Ep120 - Menopause and Sleep: How Could We Sleep Better During Menopause Period - With Dr. Baker

OVERVIEW

Menopause is a stage in a women’s life when the ovaries stop producing hormones and stop menstruating. Typically, menopause is tied with symptoms of hot flashes that can lead to sleep disturbances and insomnia. The complexity does not end with hot flashes but also hormonal changes.

In this episode, Dr. Fiona Baker will help us understand the hormonal changes that happen during the menopause transition of women. she’ll focus on understanding the interplay between sleep physiology and women’s health.

Fiona Baker, Ph.D. is the Director of Center for Health Sciences at SRI International, which she joined in 2005. She focuses on understanding the interplay between sleep physiology and human health across the lifespan. Baker is a world expert on issues of sleep in women. Her areas of research include sleep EEG, sex differences in sleep, sleep in menopause, relationships between sleep and cardiovascular functioning, and interactions between brain development, sleep, and behaviors such as alcohol use, across adolescence.

Dr. Baker has published more than 100 scientific papers on issues of sleep in women in the context of reproductive stages; her research has advanced understanding of insomnia that develops during the menopausal transition and revealed interactions between the female reproductive system and sleep and circadian regulatory systems.

WHAT WILL WE LEARN

1:22 - Introduction
2:02 - How Dr. Fiona got interested in the study of sleep
3:43 - Understanding Sleep in mid-life women
4:42 - Complex interactions in mid-life
8:23 - Coping with sleep disruption and hot flashes
10:57 - Defining menopause
14:20 - Variations and transition to menopause
16:33 - Support needed by women undergoing through same mid-life stage

RESOURCES

Dr. Fiona Baker - Publications
Dr. Fiona Baker - SRI
Research
- Alzueta, E., Perrin, P., Baker, F. C., Caffarra, S., Ramos‐Usuga, D., Yuksel, D., & Arango‐Lasprilla, J. C. (2021). How the COVID‐19 pandemic has changed our lives: A study of psychological correlates across 59 countries. Journal of clinical psychology, 77(3), 556-570.
- Kiss, O., Alzueta, E., Yuksel, D., Pohl, K. M., de Zambotti, M., Műller-Oehring, E. M., ... & Baker, F. C. (2022). The Pandemic's Toll on Young Adolescents: Prevention and Intervention Targets to Preserve Their Mental Health. Journal of Adolescent Health.
- https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2022/01/social-connectedness-sleep-and-physical-activity-associated-with-better-mental-health-among-youth-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
Sleep Resource Center