Customer Reviews

The Sexy Years: Discover the Natural Hormone Connection: The Secret to Great Health, Sex, and Vitality in the Second Half of Life

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I believe Suzanne made a great point about about bioidentical hormones for symptom relief. Premarin may work for them, but by its very nature it just "sounds" like a bad idea....Now as for using bioidentical HRT for disease prevention, I think it is not a good idea to jump on that bandwagon until conclusive research says that it fulfills what synthetic HRT (Premarin) failed to do....

One point Suzanne makes in this book that I find a little worrisome is manipulating the hormone formulation to make sure that you're having periods, or rather periodic monthly bleeding in order to mimic the natural hormonal cycle of your premenopausal years. I guess that's accurate to want to do that rather than taking continuous HRT but I find it a little disturbing the thought of having a period into my 70s or 80s.

I'm also concerned about the recent research that has cast a dark shadow over HRT. Prempro carried risks of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, breast cancer, and dementia. Premarin carried the same risks for stroke and dementia. Putting these facts aside, I believe it is not the best idea to be touting yet another type of hormone therapy for prevention when the research to support its safety and efficacy is not comparable whatsoever. Bioidentical seems better, but there have been no randomzied controlled trials to prove it works for all of these diseases...

Also I think it's not good for women to believe that having premenopausal levels of hormones our entire lives will insure our longevity. I think the evidence is actually to the contrary: high estrogen levels seem good only as far as keeping our bones strong. Lifetime estrogen levels (ie age of menopause) seem unrelated to one's risk of heart disease. But women with naturally high levels of estrogen, even after menopause (yes the ovaries don't completely "quit" - they continue to produce small amounts of hormones), run higher lifetime risks of breast and uterine cancer. Also (and I read this is the Journals of Neurology and Neuroscience), some research is actually indicating that high levels of estrogen throughout life are associated with more cognitive deficits and Alzheimer's. One study showed that women with the highest natural levels of estrogen, whether postmenopausally or those who had the most menstruating years, had higher risks of dementia. Even more disturbing, hysterectomized rats given estradiol lost their abilities completely to learn new tasks. This information is line with the recent evidence showing that estrogen or estrogen/progestin ups the risk for dementia. So to say it's good for the brain is probably wrong. I realize Suzanne touts testosterone for healthy brain function, but it's far from proven; the same goes for estrogen. Again, I think we need to wait for the proof.....

I also am not buying into the idea that menopause takes away our beauty, vitality, and sexuality. I personally found sex better after the change - my kids were grown, I didn't have to worry about unplanned pregnancy. Also, and I think this is important - there IS good reason to believe that menopause is necessary for the survival of the species. If you think about it, there's good reason why 70-something-year-old women can't reporduce any longer. At that age, your health is more likly to be compromised due to aging(though not necessarily!) so the thought of having another baby would be bad for the baby, especially if the mother isn't well enough to care for it!! And since our children naturally spend the first 20+ years of life in or around the nest, it makes sense to me that menstruation ceases at an early enough age so that the mother would have enough healthy years remaining to raise the very last child she was capable of having (although most of us don't want any new babies at 50!! :)). But all in all, this seems the most plausible explanation as far as the life cycle goes and the posibble benefit of having menopause prgrammed in.

But back to the book, bioidentical HRT is a viable option for combating the symptoms of menopause and is more likely to agree with a woman's system as compared to the synthetics. But I don't believe there is any conclusive evidence whatsoever to show that they're better for us over the long haul. They might be, but it's imperative we wait for the proof, lest we repeat the mistakes of the last 30 years by giving women hormones preventively for life only to learn that they're dangerous.

