Hormones and Your Health: The Smart Woman's Guide to Hormonal and Alternative Therapies for Menopause - Hardcover

by Winnifred Cutler (Author)

Many women are at a loss when it comes to charting their best course through menopause--but you don't have to be

Connecting recent scientific evidence among hormones, sexuality, bone and cardiovascular health, memory, surgery, and breast cancer, Dr. Cutler explains how valuable good HRT regimens are to your longevity and general health and how to improve your vitality with diet, exercise, and hormonal and alternative therapies that work.

"Excellent job reviewing the many issues relating to perimenopause and menopause. . . . Your chapter on fibroids will be very valuable to consumers. The text is easy to follow, the illustrations are beautifully clear, and the references are excellent." --John J. Sciarra, M.D., Ph.D., past president, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

"What impressed me most were the passionate commitment to rigorously conducted research and the clarity with which the results were presented so any intelligent woman can understand them." --Regula Burki, M.D., FACOG, gynecological surgeon and menopause specialist

"Dr. Cutler dispassionately reviews and synthesizes the available literature to craft scientifically sound recommendations that can be used to optimize the quality of women's health." --Elizabeth Genovese, M.D., FACOEM, FAADEP

"A welcome reference for my patients and others interested in women's health. Readable, informative, and concise. Long overdue." --Millicent Zacher, D.O., FACOG, Thomas Jefferson University

Front Jacket

Were the panicky headlines about the dangers of hormone replace-ment therapy (HRT) true? Is "as low a dose as possible for as short a time as possible" really the only safe approach to HRT? How can you distinguish effective alternative therapies for menopausal symptoms from those that are no better than placebos? Is there anywhere you can turn for clear, sensible, science-based answers to these and scores of other crucial questions?

Yes. In Hormones and Your Health, renowned medical researcher and celebrated author Winnifred Cutler gives you the solid, succinct, in-depth information you need to take control of your health and work with your doctor to make the treatment decisions that are right for you.

Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, Dr. Cutler offers balanced information on mainstream and alternative approaches to women's hormonal issues and explains the connection between hormones, sexuality, bone and cardiovascular health, memory, and breast cancer. She demystifies complex issues and reveals why some of the most commonly prescribed regimens, while they may be great for "big pharma" and medical society interests, could be all wrong for you. She helps you decide which hormones to request and which ones to refuse and how to get the best possible support from your doctor before you make a final decision.

You'll discover what you need to know about the differences between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones and what that difference means for you. You'll learn how a carefully chosen long-term hormone therapy regimen can improve bone, brain, blood vessel, and even breast health as it helps you maintain an active sex life and keeps you feeling comfortable in your own skin.

Among Dr. Cutler's more controversial recommendations, she warns that not every woman benefits from the universally recommended annual mammogram. She argues that given the frequency of false positives, unnecessary biopsies and radiation exposure, and the stress that accompanies them, regular mammograms, while important for women at high risk of breast cancer, are not necessary for every woman.

Author Biography

Winnifred B. Cutler, Ph.D., a respected scientific researcher credited with having codiscovered human pheromones in the 1980s, is the founder of the Athena Institute for Women's Wellness (www.AthenaInstitute.com). Dr. Cutler and her work have been featured in publications such as Time, the New York Times, and Self and on television programs such as Good Morning America and 20/20. She has authored or coauthored eight books, including Menopause, Hysterectomy, and Love Cycles.