Review
"In this engaging book, Baxter (Simon Fraser Univ.) and Prior (Univ. of British Columbia) combine detailed
explanations of women's reproductive endocrinology and physiology with deconstructions of social, medical, and
cultural narratives about women's hormones. The result is an insightful survey of current and historical dogma,
scientific research, and medical practices in women's health. . . . Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers." -
Choice
Book Description
In this revealing work, a medical writer and an internationally-known physician team up to explain the controversy over medicine prescribing estrogen for perimenopausal women in the United States, and to detail why progesterone is actually a far more effective, and a far less risk-ridden, approach. Citing long-standing and emerging research, patient vignettes, and personal experience, endocrinologist Jerilynn Prior and writer Susan Baxter tell us how false beliefs on estrogen became entrenched in U.S. medicine and culture, and why business and politics have played a role in this erroneous thinking. Like most women in Europe, Prior's patients find progesterone the key to dealing with a life cycle transition that, contrary to Western medicine, these authors do not see as a disease. Challenging medical orthodoxy, this work presents arguments and evidences both women and doctors will find compelling.
About the Author
SUSAN BAXTER, PhD is a medical writer and social scientist with more than 20 years experience writing on controversial medical topics. She teaches part-time at Simon Fraser University. Her articles have appeared in publications including Family Practice, Medical Post, HealthWatch, Lifeline, and Easy Living. JERILYNN C. PRIOR, MD is Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, at the University of British Columbia. She is Founder and Scientific Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research, and has authored research published in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Prior is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Canada. In 1985, Prior won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
