It's My Ovaries, Stupid! [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Lee Vliet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2003

This landmark work in women's health identifies and offers solutions to the hormonal dysfunctions afflicting millions of young women, teens, and even children, that rob women of future fertility and contribute to devastating problems -- from early onset puberty and obesity to depression and increased cancer risk.

Women's health is more than breast cancer, pregnancy, and menopause. In this groundbreaking new work, Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet identifies and explains rarely acknowledged, pervasive threats to young women's health and fertility -- PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), POD (Premature Ovarian Decline), and Premature Ovarian Failure (menopause in the young) -- and the overlooked causes of endometriosis, cystitis, early puberty, allergies, heart disease, mood disorders, depression, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, bone loss, anxiety, obesity, and diabetes.

A kind of "Silent Spring" of women's health, "It's My Ovaries, Stupid!" presents compelling evidence from worldwide research that common environmental toxins and endocrine disruptors in pesticides, plastic food wrappers, food additives, preservatives, soy supplements, aspartame in diet sodas and junk food, and more -- as well as lifestyle factors such as stress -- can all profoundly disrupt hormone function, even in childhood.

Insidious robbers of quality of life, fertility, and health, hormone dysfunctions are on the rise today, afflicting younger and younger women.

Why? What can you do about it? How can you get tested? What treatments are available? Dr. Vliet interprets the latest scientific research and draws on more than twenty years of clinical experience to answer these and many other crucial questions about commonhealth problems in young women.

Whose job is it to take care of the ovaries...beyond their function in reproduction? Why do you have trouble getting help for "hormone problems" that are clearly linked to your monthly cycle? "It's My Ovaries, Stupid!" bridges this gap in women's health care and shows you how to understand your symptoms and get reliable tests, how to receive treatment and improve your health, how to wade through the controversies surrounding hormone replacement therapy, and how to explore cutting-edge options for thyroid problems.

You can't afford "not" to read this book. Your life, your fertility, and your long-term health may depend on it. It's not all in your head, and it's not just stress. It's your ovaries!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the flippant title, this book offers a serious and comprehensive look at hormone dysfunction in women of all ages. Vliet, founder and medical director of HER Place Women's Center, believes that many women suffer needlessly because they are not being treated properly. According to the author, a variety of illnesses-depression, panic attacks, heart disease, diabetes, fertility problems-are related to hormonal dysfunction. Drawing on medical research as well as work in her own practice, Vliet (Screaming to Be Heard) provides a complete guide to ovaries, explaining how they work and what happens when they don't work properly, along with surgical and other treatment. Included are questionnaires so readers can self-diagnose and prepare themselves before visiting a doctor. Also particularly helpful are sidebar definitions and schematic diagrams showing the connection between hormone and illness, such as "How Stress Sabotages Your Health" and "Chemical Disruption of Thyroid Pathways." This is a detailed and sophisticated book, complete with a glossary of medical terms. Readers wanting spoon-fed simplified explanations of their "aches and pains" will find this book daunting, but women who want to become more knowledgeable and assertive patients will find it indispensable.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

b.s. Every woman in America should read this book. After bouncing from doctor to doctor for well over a year with symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, and heart palpitations, Dr. Vliet correctly diagnosed my hormonal problems. She gave me my life back! -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (May 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743210565
• ISBN-13: 978-0743210560
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo, Dr. Vliet, November 13, 2005

By 

butterflywebgraphics.com - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's My Ovaries, Stupid! (Hardcover)

Every woman should read this book!

I've suffered from PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) symptoms since my first period and went from doctor to doctor seeking help. As is typical, I was often told it was in my head. One doctor told me that my problem was: "The size of my ass and the amount of time I sit on it."
Forget that I was thin when the disorder first became debilitating. Another doctor told me that I couldn't have PCOS as I only had one cyst on my ovary--you don't have to have any cysts to have PCOS as Dr. Vliet explains in this book.

Many doctors out there are totally ignorant about PCOS and the complications it causes. A lot of them will put you on progesterone if you're having hormonal problems--though often the problem is estradiol deficiency (I've been there).

For me PCOS caused severe fatigue, depression, hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia, lack of libido, 90 pounds of weight gain, excess body hair, muscle and joint pain, irregular periods, PMS that lasts all month, mood swings, IBS, and many other symptoms. I became an invalid in my mid-20's due to PCOS and the resulting estradiol decline it caused. I was a medical student with a 3.9 GPA but had to discontinue my studies due to the severe fatigue the hormone imbalance caused.

More recently, I've developed high blood pressure, hyperplasia of the uterine lining and heart problems--all complications of PCOS--I'm only 40.

All along, I knew the problem was my hormones, but doctors didn't believe me or didn't know what to do about it. This book was enlightening. I read it and thought: 'Finally there's a medical professional out there who understands.' I was elated!

Luckily, I recently found a doctor who seems to have a good grasp of the disorder (though no one compares to Vliet) and I'm beginning to feel a little better. Nothing can fix the damage that the disorder has done to my body over the years; however, and I wish I could have read a book like this long ago.

A lot of women write to me about hypoglycemia, and I always recommend this book. Again, every woman should read this book. I can't recommend this or Vliet's other books highly enough. I'm grateful to her for her body of work and for helping people understand hormone disorders through these books.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ, September 29, 2004

By 

H. Adams (Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's My Ovaries, Stupid! (Hardcover)

Dr. Vliet is the most insightful doctor I have ever come in contact with. Over the past few years I had no clue what was going on with my body and hormones and as a 25 year old woman having hot flashes I knew something was wrong. After going over 11 months to my regular doctors and OB/Gyn I was convinced that I was going crazy because the 3 blood tests that they ran came up showing that my hormones were "normal". I read this book and became armed with so much knowledge that I scared my own doctors. I learned that there are many more tests that should have been ran but my doctors did not want to hear a patient tell them what to do. I went to Dr. Vliet and she has helped me re-gain my life, my self-esteem, and my womanhood. This book is informative and will give you a better understanding of your hormones and in this day and age we need to become our own doctors in a sense. The more informed you are the more powerful you become.

Additionally, if you have been diagnosed with PCOS or suspect that you may have PCOS you MUST READ THIS BOOK!

Many thanks to Dr. Vliet!

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book! Answers no one else will give you., May 20, 2004

By 

The_PCOS_Coach (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's My Ovaries, Stupid! (Hardcover)

Vliet does a wonderful job of explaining how hormones work and why you are dragging through life when they are out of balance. If you think you have a hormone problem, suffer from unexplained fatigue, have PCOS, endemetriosis, or any other female disorder, you need to read this book, Then, if your doctor is not listening, fire them and find someone who will help you get well.

She offers real information about the dangers of environmental chemicals and food additives that you won't find elsewhere. Learn what you need to know to regain your life and protect your body from the chemicals that are contributing to the epidemic of fertility problems, obesity, depression and fatigue.

My only problem with this book is that Vliet completely dismisses all natural treatments as dangerous. There are dangerous herbs, some of the most potent poisons come from plants. But the majority of herbs have a safety record that goes back centuries. I do hope she takes the time to learn about the herbs and natural treatments that are proven to work safely.