While purporting to expose "the shocking truth about hormone replacement therapy," Sex, Lies, and Menopause is poorly written, even incoherent at times, and only adds to the confusion about HRT. The book is poorly researched, hard to read and contains glaring inaccuracies. In short, I found this book a real disappointment, especially during such a trying time in a woman's life.

Ladies....how many of your friends have been diagnosed with cancer...how many of your daughters take birth control pills...female cancer is an deadly epidemic and this book will tell you why it has happened and what to do.
Ms Wiley has written a great book on the overview of the BIG LIE that American medicine has (and still is) telling women.Any Dr who suggests synthetic hormones has NO CLUE and you need to RUN out of his/her office. Each woman has a different menopausal experience and if yours is not good then read Wiley's book and Dr Uzzi Reiss's book "Natural Hormone Balance for Women".
I had read over 20 books and knew I needed help, but had difficulty finding a Dr who was more interested in fixing my health than endangering it with HRT. If you want to find a Dr who can really help and prescribe just for your needs, contact the Women's International Pharmacy...go to Google and type it in...they are GREAT...they will send a list of physicians in your state who work with women to re-establish health and balance...women who have no problems with menopause have had low estrogen levels all their lives, so the loss is not as great and the symptoms are minimal.
Do yourself a favor....if you KNOW you are not yourself and are tired of feeling all the odd things menopause brings...take control of your health..find a proper Dr., do saliva tests,hair analysis,and blood tests and find out what is causing your problems! It is not an easy fix, but you will find out what your body needs to feel good again and not endanger your life...you can greatly improve the quality of your life and possibly save your daughters from real danger as they age as well. GOOD LUCK!

Great book that helped me go for bioidentical hormones. I've now been on them six months and plan to say on them as I feel young and sexy. Before reading this I knew that the horse-derived pharmaceuticals were a problem. Wiley also let me know that diet changes using soy aren't the answer. I'd give this book 5 stars except for the weird chapter titles. Couldn't figure out what they meant. But otherwise the book is clear and makes its point well.

Regardless of what your prior knowledge might have been on the subject of menopause, you will find this book extremely informative. It is a must read. Forget what you think you know about natural hormones - such as what can be bought online or at health food stores. This book goes beyond the courageous Dr. John Lee's books.
Most of what we know about hormones comes from the scientific and medical professions. But so much of the research is either based on incomplete or faulty information. Many conclusions and recomendations for treatment are based on this lack of information. In recent years we have all been on a roller coaster - one day hormones are on, and we must take more, the next day they cause cancer and need to be suppressed. It's enough to make your hair fall out! The Woman's Health Initiative has done some research that has again caused many to jump to conclusions. From those conclusions there have been some scary extrapolations. Most of the research on hormones was not done using bioidentical hormones. That means most of the hormones used were a synthesis of mare's urine. (Yes pregnant horse urine is what you are taking if you are using traditional synthetic hormones.)

In a nutshell this book asserts that hormones should be applied using not only natural bioidentical hormones, but applied in the exact way and amount that they are made in the body of a young,healthy reproductive woman.
The book also illustrates the connections between hormones and heart attacks cancer. Synthetic hormones probably cause cancer but the lack of hormones may cause heart attacks. Though there are other books on bioidentical hormones, such as Suzanne Somers new book "The Sexy Years", I do not know of one that advises their application in this manner or goes this far.
You may have many ideas about hormones and aging or you may have no information. This book tells you why no information on this subject can be deadly. There are so many implications involved in this kind of hormone replacement therapy; issues pertaining to our youth-crazed culture, sexuality, religion, spirituality and the authority of the medical and pharmaceutical professions. This book addresses all of them.

Susan Wiley has put together all of the relevant research on hormones and her honest look at the scientific and medical community is sobering. Yet she manages to maintain her sense of humor, which you will feel as you turn the pages. This is a brave book and all of the people involved should be applauded for putting their proffesional necks on the line. If you are in your twenties, if you are approaching menopause or past menopause, or if you have had a partial or full hysterectomy' or yep even if you are a man, this book is for you.

In the interedst of full disclosure
I am repeating this review from my website http://www.marlasapothecary.com
Since putting the review up on my site I found a homone specialist who was also excited about this book. I have now been on this protocol for a year. I feel great, I look great (At least I think so) , I would recommend it to anyone and I do.

Marla S Wilson holistic health care advocate.

My CNP told me to read this book (Sex, Lies and Menopause), and said we'd use its schedule (it's in an appendix at the end) for bioidentical HRT. It's a good place to start, but be careful about following it specifically without monitoring yourself. Dr. Uzzi Reiss's book, Natural Hormone Balance for Women, gives clear information about various hormones, and the symptoms of deficiency and oversupply, something that is completely omitted by Wiley et al.

I hope the authors' science is better than their history, sociology, and editing. I've found numerous instances where they contradict themselves and are flat wrong when they're describing women's social history.

I don't like the gimmicky old rock-n-roll song titles for their sections; it makes it hard to find information on a particular topic, and is a sneaky way of making you wade through their ranting to find the information you want.

And I really don't appreciate their assertions that their book is "about biology, not politics", when their explanations of our biology can't even be separated from their speculations and commentary on women's social history and the politics of women's place in society. The whole "Lies" section is more about politics than about biology! They assume that all doctors are either ignorant or in drug companies' pockets and will oppose you if you ask for their help in using bioidentical hormones, so you will just have to force them to do what you want, armed with the information and directions in their book. They make snide comments about the women's movement and feminists. And their recurring rant about drug companies and profits from drugs (and I'm no fan of drug companies!) make it sound like natural hormone therapy is free, which it is not!

To use another reviewer's phrase, it's hard to sieve the "pearls" out of the "muck". Hint: the most useful information is in chapter 10, "Satisfaction".

They do have some interesting ideas, and some things do make sense. But I know too many healthy, vigorous old ladies who didn't do any kind of HRT to completely accept their assertion that cancer is the inevitable result of menopause.

I'm afraid that if they are sloppy about their history and sociology (not to mention plain old word usage - e.g, effect/affect, choose/chose) they're also sloppy about their science.

Natural Hormone Balance for Women has much clearer information about biology - the effects of various hormones- and how to use bioidentical hormones, with none of the political claptrap Wiley and company offer.