Customer Reviews

The Complete Thyroid Book: Everything You Need to Know to Overcome Any Kind of Thyroid Problem

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book answered all my questions on thyroid cancer, and in EASY to UNDERSTAND language. Dr. Ain has WONDERFUL information he shares with us! And there is everything else a thyroid cancer patient would need to know about hypothyroidism, thyroid hormone, lifestyle issues, etc. So although this is definitely a book for all people with thyroid diseases of any kind, it's especially welcome for us thyroid cancer patients!

I'm a middle-aged engineer who knows the difference between "the right stuff" and crap. Nearly all the self-help health books on the rack at Borders were the wrong stuff. They contradicted much of the basic information I'd already pulled out of my own searches and didn't give me sufficient practical detail. This "Complete Thyroid Book" finally let me understand what was going on with my thyroid. It spelled out the issues with my hypothyroid problem and gave me details about my thyroid pills that even educated my pharmacist. I don't usually trust book cover blurbs, but after I googled Ain and Rosenthal the blurbs on this book were understatements. This book is truly "the right stuff".

I loved this book. I was diagnosed with Graves' disease after my first pregnancy, and there are a lot of things this book explained for me that I never knew, and that my doctors did not explain. I have had problems with my eyes, and I also did not understand radioactive iodine very well. There are a lot of things in this book that anyone with Graves' disease should know. There is a lot of stuff on hypothyroidism and proper treatment and tests that we need to know about that is hard to find elsewhere. I did not realize how much bad information is on the internet until I read this book.

As someone who has been struggling with hypothyroidism for many years, I highly recommend this book, which really provides the best information on thyroid disease I've seen yet. I have had a lot of trouble finding information on thyroid disease that I trust. There are a lot of strange things on the internet that didn't add up for me, and this book really helped me wade through the junk, and understand what treatments are right for me, and why some things I was reading did not make any sense.

I have a very busy family practice. I've always thought that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and educating my patients is always worth several ounces. I'm always searching the bookstore shelves for good books for my patients. This week I spent a couple of hours looking at thyroid books. At least a quarter of my patients have some sort of thyroid problem, usually hypothyroidism. Reading those books was certainly an eye-opener! I finally figured out why some of my patients were spouting off such nonsense to me about T3 treatment and thyroid extracts. One of them nearly caused herself a heart attack that way. Books by Mary Shomon, Ridha Arem, Broda Barnes and some other minor authors are riddled with misinformation. In fact, one of the reviews of this book (dated 7/9/05) seems to come from one of those misguided souls, apparently distrustful of any modern expert in the field.

The Complete Thyroid Book is the resource I've found to recommend to my patients. In fact, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I'm learning some things from it also. Everything in it that I've read, checks out as up to date and accurate. The authors probably feel the same way that I do about the misinformation going around since they have an entire chapter about it. This book lays out all the relevant thyroid information in a clear and comprehensive manner. All of my thyroid patients will be advised to pick it up.

My wife and I both have thyroid problems, and both work in the healthcare field. You'd think that we get great medical care, but our hospital has an awful health plan and sometimes I have to figure things out myself. My primary doc is only a nurse practitioner and I already know more about thyroids than she does. We have struggled to find reliable and in depth information on thyroid. This is the only book that gets our vote! Besides the expected great stuff on thyroid tests and lists of symptoms that you could find in a couple of other books, it's the only one that actually explained what was going on, why things should be done in a certain way, and made it completely clear. You'll find lots of bang for your buck! The title says it all: very complete!

I purchased this book from my local bookstore and loved it so much that I went to Amazon to order a copy for my sister-in-law. Let me tell you all --- I was SHOCKED to see the 2-star reviews listed here. This book has my votes for 6 stars (if they went that high)!!!!!!!! This book is absolutely NOT the "same old" info on thyroid disease. It gives the best information about the symptoms, tests and treatments for every imaginable thyroid problem. The authors COMPLETELY explain WHY you need certain tests, how to make sense of the results, and what your symptoms could mean. There is even a chapter devoted to explaining all the misinformation you find in other books! I think this is the absolute best thyroid book around. Other books by patients with no training in medicine don't give you good information because the authors don't know enough about thyroids themselves, so they tell you that "doctors don't know what they're talking about." The dark angel has a special place for them because they sell ignorant ideas that could hurt people.

I am thankful this book exists, but acknowledge that the authors are walking a very difficult and unpopular path: it's called the truth. I have several unhappy hypothyroid patients whon are "science deniers". They are further influenced by thyroid books that dispense dangerous guidance by questionable authors (some with absolutely no medical education) claiming that all doctors who practice conventional medicine are somehow corrupted by pharmaceutical companies. When I try to counsel them about appropriate therapy for hypothyroidism, they get upset when I suggest 21st century therapies and tests instead of Depression-era practices that have long been abandoned. Many patients have been doing their own reading, and have been exposed to simply wrong advice: mainly that the TSH test is somehow "evil" and that any type of thyroid hormone produced through biotechnology is equally suspect. I try to use my own health scenario - a female doc in her 50s who is managing hypothyroidism, too - as a way to reach some of my patients. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it's like having to defend things that ought to be self-evident: evolution or a "round" earth. Frankly, I've been in a quandary until I found this excellent book as a tool. And boy, do I use it.

I feel compelled to point out that some of the reviewers on this book page are woefully miseducated, if in fact these are "genuine" reviews by people who have actually read The Complete Thyroid Book. One reviewer curiously admits that she hasn't read the book, and yet is reviewing it nonetheless??

