Taking Notes

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If 2020 was all about the struggles of public health, 2026 is all about the pursuit of personal health. Wearables, biomarker testing, and body scanning will, in the most optimistic of visions, usher in a new era of preventative care. Or we’ll all become obsessive and neurotic thanks to a deluge of data. Or both!

In San Francisco, this future state is present tense. All sorts of novel treatments and devices and technology are being deployed as part of a male-dominated longevity gold rush. This week in the New Yorker, we catch a glimpse of what female-focused longevity services look like in a report titled “The Billionaires’ Vagina Club” (as the clientele of in-demand concierge gynecologist Sally Greenwald was temporarily dubbed).

Thernstrom met Greenwald before her services became strictly concierge, when she was still consulting for a primary-care office. At the time, she was suffering from various perimenopausal symptoms (insomnia, brain fog, painful sex) and found herself dismissed and condescended to by a procession of time-strapped OB/GYNs.

Greenwald’s prescription? “Estrogen patch (estradiol, 0.075 mg.), vaginal ring (Estring, 7.5 mg.), estrogen cream (estradiol, 0.01 per cent), oral progesterone (Prometrium, 100 mg.), compounded testosterone cream (start at 1 mg., then move to 2 mg.—up to 10 mg.).” Thernstrom says she sent it to her friends, who brought it to their doctors, who then — after much cajoling — prescribed the same.

Greenwald is part of the “healthmaxxing” movement, with a focus on a woman’s “sexspan.” Her services cost thousands of dollars per patient per year, and she’s fully booked. She sees middle-aged women who want the newest and most promising medications and treatments, even if the evidence isn’t fully in yet. (Like many in SF, they seem to be possessed with, as writer Melanie Thernstrom puts it, “the widespread conviction that everything — even one’s body, aging and mortality notwithstanding — must and will improve, like each new iteration of iPhone.”) Forget looking young, they want to feel young. Wonder if a certain tech CEO’s voluptuous second wife is a client.

Bye,
Your friends at Gloria

Everyone’s looking very sporty these days. Running shorts have hit the mainstream, thanks to a combo of retro nostalgia, comfort and function, and an approachable price point. Adventurous wearers are styling them with non-sporty pieces, like heels (very Zoë Kravitz) or bohemian tops (classic Carrie Bradshaw); the rest of us are content to pair them with sneakers and tees. Here, 13 to check out.

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TO WATCH Who knew that a documentary about a sex-positive late-night TV host would be so heartwarming? Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story, out today on HBO, is about an iconoclast-activist-legend of the public access era. Sarah Jessica Parker, among others, produced.

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TO TRY We totally choked while trying to play this silly, zero-stakes lawnmowing game. Clearly, efficiency is not our core strength.

TO MAKE This Allison Roman tea cake is simple enough for even novice, time-strapped bakers to nail. Do not skip the lemon slices on the top; we thought they were the best part.

TO LISTEN La Roux, the androgynous British synth-pop act whose single “Bulletproof” was inescapable in the late aughts, is coming out with a new album this fall. The first singles off Old Flames feel very ‘90s-inspired. “Cabin Fever” is good, but we like “Babyline” even better.

AI listening devices are being marketed to help seniors age in place. Is it worth the privacy tradeoff? • People are using prescription eye drops to make their upper lids look less droopy (be careful!). • Is it perimenopause, or is it hypothyroidism? • “Re: camp: a few notes.”

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