Why Women’s Brain Fog Gets Dismissed with Dr. Nicole Beurkens & Emma Heming Willis | E223

When her husband, actor Bruce Willis, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, Emma stepped into an unimaginable role

We received a diagnosis that I didn't understand.

We walked out with no hope, no direction, no roadmap

Why are we not getting this information out to the public? Why do not neurologists have this conversation with families?

We really need to figure out what is happening, why it's happening.

I learned how to separate my husband from his disease.

It is not by choice.

He is not doing this on purpose.

There's no way of knowing this might happen to you, and there's nothing that you can do.

It just can happen, and that is hard to grapple with.

There are things that we can do today that will help our brain tomorrow.

[upbeat music]

Well, hello, everyone.

I'm Dr. David Perlmutter.

Welcome again to The Empowering Neurologist.

Today's episode is both deeply personal and certainly, uh, important from a scientific and an empowerment perspective.

Uh, my guests are two remarkable voices coming at brain health from very different but certainly very complementary perspectives.

Emma Heming Willis is a mother, a step-mother, a wife, and now one of the most powerful advocates for caregivers in the world as it relates to n- neurodegenerative conditions.

When her husband, actor Bruce Willis, was diagnosed with something called frontotemporal dementia, uh, Emma stepped into an unimaginable role that really transformed her into a mission of, of support, uh, and supporting other people who are navigating the whole spectrum of neurodegenerative disease.

She's also the co-founder of Make Time Wellness, a platform, uh, that is devoted to advancing women's brain health and closing what she calls this silent gap, really focusing on the fact that women are at higher risk for things like Alzheimer's disease, a topic we've covered quite extensively on the program.

And joining her is Dr. Nicole Beurkens, who is a licensed psychologist and a board-certified nutrition specialist, whose, uh, nearly 30 years of work sit at the intersection of brain health, nutrition, and mental wellness.

Uh, with advanced training in clinical psychology, nutritional biochemistry, and developmental health, she brings a uniquely integrative lens to one of the most pressing questions of our time, which is what can we actually do day to day to protect the brain? Certainly something, you know, we're all interested on, uh, in rather here in, on the Empowering Neurologist program.

These two explore a critical and certainly under-recognized issue.

Again, why is it that women are at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease? What a question.

We're gonna look at things like hormonal transitions, like, uh, what things that go on during perimenopause, and how they may very well, these issues, play a central role.

Uh, this is a conversation about shifting from fear to empowerment, hence the Empowering Neurologist giving you tools.

Uh, so we can be looking at late stage treatment to even the notion of early prevention.

What a notion, prevention of neurodegenerative conditions.

And finally, the idea of reclaiming agency over our own brain health.

So let's get started in our podcast.

I think you're gonna find this to be, uh, very informational.

Emma, Nicole, welcome to the podcast.

When her husband, actor Bruce Willis, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, Emma stepped into an unimaginable role

We received a diagnosis that I didn't understand.

We walked out with no hope, no direction, no roadmap

Why are we not getting this information out to the public? Why do not neurologists have this conversation with families?

We really need to figure out what is happening, why it's happening.

I learned how to separate my husband from his disease.

It is not by choice.

He is not doing this on purpose.

There's no way of knowing this might happen to you, and there's nothing that you can do.

It just can happen, and that is hard to grapple with.

There are things that we can do today that will help our brain tomorrow.

[upbeat music]

Well, hello, everyone.

I'm Dr. David Perlmutter.

Welcome again to The Empowering Neurologist.

Today's episode is both deeply personal and certainly, uh, important from a scientific and an empowerment perspective.

Uh, my guests are two remarkable voices coming at brain health from very different but certainly very complementary perspectives.

Emma Heming Willis is a mother, a step-mother, a wife, and now one of the most powerful advocates for caregivers in the world as it relates to n- neurodegenerative conditions.

When her husband, actor Bruce Willis, was diagnosed with something called frontotemporal dementia, uh, Emma stepped into an unimaginable role that really transformed her into a mission of, of support, uh, and supporting other people who are navigating the whole spectrum of neurodegenerative disease.

She's also the co-founder of Make Time Wellness, a platform, uh, that is devoted to advancing women's brain health and closing what she calls this silent gap, really focusing on the fact that women are at higher risk for things like Alzheimer's disease, a topic we've covered quite extensively on the program.

And joining her is Dr. Nicole Beurkens, who is a licensed psychologist and a board-certified nutrition specialist, whose, uh, nearly 30 years of work sit at the intersection of brain health, nutrition, and mental wellness.

Uh, with advanced training in clinical psychology, nutritional biochemistry, and developmental health, she brings a uniquely integrative lens to one of the most pressing questions of our time, which is what can we actually do day to day to protect the brain? Certainly something, you know, we're all interested on, uh, in rather here in, on the Empowering Neurologist program.

These two explore a critical and certainly under-recognized issue.

Again, why is it that women are at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease? What a question.

We're gonna look at things like hormonal transitions, like, uh, what things that go on during perimenopause, and how they may very well, these issues, play a central role.

Uh, this is a conversation about shifting from fear to empowerment, hence the Empowering Neurologist giving you tools.

Uh, so we can be looking at late stage treatment to even the notion of early prevention.

What a notion, prevention of neurodegenerative conditions.

And finally, the idea of reclaiming agency over our own brain health.

So let's get started in our podcast.

I think you're gonna find this to be, uh, very informational.

Emma, Nicole, welcome to the podcast.