Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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102 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most important book on women's health I've ever read., April 29, 1997
By A Customer
The author, a medical doctor with 30 years of private practice experience, decided that he wasn't being very effective in helping his women patients deal with unpleasant premenopausal and menopausal symptoms. He began to research the research on hormone balance, HRT (hormone replacement therapy), and the way the medical and pharmaceutical industries deal with the "disease" of menopause and "female problems." What he discovered was that treating menopause as an "estrogen deficiency disease" was exactly wrong. In fact he argues that premenopausal and menopausal women are much more likely to be in a state of "estrogen excess" relative to levels of progesterone, which are often close to zero. Estrogen excess leads to weight gain, mood disorders, endometriosis, low sex drive, fybrocystic breasts, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Yet what the most doctors and drug companies offer to do is to increase estrogen levels with synthetic hormones made with pregnant mare's urine and synthetic progestins. While this may temporarily relieve certain symptoms like vaginal dryness and hot flashes, this HRT regime ultimately leads to worse side effects, including increased breast cancer risk, increased bone loss, increased overall cancer risk, and increased heart disease risk. Yet we are told that HRT is the only way to prevent osteoporosis and heart disease! John Lee explodes these myths and many more, including that any woman needs anhysterectomy unless she has cancer (yet over 600,000 are done in the US each year, meaning 600,000 potential new consumers of HRT!!)Over the years he has helped thousands of women restore their hormone balance and their lives with diet, exercise, and the use of natural progesterone (usually applied topically in a cream). He convincingly demonstrates that this regimen can increase bone density (even in women in their 70's and 80's!), reduce fibrocystic breast problems and the risk of breast and other cancers, reduce the risk of heart disease, increase feelings of well-being, sex drive and energy levels, reduce PMS, migraine headaches and unpleasant menopausal symptoms. He also systematically reveals the role of "xenoestrogens," the thousands of synthetic chemicals in the environment and our food supply which mimic our bodies' hormones and which increasingly create havoc with our systems.But don't just take my word for it. Please go out and read this book, then pass it along to other women you care about, including your teenage daughters and your mothers
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116 of 117 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST READ for every woman, no matter her age!, December 29, 1997
This book should be titled "What Every Woman Needs to Know About Hormones". The information contained in this book is not just for menopausal women! Dr. Lee very clearly explains how hormones work in our bodies, how hormone imbalance can be misdiagnosed, how environmental toxins are affecting our hormone balance, how we can reverse osteoporosis and minimize many of the symptoms associated with the onset of menopause, and why synthetic hormones don't work and are indeed dangerous. He also explores the economic and political issues that have led to the proliferation and use of synthetic hormones at the expense of our health and why this information is being kept from the general public. As a medical doctor with over 30 years of experience, he has done much research into this topic and he sites many case studies to corroborate the information he presents about the use of natural progesterone. The book is easy to read, is referenced, has an extensive glossary, recommended reading and resource lists, and is fully indexed. This is one of the most important books on women's health I have read in years and I am recommending it to every woman I know, no matter what their age! I have already bought copies for my two daughters, age 27 and 19.
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70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DR. LEE'S BOOK IS A GODSEND, July 10, 2001
In eight years I became "hot natured," gained 20 pounds, began to search for words and for the most part walked around in a fog. Chores I once accomplished with ease required great effort and I became impatient when I could not find things. Even more disabling-my occasional headaches increased to up to thirteen a month and became migraines. Since I'd just turned 51 a friend suggested it might be hormones and recommended I get a hormone saliva test. While I was waiting for the test results another friend gave me some progesterone cream. The results were almost immediate. The frequency and intensity of the migraines decreased, my mental fog lifted, I felt more relaxed and I had more energy. In short-I was my old self again. My hormone saliva test confirmed my suspicions-my estrogen and testosterone levels were normal but my progesterone level was near zero. That's when I found Dr. John R. Lee's book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You about Menopause." I was shocked to learn that most menopausal women of western industrial countries have estrogen dominance (they've become deficient in progesterone) because they've been exposed to more estrogen substances in their meat, detergents, pesticides, herbicides, auto pollution and plastic household utensils. The combination of environmental pollutants, lack of exercise, cultural attitude and a diet rich in animal fat, sugar, refined starches and processed food leads to Western women's estrogen levels to be twice as high as women in the Far East and in third-world-countries whose passage through menopause is mostly symptom free. To correct the progesterone deficiency Dr. Lee recommends natural progesterone made from Mexican wild yams or soy products as they can easily be used and eliminated by the body and have no known side effects. He said synthetic hormones like progestin are not the equivalent to natural hormones and put women at risk of endometrial and breast cancer, autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis and other symptoms. I was surprised to learn that since the 1800s natural substances such as progesterone cannot be patented. Since man-made hormones are more profitable for the pharmaceutical companies (who delineate the protocols for research) they have a huge impact on science. Because of advertising many people, including physicians, think that progestin, a synthetic product, is actually progesterone. For example, estrogen alone is credited for a decrease in heart attacks and an increase of bone mass in post menopausal women but the confounding effect of progestins has never been studied. Dr. Lee's own research shows reversals of osteoporosis without the use of estrogen supplements. Best of all natural progesterone cream may help reduce or prevent migraines as it counteracts blood vessel dilation, restores normal vascular tone, and helps with blood sugar control. Since I've read Dr. Lee's book and started the natural progesterone I've heard many "miracle" stories about the cream from others and I'm delighted to ad my own.
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