RENOWNED physician and women’s hormone specialist Dr Louise Newson is staging her new show Breaking the Cycle: The Power of Hormones at the Hall for Cornwall on Friday, May 22.

The new show challenges everything you’ve been told about hormones.

Hormones are important chemical messengers found throughout your body, telling it what to do and when. They are involved in your growth and development, metabolism, emotions, sexual and reproductive function, sleep and blood pressure. They help you feel happy, sad, furious and everything in between.

But how do hormones really work? And how can we harness them for a happier, healthier life? Why is there so much confusion and misunderstanding about hormones? What is the difference between your own hormones and synthetic hormones, including contraceptives, available on prescription? In Breaking the Cycle: The Power of Hormones, Dr Louise will be answering these questions and more.

Known as “the medic who kick-started the menopause revolution,” Dr Louise will be unpacking the history and the often-neglected science of hormones. She will be revealing decades of misinformation, medical misogyny and attempts for doctors to be silenced by the establishment, all leading to harms to the health of women.

Dr Newson spoke about her new show ahead her visit to the Hall for Cornwall.

The new tour is called Breaking the Cycle: The Power of Hormones. What's your mission behind this tour?

“I want not only to empower the audience, but to shock actually. With this tour I want to educate as many people as possible about the numerous essential roles the hormones progesterone, estradiol and testosterone have throughout our bodies and especially in our brains so people can truly understand what can happen when those hormone levels reduce or change.

“Through my own research I’ve discovered some really shocking facts about how women with hormonal changes are mistreated – not only in the past, but in the present day. I’m keen to share this with others so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes and help women take charge of their own health and hormones so we can change the future together.”

Who should go and see the show?

“Breaking the Cycle: The Power of Hormones is a must-see not only for women who are curious about their own bodies and want to improve their future health, but anyone who knows and cares about women. I’ll be taking the audience on a hormone journey from the teenage years onwards, so it’s something that people can bring their teenage daughters and upwards to so women can really learn more about how important hormones are for their health and wellbeing.”

What's different about this show compared to your previous tour in 2024?

“I had an incredible response from my first tour, and it really lit a fire in me after hearing how so many women out there are struggling to get the right type and dose of hormones because of misinformation and a lack of knowledge.

“This has to change, and as the title suggests, the new tour is about breaking that cycle. It’s going to be bolder, with more insight, more science, more real stories and eye-opening facts that really will change everything you think you know about hormones and their impact on your current and future health.”

You say the tour 'is more than a health talk' – can you expand on that?

“I want this show to be the start of a movement where we can help each other to end the suffering of women, and the audience is going to be a key part of that.

“Knowledge really is power, and the audience will be discovering how for so long hormones have been misunderstood, the confusion around older types of HRT and hormonal contraceptives and how women have been mistreated or ignored by our healthcare systems. I want this show to be a turning point, where audiences can take their new-found knowledge to improve not only their health, but the health of their loved ones and colleagues too by sharing this knowledge more widely.”

What's going to be the most surprising or memorable part of the show?

“I can’t give too much away because I don’t want to spoil the surprise for the audiences, but safe to say there will be many facts that will resonate with many people and likely to make them reflect on various family members too. There will be many surprising facts about medications that are prescribed to women more commonly than HRT.”

What are the key things the audience will leave with after watching the show?

“I want this tour to be a catalyst for change. I always end my Dr Louise Newson Podcast with three take-home tips, so to borrow the same format, I’d say audiences will leave feeling empowered, enlightened and awakened – and ready to be part of that change.”