I have to admit,I don't usually buy celebrity self-help books but I bought this one because the title caught my attention. While there are parts of this book that give a positive spin on getting older, for the most part it seems as if it is just another product Suzanne and her "manager-husband" are shilling to the public.
The premise of the book is that after a certain age, unless and until you take bioidentical hormones, your body and mind are going to pot. For women, dried ou vaginas and dried out brain cells are a definite, while for men, lack of(gasp!) desire and doddering frailty will be the norm.
The testimonials from doctors and friends did not impress me as the doctors have something to sell and the friends were hand-picked to deliver just the right angst and feelings of terror about getting older.
Suzanne Somers has obviously had "some work done" and I wish she would just admit it like other actors her age have done. I don't begrudge her the funds for plastic surgery, I've done it myself, but she wants you to believe that her beauty is all due to hormones.
Taking care of one's health and being proactive about it is one thing and a positive one at that. However, I still feel that this book was a wate of my money and it made feel as if I was at an 1800's carnival show where someone was hawking snakeoil.
Don't make Ms. Somers richer by buying the book.

Let's be truthful.
Why would I waste my time on this self-obsessed, soulless, & dishonest huckster? It's because of something she tried to get away with a few years ago. Do you know the prime ingredient in a successful magician's act? It's called misdirection. Ms. Somers was caught exiting the office of a plastic surgeon. Rather than being up-front & admitting to her desire to use "any means necessary" to beat nature's & gravity's affects upon the body, she concocts a story about breast cancer.
Yep, that's right. A "story". Pure fiction. Never was.
And to compound this folly, she said that she was treating herself with "natural remedies." Of course, she couldn't risk exposure by reputable physicians. And she had fellow huckster Larry King to help shovel this mess around.
Those in the know wondered how she would get out of this one.
It must be great having a team of writers in your employ (plus the ever-present doting/drooling Larry King), but she did it. It took a year or two, but very quietly, almost off-handedly, the story was out there that the "cancer" was gone.
Folks, this is a woman who will do anything to keep her face & name right at the top of everyone's B-list. Why be a party to it?

PS: Larry King need not reply.

This book is more about her life than what I wanted to hear. Not enough information about the natural hormones she is raving about.

I was disappointed.

Suzanne Somers is likable. What's not to like? She seems like a nice person but this book is an info-commercial for bioidentical hormones and Ms Somers is shilling for the companies who manufacture them. I was feeling kind of sexy until I read this book.Now I'm sorry I bought it.S
According to Suzanne,after a "certain" your life will be miserable, shortened, and you won't remember who you are because your mind will go south along with all your vital organs! Women will put "men-on-pause" because they will have no sex drive. Your vagina dries up along with your brain cells.You can't lose weight and you become a lumpy, bitchy, tired waste of existence.Life, as you come to know it, is in a word, lousy. However,there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you too can be saved through the miracle of bioidentical hormones, just like Suzanne. Wow!She makes it seem that you cannot live unless you take these products.
Her book is loaded with testimonials from doctors and friends but it somehow seems as if this is just one more of Ms. Somers products( you know like the ones she pushes on Home shopping networks).

My advice? Don't buy the book unless you like salepeople who are sharks.

Bio-identical hormones! If I hear that one more time, I'm gonna scream.
Why do people believe this ex-moviestar but distrust their doctors?

I was shocked, I mean SHOCKED, to see Suzanne Somers to go on Fox's Weekened Live to promote this book and tout the benefits of "bioidentical" HRT. There are a number of problems, both with the very idea of HRT, and the fact that it's Suzanne Somers!!

Suzanne Somers is a breast cancer survivor. No doctor, I repeat NO DOCTOR in his or her right mind would/SHOULD give estrogens to women who have already shown a vulnerability to the disease. Suzanne, in her unrealistic quest to remain forever youthful, has foolishly jumped onto this bandwagon that estrogens will maintain her looks, sexuality, and overall health. Recent randomized data indicated that breast cancer survivors already treated for the disease showed unacceptably high rates of recurrence when they resumed hormones. In Suzanne's case, the lady didn't even receive standard treatment for breast cancer!!! She chose an unproven herbal treatment (Iscador) and forsaked both chemo and Tamoxifen despite the fact that her oncologist INSISTED on it. A 2.4 cm tumor is actually stage II not stage I. So the very notion of her touting estrogen just comes off as foolish, because here is someone who has already shown herself to be cavalier about her own health. There is no "wisdom" in what she has chosen to do because her choices are UNPROVEN.

