Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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

I read this book cover to cover-it's a little dry in places, but that's what you want in a resource-all the pertinent info available. I have gone back to this book several times for enlightenment as I am going through this stage in my life and different health/body issues have come up for me. This is a book every perimenopausal woman should have on hand for reassurance and guidance.

Very informative. I was trying to be a supportive partner for my wife who has been suffering from Menopause for 5 years. She thaought it was dumb of me. Oh well. Just trying to ease her pain.

A few months ago (right around the time I turned 38), I started experiencing strange symptoms -- hot flashes, awful insomnia, mood swings, terrible cramps, my first migraine, etc. After looking around on-line and speaking with my doctor, I realized that I was starting perimenopause. I picked up this book and one other from Amazon, and have found this book to be extremely helpful.

Dr. Love is a recognized voice in the field of women's health, and the information she presents in this book is backed up by numerous references to scientific studies whose results have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Love provides a comprehensive overview of perimenopause and menopause, and she uses the analogy of the hormonal shifts that women experience at this time in their lives as akin to the hormonal shifts young women go through when they first begin menstruating. Hearing that analogy made a lot of sense to me -- and it also allowed me to be kinder to myself when I experience the mood swings I've been having.

A few reviewers have commented that this book meanders off into discussions of "hokey" things like acupuncture and treatments that come from Eastern medicine, but I feel like this is on of the books strengths. In a fair and balanced way, Love discusses the dangers and also the benefits of hormone replacement therapy, but she also addresses alternative treatments for those of us interested in different approaches.

Ann Louise Gittleman's book _Before the Change_ is another good book that offers useful advice about using nutrition to help with perimenopausal symptoms.

This was the perfect book for me when hot flashes started making my life a living hell!!! I felt miserable and had extreme insomnia - well Dr. Loves book covers all options - natural vs HRT and what is best for you. There is even a test to help you decide the best choices based on your family history and lifestyle. Her book shows the results of all the clinical trials which is great information. Happy to say - 3 months after making my own choices from Dr. Love's book I am sleeping all night and have no more hot flashes with progesteren cream and herbal supplements!!! Thank you Susan Love!!!!

The absolute best book on Women's health I have ever read, hands down. Everything a woman age 40 and up needs to know about her body and medical choices from a real authority on women's issues. A must have for any women's home library.

I would highly recommend this book to any woman who wants to get all the facts on menopause and the variety of treatments out there. I have Dr. Love's book on breast cancer and found that one to be a helpful resource as well.

The book was in good condition but after I started reading it the pages pulled away from the binding.