PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic

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Summary: PCOS Patients!!! Look no further! Help is here!
Review: Living with PCOS can be extremely difficult for females, but hope and understanding are found in Dr. Thatcher's newest book! Dr. Thatcher provides easy to understand information concerning PCOS, along with the encouragement that PCOS patients are not few and far between. This book is a necessity for all PCOS patients! PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic allows PCOS patients, along with others, to gain the knowledge needed to completely understand what is going on in the body of a woman suffering from PCOS and the treatments that she must undergo. For a clear understanding of PCOS, Dr. Thatcher's book is the #1 choice!!

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Summary: PCOS: THE HIDDEN EPIDEMIC
Review: MAXIMUM CARE AND ATTENTION - AS A FORMER PATIENT CAN FULLY RECOMMEND DR THATCHER'S EXPERTISE IN HIS FIELD - HIS BOOK ADVISES, BUT HE OFFERS A HIGH LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE, CARE AND UNDERSTANDING - SECOND TO NONE!

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Summary: Should be a required Med student text book
Review: OK, I'm not a med student, but I am a woman who has PCOS. I have been frustrated that it has taken me a few doctors to finally start getting some of the treatment I need. This book is great for bridging the gap with Doctor's that might not understand PCOS that well. It's wonderful in explinations, possible causes and treatments. It's a must have and read for all women with PCOS. Great for family members who don't understand why your fat or have other symptoms that it seems like you should be able to "avoid", and great for Doctors to realise that things need to be taken care of beyond just the cosmetic issues. There is more to a women then if she has facial hair or not. This book addresses the emotion and medical aspecs of living with and treating PCOS.

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Summary: Informative reading for medical service providers
Review: PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic is a comprehensive, 496-page treatise on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), the single most common hormonal disturbance in women of reproductive age. Genetically based and heretofore often unrecognized and under treated, PCOS only now coming to be understood by specialists in reproductive endocrinology. PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic is essential, informative reading for medical service providers, physicians, and any woman suffering from, or who has a family history of, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome with its chronic symptoms of obesity, excessive hair growth or thinning, problem skin, menstrual irregularity.

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Summary: Everything you will need to know!
Review: PCOS: The Hidden Epidemic is an essential for anyone with PCOS. Dr. Thatcher goes indepth on all the seperate issues of weight, hair, acne and infertility. He even lists the different diets and why you should or should not go down that road if you are trying to get pregnant. This book is like a road map for those dealing with infertility due to PCOS. Every therapy and drug is listed in this book with why, how it works, and how it is prescribed. All of the information in this book I wanted to know from my Doctor but there is just not enough time in the world for my Doctor to spend that kind of time with me. So instead, I have this book to answer any of my questions. He also has sections of just questons and answers which I found very helpful. I am trying to get pregnant for the 1st time right now, but know I will use this book as a reference far into the future!

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Summary: Really Fast
Review: Thanks a lot... I got the book in Great shape and it came really fast. Thanks

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Summary: This is the best pcos book of the three I have read.....
Review: the other two being helpful for the newly diagnosed just to get a grip on things, but this book has the most depth and describes more sypmtoms that the other books do not mention. Parts of it are too technical for a first read, if so, just skip those parts. If you really want to educate yourself, a good idea considering this syndrome is often not understood at all by health care providers, than this is the book for you. As the mother of a teen daughter with pcos, I found this book quite helpful. Anyone with this diagnosis should certainly become educated.

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Summary: Comprehensive resource on all aspects of PCOS
Review: The reason for this book is simple. It was needed. Despite thousands of research articles on virtually every aspect of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), there was virtually nothing written that an individual with PCOS could use as a reference source. Recently I read on one of the PCOS bulletin boards, "I am having trouble locating any books about PCOS." The reply from a wise veteran read "they're aren't any. Besides, the information is changing so quickly that it would be out of date as soon as it was published." I was encouraged the time that there still was not a book on the subject, but had to agree partially with the respondent. Things have changed quickly, are changing dramatically, for those with PCOS. In no small part due to the Internet, PCOS is being more frequently and correctly diagnosed. Still, when the diagnosis has been made, individuals want to know more. "How did I get it? How can it interfere with my fertility? Can it be treated? What are the implications for my future health, the health of my parents, of my children?" So many questions, good questions, and while we don't have all the answers, there is a framework for understanding now available. This book was in development for over two years and contains information current in the summer of year 2000. When this book was in its earliest stages of development, one of the major publishing houses was contacted. I was told that PCOS was a special niche and it is unclear whether there would be a market for such a book. "If PCOS is so important why hasn't a book already been published." PCOS is thought to affect 6-10% of all women -- that's no small number. As I considered this comment, I thought how ignorant, but also how like the dismissive attitude has been about the disorder itself. The most common symptoms associated with PCOS are irregular periods or ovulation failure, problem skin, and obesity. Not everyone has all symptoms, that's why it is called a syndrome. Many with PCOS have been passed through several to many physicians' offices without recognition of a unifying diagnosis. It is not nearly so important that the label of PCOS is applied, but the association of the signs, symptoms, and medical risks is made. The diagnosis of PCOS carries with not only an understanding, but also an obligation for present and future health risk management. Chapters are devoted to the basic biology of PCOS, its origin in genetics, laboratory testing and treatment strategies. The book also addresses issues such as body image, coping, and selecting health care providers. Numerous additional resources, referral physicians, reading material, and on-line resources are included. I hope that this first publishing house was also wrong about the suggestion that books of this genre, that is medical self-help, must be written on an eight-grade level of understanding. It must be that the average book buyer is not as smart as my patients seem to be. There is always a danger in over estimating a level of understanding, but I believe a more serious mistake is to under estimate it. The text of the book is necessarily easy bedside reading. It is an in depth study that presents all the facets of what I believe to be our present understanding of PCOS. It is for the consumer wants to understand and become an active participant in their health care. While this book is not meant to be a scientific treatise on the subject, it is hoped that the information contained would be also be a topical review for health care professionals. It should serve the new need of fusion publishing, bridging the gap between watered -down self-help books and medical treatises. Hopefully, it is a reference resource, a storehouse, and ideally, a compass that can help guide the way through the issues that are PCOS.

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Summary: Next to worthless
Review: There is nothing in here that's worth the price tag touted. I find the other reviewers ocmments dubious at best, there is so little of merit in this Q&A book. You could not even give yourself a self-diagnosis (that you suspect this disease) based on this book.

Thatcher gives no real information that one cannot get off the web and ZERO about the diet/exercise condition other than 'he thinks so'. Go with instead the newly published PCOS DIet Book by Colette Harris & save your money here.

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Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book covers more than you need to know... It answered all my questions and even gave me new ideas on how to manage my condition. Dr. Thatcher did a very thorough job on this book. It's better to have more information than you need than not enough I always say! This book is definitely worth the money.