The Good News About Estrogen

December 2, 2019
Reiss (The Natural Superwoman, coauthor), a gynecologist and founder of the Beverly Hills Anti-Aging Center, proselytizes for a particular form of hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, that uses “bioidentical” estrogen, in this uneven women’s health guide. Looking at HRT’s merits as a menopause treatment, Reiss describes how bioidentical estrogen is produced via a process that makes “specific molecules in plants, such as organic yams and soy... identical in structure” to human hormones. Reiss finds the resultant hormones superior to synthetic alternatives in treating symptoms like mental fogginess, low energy and sex drive, hot flashes, and weight gain. Reiss’s approach encourages self-assessment and involves supplements, a fusion of the Mediterranean and keto diets, organic hygiene products, and an exercise program balanced between strength and cardio. Though he goes into a fair amount of detail on hormone function, his evidence for bioidentical estrogen’s superiority is too weak to convince readers to go through the hassles involved, such as finding a cooperative pharmacy, or overcoming the skepticism of doctors or insurance companies. Nevertheless, readers concerned about menopause may find Reiss’s enthusiastic treatise helpful in making lifestyle changes, or in beginning discussions of HRT with their doctors. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Foundry Literary + Media.

February 15, 2020
For years, doctors routinely prescribed hormone-replacement therapy for older women to help them avoid hot flashes, bone loss, and even wrinkles. Then, in 2002, a study of more than 160,000 women aged 50 to 79 revealed that taking an estrogen-and-progestin supplement increased the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and blood clots. Still, naysayers such as Reiss, who has practiced hormone-based gynecology since 1980 and who opened the Beverly Hills Anti-�Aging Center in 1997, insist that bioidentical hormones, artificial hormones more closely matching the ones naturally produced by the human body, are different. The hitch to this pitch: the lack of large-scale studies and the lack of FDA oversight of these products. Reiss compares taking bioidentical hormones to improve well-being to wearing glasses to improve vision. Reiss' presentation will interest readers, who can then decide, in consultation with their doctors, whether to follow his advice or the FDA guidelines for taking the lowest helpful dose for the shortest amount of time. Hopefully further research will offer more definitive answers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)