Dr Louise Newson at Lighthouse Poole Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Lisa

When we saw that Dr Louise Newson was on at Poole Lighthouse talking about hormones and the menopause, I was very excited to go and see her with my friend! We have listened to her podcasts before and found her advice very helpful, so it was a privilege to see her in person, and she was accompanied by Anne Gildea to bring some comedy to the evening.

The evening started with a bit of comedy to warm the crowd up, and then Louise came on and told us a story about a woman who was struggling with feeling depressed, getting angry, even forgetting her password at work, but wasn’t being diagnosed correctly. Obviously, this turned out to be her story but it helped us connect with her to begin with. She went on to tell other stories of people who were misdiagnosed with depression, and then on to the science behind the different hormones we have and what happens to our bodies during the menopause. There were some scary statistics of health conditions women are more likely to have to deal with as they get older and hormones reduce, with dementia being the largest killer in women. Anne would come on intermittently during some of the serious parts and deliver one liners, which although were funny, did feel slightly strange to include in more of a ‘lecture’ style evening.

We then had an interval where we could buy a drink at the bar, and also write any questions we had for Louise to answer. During the 2nd half we heard more about HRT and how they came in to being (including a history lesson about what has been tried in the past), and the differences between synthetic and natural versions. We learnt about how they are not prescribed or understood widely enough in her opinion, and that as a nation we are simply watching women suffer. She also touched briefly on needing to exercise to help reduce osteoporosis and build the muscle that we will lose during the menopause, and answered some of the questions posted.

It was a very informative evening and we felt we learnt a great deal and that this topic should be talked about more often. However, I would personally have added in more videos rather than try to include comedy as it didn’t seem to fit with the presentation, and the use of sudden music in some slides behind Louise talking was quite distracting. Most of the audience were women as expected, but there were also a few men there and I wish I had taken my husband as it would have helped with his education on the menopause as well.

The show lasted for about 2 hours 20 minutes including the interval. Poole Lighthouse is easy to get to, and there is a multistorey car park right next door which, although tight to get in to, is so convenient. The lighthouse itself has a restaurant and bar and a theatre and concert hall – where we were seated for this show. Overall we had a good time and would recommend anyone else (both men and women) wanting to learn more about the menopause to look up Dr Louise Newson and learn from her fountain of knowledge on the subject.

Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £32.45 – £55
For more information or to book tickets please go to: Dr Louise Newson: Hormones and Menopause – The Great Debate. – Lighthouse    https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/dr-louise-newson