[coverattach=1]Savvy Woman's Guide to Pcos (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) : The Many Faces of a 21st Century Epidemic and What You Can Do about It by Elizabeth Lee Vliet
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is the most common endocrine cause of infertility and serious weight gain in young women. It affects millions--experts estimate about 6 to 10 percent of reproductive age women struggle with this devastating metabolic imbalance. Look around schools and malls in this country and you see the impact of this burgeoning epidemic: obese young women are everywhere. The numbers are staggering. The health risks are overwhelming--from increased risk of teenaged diabetes to young mothers with heart attacks or strokes, and early onset of breast and uterine cancers.
Early treatment is key to preventing serious health risks, but most sufferers don't even know they have PCOS. Nor do doctors take it as seriously, often minimizing symptoms like excess body hair, weight gain, acne or thinning scalp hair, thinking they are just cosmetic" problems of overanxious young women. Gynecologists focus on helping women get pregnant rather than treating acne or weight gain. Endocrinologists typically consider ovarian problems the "turf" of gynecologists. Mood swings in PCOS can be severe, but psychiatrists typically don't check hormones, so they don't identify PCOS either. What's a woman to do?
It's not enough for doctors to tell women with PCOS to just "eat less and exercise more." Women need a practical guide to help them understand the disorder, know what tests to ask for, what the tests mean, what treatments are available, and how to take a stepwise approach to healthy hormone balance, sound meal plans, exercise, and stress management. This book provides the practical, user-friendly guide that women desperately need to be successful in getting help for this devastating disorder
About the Author: Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D., is the founder and Medical Director of HER Place: Health Enhancement and Renewal for Women Inc. She has studied and written about the effects of hormone changes on PMS, PCOS, migraines, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, osteoporosis and cardiovascular risks, etc. Her bestselling books include Screaming to Be Heard: Hormone Connections Women Suspect and Doctors Still Ignore, It's My Ovaries, Stupid! and Women, Weight and Hormones. Dr. Vliet maintains a medical practice in Tucson, Arizona, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit Dr. Vliet's Web site.
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Hey, SoulCysters! Need to eat more veggies, but can't find recipes??
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I read this book from cover to cover. I liked the detailed info on vitamins and minerals to help PCOS. The meal plans were easy to follow. I also think it is a book that you can have someone read that doesn't understand what PCOS is.
Last edited by hope2bamom; 11-09-2008 at 05:13 PM.
I have read this book. It is a very good book on PCOS with a lot of detailed information about everything from testing to medication. In fact, I read it and then went in to my doc with a list of things I needed and she actually did them and then some. More books that help women advocate for themselves, like this one, should be written.
I didnt like it. If your the usual PCOS you probably will but I am not and I wanted hope, something I got more from other PCOS books. Just for once I want to see a book at Indigo called "Being thin with PCOS". Us thin cysters have different issues and sometimes when I read a PCOS book I feel like I just read something catered to a completely different audience. The things that worked for me-flax seeds and spearmint tea, are not mentioned in any books only on soulcysters, thats where I find the best medical articles.
This book should be on my doorstep within 24 hours, I'm excited
__________________ Calvary wives do it with spurs on
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I'm reading it now, about a third of the way through. It goes into lots of detail and I'm getting some information I didn't already know, and am being reminded of some things I knew, but hadn't really taken to heart. I look forward to reading the rest, and will give an updated review when I'm done.
I wouldn't expect any one book, doctor or source of any kind, really, to have *all* the information about anything, but there is a vast amount included in what I've read so far.
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Debbie (40), Mike (43) DD- Mary Elizabeth 5 DS-William Landers 2 1/2
4 angel babies - 3 m/c's, 1 vanishing twin
So I lied, well, amazon.com lied, they said 2 day shipping, well it's really four day, so it should be here sometime today. I'm really excited to read it, I got another book as well, it's not even listed here The Ultimate PCOS Handbook: Lose weight, boost fertility, clear skin, and restore self esteem by Colette Harris and Theresa Cheung . . . . .I'll let you guys know what I think
__________________ Calvary wives do it with spurs on
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I think this is one of the better books on PCOS - the other one that I have read that I think is excellent is PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic by Dr Thatcher - both books are excellent. I believe that "The Savvy Woman's Guide To PCOS" is essentially a reworked and updated version of Dr Vliet's book "It's My Ovaries, Stupid!!!" - probably plus and minus a few subjects.
I believe this book contains all the basic information about PCOS that one would hope or expect to find (with the possible exception of information on conception and pregnancy). The quality of the information is excellent, I think. One real strengths of this book is the information on sex hormones especially female sex hormones - I think there is often a lack of information on the 'female' sex hormones in other PCOS books. There is an interesting section on "theories about causes" of PCOS. There is also information about endocrine disrupting chemicals and excitotoxins - things we probably all ought to be more concerned about and diligent about avoiding.
There is not a lot of emphasis on fertility per se like trying to conceive but the information on obtaining better health would likely be helpful to anyone with PCOS regardless of their goals- but if conception is your primary goal the Thatcher book might be a better fit or at least you would likely want other book(s) on PCOS with more info on achieving conception to augment. There is a section menopause which I think is a neglected subject related to PCOS - that we are (hopefully) all going to face someday.
This book is written by a medical doctor and that prospective is reflected. There is a whole section on vitamins and minerals and a few other nutrients and there is information on diet and exercise and very good information on bio-identical hormone replacement but there is not a lot of other information on treatment options that would be considered "natural" or "alternative" and in fact there seems to be a concern about interactions between herbal supplements and prescriptions medication. Again the emphasis of the book is on medical treatment and there is a complete section on prescription medications and the medical treatments options for PCOS.
There is detailed information about an extensive list of hormones that Dr Vliet tests for and what test results "mean" - this would likely be very valuable information to any PCOS patient who has had hormone testing done or is considering it.
This is probably more of a book to be used as a reference than just to read cover to cover once or twice. The Table on contents is very detailed and would be very helpful but unfortunately, at least for my copy that I got soon after it was published, the page numbers are off by a couple of pages in the table of contents - it is still somewhat easy to find the information that I am looking for if I keep in mind that it will probably be a page or two back from what the contents says it will be as each new subject and subsection is highlighted and bolded and in large font- there also is not an index in the back, which would have been helpful.
I found the book helpful. I especially like the list of good tests to have done and the full overview of symptoms. My obgyn took a look at it and said that her sources were solid, the same textbooks she would refer to.
__________________ TTC since July 2008
Chem preg in Oct 2008, May 2009
Self DX May 2009
Multi, Fish Oil, B6, B12, Folic Acid, Baby Aspirin
IR Diet- lost %10 of body weight since Jan 2009
BFP! on Sept 26, 2009, but miscarried Sept 30.
Savvy Woman's Guide to Pcos 
only on soulcysters, thats where I find the best medical articles.
