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Summary
On episode 637 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Sharon Malone, a board-certified OBGYN and certified menopause practitioner who practiced medicine in Washington, D.C. for more than 30 years and now serves as Chief Medical Officer of Alloy Women’s Health.
Her book, Grown Woman Talk, makes the case that medicine has shifted from long-term, personal doctor relationships to transactional visits, which means patients now need to become their own best primary caregiver, from choosing a doctor to tracking their own medical history.
The conversation also covers building a medical family tree, managing polypharmacy, and why weight gain after 40 is driven by a mix of aging and menopause rather than a mystery.
Links
- https://drsharonmalone.com
Key Takeaways
- You need to become your own best primary caregiver. The long-term, personal doctor-patient relationship of the past has largely disappeared. Insurance changes and staff turnover mean no one knows your history better than you do, so you have to track it yourself.
- Bring someone with you or record the visit. Fear and anxiety block people from hearing what a doctor actually says, especially with difficult news. Dr. Malone recommends bringing a second person to appointments or simply asking to record the conversation on your phone.
- Choosing a doctor takes real due diligence. Check board certification and any reported issues, but the most useful step is calling the office directly to ask about wait times and how urgent needs are handled. Online ratings skew toward extreme experiences and should be weighed cautiously.
- A medical family tree matters, but genetics is not destiny. Knowing patterns like early strokes, cancer, or diabetes in your family gives you a heads-up on risk, not a guaranteed outcome. It is an opportunity to change behavior early, not a life sentence.
- Polypharmacy requires active management. Patients often end up on five or more medications from multiple doctors who are not communicating with each other. Dr. Malone advises asking why you are taking each medication and whether a cheaper, equally effective option exists.
- Weight gain after 40 is a mix of aging and menopause. Declining estrogen changes body composition, trading muscle for fat, which slows metabolism even at a stable weight. Exercise is essential for health but functions mainly to preserve weight, not to drive weight loss on its own.
- Midsection fat during menopause is more dangerous than it looks. Falling estrogen shifts fat storage toward the abdomen, where it accumulates around vital organs like the heart, making it a bigger health risk than the same fat stored elsewhere.
- Prevention beats correction. Dr. Malone tells patients it is far easier to avoid gaining a pound or two a year than to lose 10 or 20 pounds a decade later, and the real goal is staying metabolically healthy rather than hitting a specific number on the scale.
- Dr. Malone’s three strategies to get and stay well: practice interoception by knowing what your body feels like when it is genuinely free of pain and fatigue, protect your mental health and remove yourself from chronically toxic situations, and maintain a strong community to counter isolation and loneliness.
“Just because you have a family history of something does not mean that that is your destiny.”
Dr. Sharon Malone
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 641 – Managing menopause with Dr. Mary Claire Haver
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 637
Published: 2024-04-09
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Dr. Sharon Malone, a board-certified OBGYN and a certified menopause practitioner who has practiced medicine in the nation’s capital for more than 30 years, Grown Woman Talk
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)