The Savvy Woman's Guide to PCOS: The Many Faces Of A 21st Century Epidemic... And What You Can Do About It. (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Lee Vliet (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is the most common endocrine cause of infertility and serious weight gain in young women. It affects millions—experts estimate about 6 to 10 percent of reproductive age women struggle with this devastating metabolic imbalance. Look around schools and malls in this country and you see the impact of this burgeoning epidemic: obese young women are everywhere. The numbers are staggering. The health risks are overwhelming—from increased risk of teenaged diabetes to young mothers with heart attacks or strokes, and early onset of breast and uterine cancers.

Early treatment is key to preventing serious health risks, but most sufferers don’t even know they have PCOS.Nor do doctors take it as seriously, often minimizing symptoms like excess body hair, weight gain, acne or thinning scalp hair, thinking they are just cosmetic" problems of overanxious young women. Gynecologists focus on helping women get pregnant rather than treating acne or weight gain. Endocrinologists typically consider ovarian problems the "turf " of gynecologists. Mood swings in PCOS can be severe, but psychiatrists typically don’t check hormones, so they don’t identify PCOS either. What’s a woman to do?

It’s not enough for doctors to tell women with PCOS to just "eat less and exercise more." Women need a practical guide to help them understand the disorder, know what tests to ask for, what the tests mean, what treatments are available, and how to take a stepwise approach to healthy hormone balance, sound meal plans, exercise, and stress management. This book provides the practical, user-friendly guide that women desperately need to be successful in getting help for this devastating disorder.

About the Author
Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D., is the founder and Medical Director of HER Place®: Health Enhancement and Renewal for Women Inc. She has studied and written about the effects of hormone changes on PMS, PCOS, migraines, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, osteoporosis and cardiovascular risks, etc. Her bestselling books include Screaming to Be Heard: Hormone Connections Women Suspect and Doctors Still Ignore, It’s My Ovaries, Stupid! and Women, Weight and Hormones. Dr. Vliet maintains a medical practice in Tucson, Arizona and Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas. For more information, visit Dr.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933213019
• ISBN-13: 978-1933213019
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, thorough, and extremely helpful, August 9, 2006

By	Raven (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This is the book I wish I had read fifteen years ago. Dr. Vliet thoroughly explains the multiple causes and complex hormonal activity that can cause PCOS, without ever condescending to the reader or filling her with despair. The informational dump can get a little overwhelming at times, but it's a complex subject. (I was so enthusiastic to see some real explanations of the nutty hormonal behaviour my body was manifesting that I tried to read it all in one go.) Dr. Vliet offers a recommended series of tests, explains what normal and atypical results are, makes suggestions for dealing with uncooperative doctors, and explains the various hormonal treatment options available. Rather than just suggesting diet and exercise treatments like so many other PCOS books, she presents additional options for those of us who didn't find diet and exercise to be sufficient remediation. I particularly appreciated the extended treatment of common additional conditions -- I had no idea that my heart problems were related to my endocrine system, or that my asthma medication could be throwing me out of balance, or that offset cortisol cycles could explain my trouble getting out of bed in the morning. After having read this book, I feel armed with enough scientific information to work with my doctor to more precisely pinpoint my hormonal levels, and to work to restore them to normal. Thank you, Dr. Vliet!

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you suspect you suffer from PCOS, your answer lies here., February 2, 2006

By	Kitty Werner "katinvermont" (Waitsfield, Vermont United States) - See all my reviews

Why is it that everyone overweight is assumed to be eating too much of the wrong foods? Or just plain pigging out? That isn't always so! Sometimes it is your hormones so out of whack that your body reacts badly. It isn't just food!
Finally, here's a book that lays out the entire spectrum of PCOS.
The Savvy Woman's Guide to PCOS is written for the patient to understand her options, as well as how to get help-what to look for, what are treatment options, what works and what makes matters worse. It can also be used by the medical community as a guide to treatment. So often patients are treated for so many varied symptoms, the entire person isn't considered. This generally makes the patient worse, not better.
Think of a bread mix: each ingredient is balanced to bake a perfect loaf. If the balance becomes haphazard-too much water, too little flour, not enough salt, for example-you don't have bread, you have mush.
The most galling issue regarding PCOS-the medical community is almost entirely ignorant of the disease! It is rare to find a doctor who even tries to diagnose it, much less treat it. That leaves women who suspect they have PCOS to educate themselves-and their doctors. They shouldn't have to continue to suffer due to medicine's ignorance.
The Savvy Woman's Guide to PCOS is a great step forward in the education process.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best PCOS book!, February 16, 2006

By	R. White - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best PCOS book I have found! Dr. Vliet has such a wealth of knowledge when it comes to hormones and especially PCOS. This book is laid out beautifully which makes it easy to find the information you are looking for. I own a library of books on PCOS and now only use this one, she really knows her stuff.