveled hundreds of miles, crossing state lines into Arizona and Utah. People who lived and worked in areas exposed to this radiation were more likely to develop cancer and other illnesses. They are known as downwinders. But not all of them are created equal in the eyes of the federal government.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3/23/2023 • 17 minutes, 55 seconds
Growing Old in Arizona Prisons
Prisons aren't designed to accommodate the aging. Think about it: there are stairs, narrow doorways, long corridors, and bunk beds. About 1 in 4 inmates in Arizona prisons is aged 55 plus, and the ACLU estimates nearly half of all inmates over 50 have a chronic health condition. All of this is in a system that doesn't provide constitutionally adequate healthcare. In this episode, Nathan Collins explores the difficulties older prisoners face while incarcerated and what advocates of criminal-justice reform are doing to help.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
