Synopses & Reviews
The decision making process that underlies ovarian hormone therapy (HT) is fallible. The question is whether or not physicians should suggest; should one take estrogen or progestin or some other combination of related hormones to women during the menopausal period, when women are deciding about whether to go on hormone therapy for diverse reasons. This decision affects many women in this country and around the world, and is an important factor serving to show what forces influence medical decision-making. Two recent large-scale studies, one here (Women's Health Initiative or WHI) and the other in Great Britain, cast a negative light on the use of hormone therapy. Both have received considerable attention in the media. Thus, the decision for women to go on hormone therapy (HT) remains controversial. There is an historical oscillation of beliefs related in part to expectations of the medicinal value of HT over longer-term use beyond the initial peri-menonpausal period. Studies thought to resolve issues surrounding the efficacy of HT were perhaps over-stated. Confusion still permeates the decision making with regard to HT. Over zealous advertising, and exaggerated understanding of the results (negative or positive) undermines patient and physician decision making.
Synopsis
If you are a woman between the ages of 45 and 75 and are trying to decide whether to try, or stick with, hormone therapy (HT), or if you are a physician with patients fitting this description, this book is for you unless you are looking for a simple answer. If you are looking for a simple answer, you can go to the web site of one of the companies that manufactures hormones or makes money by administering hormone therapy (e. g., AntiAgingGroup. com), or you can go to the we bsite of an organization that advocates natural aging (e. g., the Inter National Organization to Reclaim Menopause; Inorm. org). Any impartial advisor, however, is going to admit that the answer isn t at all clear-cut. Jay Schulkin, I believe the reader will find, is such an impartial advisor, and he is going to take you several steps beyond simply acknowledging the ambiguity; he s going to educate you about the biology, history, sociology, business, and ethics of hormone replacement therapy. As a prominent scientist doing research on hormones, a medical researcher, an expert on decision making, he is the ideal guide to the intricacies of the topic. You might think that all of this sounds superfluous for making an informed decision: Just the facts, please."
Synopsis
Hormone Therapy: Biological, Social, and Medical Context.- Demythologized Human Decision-Making.- Autonomic Regulation, Heart, and Strokes.- Bad News-Good News: Cancers and Bone.- Brain, Mood, and Cognition.- Physicians' and Women's Responses to HT Findings: Implications for Continuous Learning and Self-Corrective Inquiry for Physicians.
Synopsis
The decision making process that underlies ovarian hormone therapy (HT) is fallible. Thus, the decision for women to go on HT remains controversial. At a time when confusion still permeates the decision making with regard to HT, this book bridges diverse features that surround the decision making concerning HT. The book is written for both specialists and generalists in the field.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION. 1: HORMONE THERAPY: BIOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND MEDICAL CONTEXT; 2: DEMYTHOLOGIZED HUMAN DECISION-MAKING; 3: AUTONOMIC REGULATION, HEART AND STROKES; 4: BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS: CANCER AND BONE; 5:BRAIN, MOOD AND COGNITION; 6: CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND SELF-CORRECTIVE INQUIRY;CONCLUSION.