Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices [Paperback]

Susan M. Love (Author), Karen Lindsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2003

In the first edition of this important bestselling book, praised by Newsday as “the bible for a whole generation of menopausal women,” renowned physician and pioneering women’s health advocate Dr. Susan Love warned about the potential dangers of the long-term prescription of hormone replacement therapy. Her insightful words of caution have been backed up by the stunning results of the recent studies on hormone replacement.

In this revised edition, Dr. Love offers a remarkably clear set of guidelines as to what the studies have shown about the risks regarding heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, and other conditions, and what effect hormone therapy has on osteoporosis. She offers definitive expert advice about whether or not to go on hormone replacement therapy and, if so, for how long, as well as how to taper off hormones; and she introduces the alternative methods for treating the symptoms of menopause.

Dr. Love stresses that menopause is not a disease that needs to be cured—it is a natural life stage, and every woman ought to choose her own mix of options for coping with symptoms. A questionnaire about your own health history and life preferences helps you develop a program that will best fit your unique needs. With clarity and compassion, she walks you through every option for both the short and the long term, including:

• lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, and stress management)
• alternative therapies (including herbs and homeopathic remedies)
• available medications other than hormones

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DR. SUSAN LOVE, M.D., is an adjunct professor of surgery at UCLA and the president of the Susan Love, M.D., Breast Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the eradication of breast cancer. She is the author, with Karen Lindsey, of the renowned Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book. She lives in Los Angeles..

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Revised edition (January 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609809962
• ISBN-13: 978-0609809969
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

134 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC ATTITUDE!!, November 13, 2003

By 

MPB "MP" (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices (Paperback)

This is a revision of Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book - which was updated and republished after the Prempro arm of the Women's Health Initiative was halted.

The best thing about this book is its perspective. Susan Love writes as a woman experiencing menopause. She's a doctor and serious researcher who insists on hard EVIDENCE, not just good theories. She's a doctor who feels a responsibility to her patients and readers, a responsibility to fully and accurately INFORM them, so that they can make their OWN choices. She's a researcher who knows how to analyze and re-analyze data. She is open minded.

This book sets out to inform women about menopause, its mechanisms, its symptoms, its accompaniments, and ALL the available treatment choices from positive thinking, to diet, to acupuncture, to herbs, to pharmaceuticals, to exercise, and everything in between. It includes information on what is and isn't known about each possible treatment, as well as the risks and benefits of each.

Dr. Love is not looking for "converts" to one side or the other of the "hormone wars," as so many menopause/hormone authors seem to be. She is not the sort of doctor who tells patients/readers what to do. She clearly feels that every woman should make her OWN choices, and that those choices will be different for each individual woman. While educating her readers, she is also good enough to state her own positions, so readers can factor in consideration of her personal prejudices. Yet, she clearly supports women's choices whether or not they are ones she would make herself. She asks only that those choices be based on understanding and knowledge.

The Prempro phase of the Women's Health Initiative was halted due to the serious side-effects of that drug. Susan Love largely predicted those results in the earlier editions of this book. She had the courage to stand-up to other doctors in a field which is not her specialty (she's a breast surgeon), and question the "evidence" upon which they relied for their theories and therapies. She stuck to her guns although she was severely criticized (and readily admitted when she herself was in error). Despite the fact that Dr. Love was widely vindicated by the Women's Health Initiative, she refrains from taking an "I told you so" position in this new edition that incorporates the Prempro findings of the WHI.

This book goes further than just informing. It goes into detail on just about every possible form of menopause therapy: eastern, western, new-age and old wives' tale. It also details virtually every variety of drug, every dosage, every form of administration, as well as the particulars of what actions specific medications, herbal and naturopathic remedies might have. Dr. Love educates us with whatever solid knowledge there is about each, and she gives us tools to help evaluate future data. She is a scientist whose mind is open to considering all possibilities. And, she's a woman who knows the menopause experience.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Menopause - a user's guide., April 1, 2006

By 

Ima Reader (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices (Paperback)

The most practical, informative, and entertaining (I'm not kidding) book I've found on perimenopause and menopause. Dr. Love tells you what you may (or may not) experience, without committing a "one-experience-fits-all" blunder. I enjoy her social commentary regarding American attitudes toward women, aging, and aging women. It's especially helpful to me as I near this second puberty.

Women and men of all ages would probably benefit from reading Chapter Two alone. The pharmaceutical companies are not (necessarily) your friends.

Good stuff.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DESERVES SIX STARS, June 8, 2007

By 

Pamela D. Blair "Author, Psychotherapist & Li... (Hawthorne, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dr. Susan Love's Menopause and Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices (Paperback)

This important book has been around for a while and now it's been updated! What a treasure. Every woman should read this. The information is valuable and usable. I highly recommend it. Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond