Overlooked: Women's Health Can't Wait

https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/posts/momentum-in-women-s-health-a-pmdd-episode-moving-the-needle-on-ovarian-cancerPremenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, or PMDD is an overlooked and under-researched condition - a severe form of PMS. Shalene Gupta is the author of ‘The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD’, a raw account of her experience with this condition. Shalene talks about the havoc it created in her life and her relationships, and the difficult path to finding effective treatment. She also traces PMDD’s controversial route to formal recognition by the medical establishment. 

The Cycle: Confronting the Pain of Periods and PMDD, by Shalene Gupta: https://shalenegupta.com/the-cycle/. A version of this episode first ran in April 2025.

More links and resources on PMDD are here: https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/f8ebd706ad

What to listen to next: A Uterus in a Dish - How Menstrual Blood can Revolutionize Women's Health Research with Morgan Stanton https://overlooked.simplecast.com/episodes/what-is-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-with-author-shalene-gupta

ABOUT THE SHOW: Overlooked tells powerful stories about women's health conditions that don't get enough attention. The show is hosted by Golda Arthur, an audio journalist and producer. Learn more about the show here: https://bit.ly/TheOverlookedNewsletter

Follow the show, and episodes will come to you automatically.

DISCLAIMER What you hear and read on ‘Overlooked’ is for general information purposes only and represents the opinions of the host and guests. The content on the podcast and website should not be taken as medical advice. Every person’s body is unique, so please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions that may arise.

Jasna Hodžić is a writer, researcher - and avid rock climber, and she's built a life around the sport she loves. When she was in her mid-twenties, her gynecologist ran a hormone panel and sent her for a bone density scan, and what came back was the last thing she expected. Jasna had the bone density of someone decades older. She was, as she puts it, 'crumbling from within' - and she had no idea. The condition is called Female Athlete Triad, now also known as RED-S: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. Jasna tells Golda her story, and what she wants other female athletes to know. 

We also hear from listener Catherine Uptmor, a former gymnast, who requested this topic, and who has a story of her own.

For the backstory to this episode, and a deeper dive on female athlete triad, subscribe to the newsletter: https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/f8ebd706ad

What to listen to next: One Woman's Journey to Understand Adenomyosis https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-womans-journey-to-understand-adenomyosis-with-cait/id1706322130?i=1000739276920

 

ABOUT THE SHOW: Overlooked tells powerful stories about women's health conditions that don't get enough attention. The show is hosted by Golda Arthur, an audio journalist and producer. Learn more about the show here: https://bit.ly/TheOverlookedNewsletter

Follow the show, and episodes will come to you automatically.

DISCLAIMER What you hear and read on ‘Overlooked’ is for general information purposes only and represents the opinions of the host and guests. The content on the podcast and website should not be taken as medical advice. Every person’s body is unique, so please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions that may arise.

Elle Murata is a neuroscientist with PCOS. When she was diagnosed - and dismissed in the same appointment - she designed a study and made herself the subject. This episode is about how PCOS is really a systemic disorder, how it impacts the brain, and what medicine still doesn’t know.

For a deeper dive into PCOS and this episode, subscribe to the newsletter: https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/f8ebd706ad

More on Elle Murata - https://www.ellemurata.com/

What to listen to next: What is PMDD? https://overlooked.simplecast.com/episodes/what-is-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-with-author-shalene-gupta

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE SHOW: Overlooked tells powerful stories about women's health conditions that don't get enough attention. The show is hosted by Golda Arthur, an audio journalist and producer. Learn more about the show here: https://bit.ly/TheOverlookedNewsletter

Follow the show, and episodes will come to you automatically.

DISCLAIMER What you hear and read on ‘Overlooked’ is for general information purposes only and represents the opinions of the host and guests. The content on the podcast and website should not be taken as medical advice. Every person’s body is unique, so please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions that may arise.

This episode comes from our listeners, and features their stories about diagnosis and recovery, health and illness - documenting what they have lived through, how it has changed their bodies, and what this health journey has meant to them. 

This episode features stories from Kasia Woźniak and Melissa Kirk.

These immersive and personal audio stories from our listener community come from First Person Health, a storytelling workshop from Overlooked. If you have a story about your health that you want to tell, learn more and sign up here: https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/firstpersonhealth

 

ABOUT THE SHOW: Overlooked tells powerful stories about women's health conditions that don't get enough attention. The show is hosted by Golda Arthur, an audio journalist and producer. Learn more about the show here: https://bit.ly/TheOverlookedNewsletter

Follow the show, and episodes will come to you automatically.

DISCLAIMER What you hear and read on ‘Overlooked’ is for general information purposes only and represents the opinions of the host and guests. The content on the podcast and website should not be taken as medical advice. Every person’s body is unique, so please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions that may arise.

Nancy King Reame, Professor Emerita at Columbia University's School of Nursing, has spent decades researching tampon safety. She was on the FDA task force that investigated the link between tampons and toxic shock syndrome in the early eighties - a deadly outbreak that killed dozens of women and affected hundreds more. Her research led to the absorbency scale printed on every box of tampons sold. Nancy King Reame says even today, we still don't fully know what goes into a tampon.

Nancy Reame is the Mary Dickey Lindsay Professor of Health Promotion, Risk Reduction (Emerita), at the Columbia University School of Nursing. This episode covers:

-The history of toxic shock syndrome and its link to tampon absorbency in the 1980s

-How tampons are still tested using a synthetic vagina and blue-dyed salt water — not menstrual fluid

-Why we don't know the specifics of what goes into a tampon

For a further deep dive into this episode, subscribe to our newsletter: https://overlookedpodcast.kit.com/f8ebd706ad

What to listen to next: another episode on women’s health history - the story of the Dalkon Shield IUD: https://overlooked.simplecast.com/episodes/the-dark-history-of-the-dalkon-shield-iud-with-chikako-takeshita

This episode is sponsored by Raesyn Footwear. Raesyn is built for women who move - with purpose, with pace, and on their own terms. What began as a belief that walking deserves better became a movement to take it seriously again. Raesyn women's walking shoes are engineered for long walks, fast miles and all-day comfort. Overlooked listeners can click this link for a discount on their purchase: https://raesyn.com/discount/OVERLOOKED

ABOUT THE SHOW: Overlooked tells powerful stories about women's health conditions that don't get enough attention. The show is hosted by Golda Arthur, an audio journalist and producer. Learn more about the show here: https://bit.ly/TheOverlookedNewsletter

Follow the show, and episodes will come to you automatically.

DISCLAIMER What you hear and read on ‘Overlooked’ is for general information purposes only and represents the opinions of the host and guests. The content on the podcast and website should not be taken as medical advice. Every person’s body is unique, so please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions that may arise.