I find these reviews suspect because anyone who actually reads this book will clearly see the many pages dedicated to explaining the very things some of these reviewers claim it doesn't do:

1. The History of the TSH test, flaws with the established "normal range" and why the former "normal" range has been revised. All the information on TSH actually discusses how informed doctors use the TSH test, and how this test reflects the actual response of each patient's body to their thyroid hormone on a biochemical/cellular level. The human body is very, very complex and can have many different things wrong with it, all causing the same symptoms that seem to be hypothyroidism. Understanding and using the TSH test lets your doctor figure out when the low thyroid level is causing your symptoms and when something completely different (like sleep apnea or clinical depression) is causing your symptoms. There really isn't any such thing as a "TSH lovers" as one reviewer oddly labels these doctors. Are doctors also "MRI lovers" or CT-scan lovers" if they utilize the very best tools to assess their patients' health status?
2. This book explains the history of older diagnostic tests, such as basal body temperature tests, and why they are flawed and outdated. This book takes the time to discuss all the other diagnostic tests, including some that were used before the development of modern testing. I suppose some of the misguided reviewers that complain about this book would prefer that we not use modern blood tests to check their blood sugar. Instead, they would trust a doctor more if we had to taste their urine for sugar? The debate over TSH-tests versus basal body temperature testing is similar to a diabetic patient wanting a doctor to taste her urine instead of giving her a blood test that checks glucose levels. It's truly absurd.
3. This book discusses thyroid hormone therapy that is "bio-identical". What's wrong with natural thyroid hormone taken from animals, such as Armour? This book spends a lot of time explaining why it's not optimal - particularly for patients who require TSH suppression doses, or require a consistent level of thyroid hormone. Would a woman in menopause demand horse urine over bioidentical hormone replacement therapy? Should a diabetic patient demand beef or pig insulin, causing allergies and rashes, rather than the superior forms of insulin made through modern technology? Of course not! So why would a hypothyroid patient demand that I give them dried pig thyroid gland extract with an unreliable mixture of thyroid hormones, which can produce very uneven thyroid levels, instead of a pure formulation that will make them feel better? Anyone who reads this book will see that the authors are not promoting "Synthroid" over any other brand of levothyroxine sodium (they don't even mention brands at all); they are simply explaining why levothyroxine sodium is the best and appropriate thyroid hormone replacement therapy - because this is the TRUTH. Would some of these hypothyroid readers prefer we doctors prescribe recipes for pig thyroid gland dishes, and tell our patients to eat animal thyroid glands? That was what we did in the 19th century. Is this better because it's "natural?"
4. This book provides the latest knowledge about T3 supplementation and the false theory that T4 does not "convert" into T3. This absurd T4/T3 conversion "problem" some books and websites discuss, is not based on any known biological reality. T3 should not be a first line therapy; although it may be helpful in some patients with thyroid cancer, which this book discusses. I wholeheartedly support the authors taking a stand on this issue. Too many doctors prescribe T3 because they admit that they don't have the "time" to fight with their patients. The latest clinical studies all support the fact that T3 is not helpful for hypothyroid patients. This book goes into great detail about the studies on T3, and the bare facts.
5. It discusses the reason why some people feel "hypo" in spite of normal TSH levels - using the most up-to-date normal ranges. This book has the courage to state the reality that no hypo patient (including me) likes to hear. Fatigue and weight gain, depression, and the myriad of symptoms often associated with hypothyroidism are not always caused by hypothyroidism in a person who has normal thyroid hormone and TSH levels. These are symptoms in the vast majority of aging baby boomers - with both normal functioning thyroid glands and hypothyroidism. We're sedentary, getting older, and our metabolisms slow down with age. Many of us are sleep deprived or suffer from unrecognized sleep disorders. This occurs in the entire population of people with healthy thyroid glands, too. This book points to a long and wide range of other conditions readers need to explore, which need to be ruled out. This book explains that after a bout of hypothyroidism, we can get out of shape due to the severity of the hypothyroidism (particularly if it was long undiagnosed), and it can take much longer for us to "come back".

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I'll simply echo the five star reviews. I've read a lot of Thyroid books and agree that this one is the most complete, informative and also well written book I have read. Of the husband and wife team one is a long term medical writer on Thyroid; the other is a medical doctor with a Thyroid clinic in Lexington, Ky. Additionally, both author's are hypothyroid patients. This an introductory book instead of a medical text, obviously intended as basically explanatory of various thyroid problems. Where the book gives a point of view or preference to particular treatment or test, there is a thorough analysis and explanation. After reading this book you will understand why most thyroid doctors avoid prescribing T3, but also the arguments in favor. I found the book very even handed in its approach. If I had any complaint there might be a more detailed explanation of hypothyroid related to heart problems and the mechanics of congestive heart failure caused by hypo. I was very impressed with this book and as a hypo patient refer to it constantly.

I was mistreated for 6 years by a well intentioned family doctor whose wife read Mary Shoman books and took armour thyroid pills. He checked my basal body temperature, ignored my history of thyroid cancer, and NEVER CHECKED MY TSH. Meanwhile, the cancer had spread to my lungs and my supervisor wanted to get rid of me because I was tired all of the time. My neighbor told me about Dr. Ain and I bought this book to read before they got me an appointment with him. THIS IS THE REAL THING. After I saw Dr. Ain he found that the Armour didn't keep my TSH down and had helped the cancer spread and grow. He had to use radioactive iodine and change me to Levoxyl instead of Armour. My cancer is now GONE!! I dont feel tired anymore. Dr. Ain saved my LIFE!!!! I read the awful Robot people reviews that were probably made by Mary Shoman herself or someone else working for the Armour company. Dr. Ain's book, like him, is GENUINE!! Any doctor that refuses to check your TSH or uses outdated pig medicines should be sent a letter from your lawyer.