Tonya D. Huttenstine BSN, RN

07/25/2025

Daily check in: the huge holes left behind

07/24/2025

UTIs are common but can be tricky to spot in kids. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to prevent complications and keep your child comfortable and healthy. Our pediatric urology experts provide compassionate care tailored to your child’s needs! Learn the signs, symptoms, and treatment options in our latest blog: https://conradpearson.com/pediatric-urology/urinary-tract-infections-in-children/

07/24/2025

Daily check in: grief of things you miss

07/23/2025

🧠 Not just a gender gap, this study shows a reproductive stage gap.
A new study (Battillo & Malin, 2025) found that TMAO, a compound linked to heart disease risk, is significantly higher in postmenopausal women than in both premenopausal women and age- and BMI-matched men.
🔬 TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) is produced when gut bacteria metabolize nutrients like choline and carnitine—found in red meat, eggs, and dairy. High TMAO levels are associated with arterial stiffness, inflammation, and atherosclerosis.
What’s striking here isn’t just the gender difference,it’s the reproductive stage difference.
📊 Key findings:
✔️ Postmenopausal women had the highest TMAO levels, even though men had more dietary precursors (choline, carnitine).
✔️ TMAO levels in postmenopausal women were independent of blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and cardiorespiratory fitness.
✔️ This suggests that menopause itself—not just aging—alters how the body processes key metabolites related to heart disease.
This isn’t just another metabolic study, it’s a window into how the loss of estrogen rewires female physiology. And it reinforces what so many of us in midlife health already know: menopause is a whole-body shift, not a side note.
✨ I’m encouraged to see research that finally separates women by reproductive stage, not just by age or s*x. That distinction changes everything.
➡️ If you’re postmenopausal and wondering why heart disease risk goes up even with a healthy lifestyle, part of the answer may lie in emerging metabolic markers like TMAO.
📣 We need more research like this—research that treats midlife women as biologically distinct, not just smaller versions of men. Reproductive aging matters. Hormones matter. And science must catch up.
Reference:
Battillo DJ, Malin SK. Trimethylamine N-oxide is elevated in postmenopausal women relative to age-matched men and premenopausal women among individuals with obesity. Exp Physiol. 2025. doi:10.1113/EP092550

07/23/2025

Daily check in: Dumpster Fire kinda day

07/22/2025

Deep greif changes you.

07/22/2025

Daily check in: Deep greif changes you.

07/21/2025

He also makes your yard look great….. just sayin’

07/20/2025

Estrogen is like the quiet conductor of an entire orchestra. It keeps your body working in harmony in many ways you may have never realized. And when it starts to fluctuate and fade, that harmony can feel like chaos, unless you know how to adapt. For generations we’ve been told estrogen is the “...

07/20/2025

07/19/2025

07/18/2025

Daily check in: I am not stuck