Now for the "bioidentical is better" notion. Recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that estrogens, with or without progestins, do NOT prevent heart disease. In fact Prempro increased the risks of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer, and dementia. Estrogen alone was believed to be better until earlier this month the NIH halted its other hormone trial of the WHI because estrogen (Premarin) users faced higher rates of stroke and dementia. HARDLY preventive medicine if you ask me! Now while Suzanne IS CORRECT in saying that bioidenticals are not the same as synthetics, there is currently no longterm prospective data, ZERO!!!, on the longterm effects of bioidentical hormones. The data for these hormones are not on a par with the data from WHI. They have not been proven to be either safe or efficacious. Period! And for now, there IS reason to think that the effects would be similar to the Premarin family of drugs because all estrogens can cause clots in certain women. Bioidentical estradiol already failed the test in secondary heart disease prevention studies. And it also seems that any estrogens, whether from a pill or a woman's own ovaries, increase breast cancer risk if there is a long enough exposure to them.

As for hormones effects on youth and beauty, well, there is SOME DATA suggesting estrogens might benefit the skin, but other studies have shown no benefit and some have even shown problems, such as melasma and hair loss. (As for Suzanne, I don't think her current looks are an impressive testament to the dermatologic benefits of hormones.) This society has got to get over the idea that youth, beauty, and vitality exist in pill form. They do not. Entirely too much data have shown HRT to be a greater problem then aid. Menopause is not a disease. It does not inherently require treatment. Youth and beauty don't fade because of estrogen decline. They fade because of aging! And then again, many many people age beautifully without assistance from drugs. Again, it is not WISE to think that replacing estrogens will give you your life back. Now, "replacement" does make sense in terms of deficiency diseases like hypothyroidism because something is put back that should be there and then the person can function normally. HRT does not make a woman premenopausal, it only tries to mimic it. What I think we've discovered, especially in the last two years, is not how much was known about estrogens and women's health but how much was NOT known. And bioidentical may seem safer and more "natural," but the fact is is that we don't know if bioidentical HRT IS safe and even if it does match the hormones in a woman's body, they're still manufactured and synthesized in a lab!! When was the last time you saw a 17 beta-estradiol patch or pill growing out of the ground?!! For now, the evidence to support bioidentical HRT is lacking and there is some evidence to show it might be harmful. There are other ways to ward off disease and signs of aging, mainly diet and exercise and minimizing exposure to the sun. And if necessary, there are other medications that can help. But mostly, attitude is everything and if women can actually try to look beyond the hot flashes and temporary discomfort that accompany this, I'm sure they'll find themselves much better off than they've been led to believe. I'm so sick of the disrespect and misunderstanding of the intricacies of a woman's body that is "HRT!" Health, vitality, and sexuality will not be sundered by menopause, a natural life process. And if Ms. Somers (whose reliability is already questionable) says otherwise and you believe her, then I'm sorry.....

Suzanne Somers provides chapter after chapter of much-needed information in her book on menopause. Her writing is clear and concise, and she makes the subject of hormones understandable to the lay person.

Some will agree with her conclusions, some will not. Either way, readers will come away with much more knowledge than they had before.

And as I said in the title of this review, information equals the power to make informed decisions for ourselves.

If nothing else, this book will make you think of questions you should be asking your doctor.

Reviewer: Linda Painchaud

What are doctors so afraid of? Why do doctors--especially male doctors--have such trouble opening their minds to alternative therapies? Remember when doctors refused to believe that ulcers were cause by anything but stress? Yeah, right. Knowledge is power. If you don't like what SS says in her book, don't adopt her suggestions.

I think this book is one of Suzanne's most helpful, recent contributions to society. My husband has been using thor-plex for a year or so now, and it has helped him tremendous with male issues. Boy did it help! Now, Suzanne has offered us ladies some help... I was given this book as a gift from one of my girlfriends who is an avid Amazon shopper. This is truly the gift that keeps on giving. You'll learn all about the hormones that control every activity in your body. Though I've started thor-plex along with my hubby, I plan to start on some of the ideas expressed in this wonderful work that Suzanne has given us. Thanks Suzanne and thanks Amazon!