Recently deceased activist and cofounder of the National Women's Health Network, Seaman (The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women
) reported on women's health for more than three decades. Here, she and associate Eldridge articulate the myths, controversies, statistics, economics and prevailing protocols that feed continued confusion about what, they argue, is an overmedicalized but profoundly natural experience. With the abrupt end in July 2002 of one segment of the hormonal trial of the Women's Health Initiative (begun in 1992), the authors state, many women, formerly led to view hormone therapy as a cure-all for a multitude of symptoms and conditions (hot flashes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and memory loss, for example), began looking critically at recommended tests, surgical procedures and drugs. Seaman touches on nearly every aspect of women's health (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress relief, vitamins and herbs, aging, appearance, etc.) as she helps readers frame key questions, evaluate research studies, consider treatment options and move gracefully through menopause and the years leading up to and following it. This volume sheds an invaluable light on a long-cloudy subject. (July)
