Improving Sexual & Urological Health in Males and Females | Dr. Rena Malik

(uptempo music) Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Rena Malik. Dr. Rena Malik is a board-certified urologist and pelvic surgeon. She is an expert in both male and female urological, pelvic floor, and sexual health. During today's episode, Dr. Malik answers the most commonly asked questions about urinary, pelvic, and sexual health, for instance, how to avoid getting UTIs, urinary tract infections. We also discuss pelvic floor anatomy and function as it relates to overcoming an overly tight or an overly relaxed pelvic floor. This is a key distinction that most people aren't aware of. Many people hear about the need to so-called strengthen their pelvic floor, but in fact, many people need to do the exact opposite. They need to learn to relax their pelvic floor in order to achieve proper urologic and sexual function. So, today you'll learn about that. You will also learn about sexual health as it relates to erectile function, as it relates to things like vaginal lubrication, as it relates to orgasm. We separate out, very carefully, the difference between psychological desire and arousal that occurs within the genitals themselves, and Dr. Malik highlights some important misconceptions about sexual dysfunction, for instance, that many people believe that hormones are responsible for sexual dysfunction. But in reality, hormone dysregulation is responsible for only a very small percentage of sexual dysfunction, and yet pelvic floor and blood flow-related issues can account for a large number of cases of sexual dysfunction in both males and females. So, I assure you that today's discussion is going to illuminate many new areas of information, many new tools and protocols that I'm guessing most people have not heard of. We talk about the neural, vascular, that is blood flow-related, and muscular aspects of bladder function, prostate function, Skene's glands. We talk about vaginal health as well as penile health. We talk about these things as it relates to different stages across the lifespan. It is a far-reaching and in-depth and practical conversation that I'm certain everyone will glean important takeaways from. Now, before we go any further, I do want to highlight that the content of today's episode is sexual in nature. We talk very directly about different types of sexual behavior, and we talk about it from the standpoint of the clinician and biologist, so it is a medical/scientific discussion. That said, we can't be aware of where this podcast is being played and who is listening, and I assert that there are certain themes within today's discussion that would not be suitable for young children. How young? Well, that is certainly not for us to discern. We realize that different parents and different households should be the arbiters of what sorts of information their children are exposed to or not. So my suggestion would be that if you have any concern whatsoever that the content of today's episode would not be appropriate to be heard by some member of your family, that you please listen to the podcast first or at least check the timestamps where we've detailed what specific topics are covered and then to make your decision accordingly. I should mention that not only is Dr. Malik still an active clinician. She sees patients daily out of her clinic in Southern California, and we've provided a link to that clinic in the show note captions. She's also authored dozens of high-quality peer-reviewed publications in the fields of urology, pelvic health, and sexual health, and we've also provided a link to that bibliography in the show note captions. And she's also a spectacular public educator. She provides zero-cost content about sexual health, pelvic floor health, and urology as it relates to both men and women on her YouTube channel, and there, too, we've provided a link to Dr. Malik's YouTube channel in the show note captions to this episode. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero-cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is ROKA. ROKA makes eyeglasses and sunglasses that are of the absolute highest quality. I've spent a lifetime working on the biology of the visual system, and I can tell you that your visual system has to contend with an enormous number of challenges in order for you to be able to see clearly. ROKA understands this and has developed their eyeglasses and sunglasses so that you always see with perfect clarity. In addition, they are extremely lightweight, and they won't slip off your face if you get sweaty. Indeed, ROKA eyeglasses and sunglasses were initially designed for performance in sports, but now they include aesthetics and styles that are really designed to be worn any time. I, for instance, wear readers at night. I'll sometimes wear sunglasses during the day when I drive. And of course, I do not wear sunglasses when I do my morning sunlight viewing, which I highly recommend everyone do their morning sunlight viewing. If you'd like to try ROKA eyeglasses or sunglasses, you can go to ROKA, that's R-O-K-A .com, and enter the code HUBERMAN to save 20% off your first order. Again, that's ROKA, R-O-K-A .com, and enter the code HUBERMAN at checkout. Today's episode is also brought to us by Helix Sleep. Helix Sleep makes mattresses and pillows that are customized to your unique sleep needs in order to allow you to get the best possible night's sleep.Now, sleep is the foundation of mental health, physical health, and performance. When we are sleeping well and enough, mental health, physical health, and performance all stand to be at their best. One of the key things to getting a great night's sleep is to make sure that your mattress is tailored to your unique sleep needs. Helix Sleep has a brief two-minute quiz that if you go to their website, you take that quiz and answer questions such as, "Do you tend to sleep on your back, your side, or your stomach? Do you tend to r- run hot or cold in the middle of the night?" Maybe you don't know the answers to those questions, and that's fine. At the end of that two-minute quiz, they will match you to a mattress that's ideal for your sleep needs. I sleep on the Dusk, D-U-S-K, mattress, and when I started sleeping on a Dusk mattress about two years ago, my sleep immediately improved. So if you're interested in upgrading your mattress, go to helixsleep.com/huberman, take their two-minute sleep quiz, and they'll match you to a customized mattress for you. And you'll get up to $350 off any mattress order and two free pillows. Again, if interested, go to helixsleep.com/huberman for up to $350 off and two free pillows. We are always striving to make the Huberman Lab Podcast better, and to that end, we need your help. Over the next month, we are going to be carrying out a survey. The purpose of the survey is to improve the Huberman Lab Podcast according to your feedback. We put together a brief survey to understand what you love about the podcast, hopefully you love a few things at least, or maybe just one thing, as well as what you think could be improved, or perhaps the many things that you think could be improved about the Huberman Lab Podcast. Basically, what we are asking is to get your feedback so that we can improve any and all things about the Huberman Lab Podcast. The survey does not take long and every single response will be reviewed. As a thank you for completing the survey, we are offering two months free of the Huberman Lab Premium Channel. If you're already a member of the Huberman Lab Premium Channel, do not worry, you will get an additional two free months for carrying out this survey. You can find the link to the survey in the show notes for this podcast episode and on our website, hubermanlab.com. So if you would be so kind as to take a few minutes to fill out the survey and help us continue with bringing you the best possible content here at the Huberman Lab Podcast. And as always, thank you for your interest in science. And now for my discussion with Dr. Rena Malik. Dr. Rena Malik, welcome.