Fiona Clark is an award-winning journalist, writer and passionate women’s health advocate. She is the author of MenoWars. Driven by frustration due to the lack of research into women’s health around menopause, she founded the Menopause Research and Education Fund, a charity which aims to support research into menopause related issues as well as providing evidence-based education and information for all those who go through menopause or support them.
Fiona started her career at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation back in the 1980’s working in TV news and quickly moved into investigative reporting, becoming the supervising producer of its flagship current affairs program, Lateline (similar to Newsnight).
With majors in anatomy and physiology, she returned to her first love, health, in the early 2000’s moving into medical publishing. She has worked at in various editorial roles in both print and online B2B and B2C publications and has written for prestigious publications including The Lancet. She continues to write for various medical education sites.
In this episode, Fiona shares her own menopause journey and explains why she wrote MenoWars. We discuss the growing challenge of menopause misinformation, the importance of understanding scientific evidence, and why social media can make it difficult to separate fact from opinion.
We explore menopause testing, supplements and HRT, including why symptoms should be considered alongside overall health and why ruling out other medical conditions is so important. Fiona also shares her concerns about the commercialisation of menopause and the rise of unsupported health claims.
A theme running throughout our conversation is the importance of lifestyle, particularly exercise, nutrition and bone health. We also discuss the urgent need for more research, better education for healthcare professionals, and the work of the Menopause Research and Education Fund.
Finally, Fiona reflects on life postmenopause and why these years can be a positive, fulfilling and empowering time of life.
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