Screaming to be Heard: Hormonal Connections Women Suspect, and Doctors Still Ignore, Revised and Updated (Hardcover)

~ Elizabeth Vliet (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Vliet, the founder and medical director of a women's health care center, believes that hormones play a significant role in women's health, especially in the perimenopausal and menopausal years. Varying levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can be linked to depression, chronic fatigue, migraines, fibromylagia, bladder problems, heart disease, and cancer. Vliet convincingly defends hormone replacement therapy, although controversial, as a corrective and preventive treatment, providing it is individualized and integrated with alternative therapies. It is unfortunate that Vliet's book is aimed at health care professionals and informed lay readers, because the medical jargon can be arduous for general readers, yet its detailed information could help women make informed decisions. A broad overview can be found in Susan M. Lark's The Estrogen Decision: A Self-Help Program (National Nursing Consortium, 1994). Highly recommended for medical collections. (Index and illustrations not seen.)?Lisa A. Errico-Cox, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

In this book, Dr.Vliet continues her crusade to debunk myths and misinformation on women's health.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 639 pages
• Publisher: M. Evans and Company, Inc.; Rev Exp edition (December 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871319144
• ISBN-13: 978-0871319142
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, but now there are new top choices, including ones by Dr. Vliet, April 6, 2002

By A Customer

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Review update 11/2008: Six years have gone by, and there are now two books I recommend that together are more immediately useful, and less overwhelming, for making the hormone decision: "Perfect Balance" (Greene, 2005) and "The Perimenopause & Menopause Workbook" (Simpson, 2006). See the guide "So you want to... Pick safe, not risky, hormones for peri/menopause" for comparisons and pros and cons of these and other books, as well as of Dr. Vliet's newer works.

2002 review: As other reviewers have pointed out, this book addresses almost any question you might have about hormonal issues for women. Even better is that Dr. Vliet has no axe to grind: she won't be a cheerleader for either the "everything must be natural" or the "traditional medical establishment" camp. She forms her opinions carefully: she is completely tuned into women's experiences of their symptoms, but at the same time, she won't promote "natural" hormones unless her experience and the scientific data back up their effectiveness. For example, she points out how "natural" thyroid replacement hormones don't have the ideal combination of T3 and T4, while at the same time acknowledging that T3 can be crucial to wellness (which many doctors don't realize, insisting on giving only T4) and explaining how to get T3 in a more biocompatible form.

This book is jam-packed with information and may be heavy reading for someone who doesn't have an intellectual bent. Once you've read it, you'll likely know more about hormones than your doctor does (which is sad!). However, if you're looking for a book that will teach you everything you'll need to know to be your own patient advocate, you'll be in seventh heaven.

For more in-depth coverage of thyroid issues, I highly recommend "Living Well With Hypothyroidism" by Mary Shomon. "Listening to Your Hormones" and "The Thyroid Solution" are good too, but not the first place I turn.

85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource for Women -- Esp. with Thyroid Disease, September 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Screaming to Be Heard: Hormonal Connections Women Suspect and Doctors Ignore (Hardcover)

In addition to breaking new ground in our understanding of the relationships between hormones and women's health, Dr. Vliet is a pioneer in terms of her attitude toward treating thyroid disease. Dr. Vliet does not believe that TSH tests are the almightly indicator of a woman's thyroid health. In fact, over on the alt.support.thyroid newsgroup, we've thought about taking a refreshing quote from her book --- "We are treating patients, not lab values" -- and putting it on a tee-shirt to wear to appointments with our doctors. "I'm a patient, not a lab value!" Dr. Vliet says that symptoms, along with elevated thyroid antibodies and normal TSH, may be a reason for treatment with thyroid hormone. Here's Dr. Vliet again. "The problem I have found is that too often women are told their thyroid is normal without having the complete thyroid tests done. Of course, what most people, and many physicians, don't realize is that...a 'normal range' on a laboratory report is just that: a range. A given person may require higher or lower levels to feel well and to function optimally. I think we must look at the lab results along with the clinical picture described by the patient...I have a series of more than a hundred patients, all but two are women, who had a normal TSH and turned out to have significantly elevated thyroid antibodies that meant they needed thyroid medication in order to feel normal. This type of oversight is particularly common with a type of thyroid disease called thyroiditis, which is about 25 times more common in females than males...a woman may experience the symptoms of disease months to years before TSH goes up..." Hip hip hooray, for Dr. Vliet!!! Mary Shomon, Editor, Thyroid Disease Website and Newsletter, http://thyroid.miningco.com

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Women 35 And Over, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Screaming to Be Heard: Hormonal Connections Women Suspect and Doctors Ignore (Hardcover)

If you think you are going crazy, you are not. You feel rundown, you are not interested in sex, you need more sleep, your mind handles information like an Intel 80386. This book is the answer. I have bought copies for my family and friends. I have recommended it to my business school class, and the MEN referred it to other women they know. Vliet gave me the ammunition to say, "No, it's not just that I'm getting older, and it's not just that I have young children, it's that something is wrong." I had my hormones tested, and despite lab results showing them to be "normal," they were all BELOW NORMAL for optimal function according to Vliet's clinical experience. This book is the best money you can spend on women's health. A literal lifesaver.