Ageless by Suzanne Somers - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review/Critique: "Ageless" by Suzanne Somers Ageless: The Naked Truth about Bio identical Hormones is a book by an author called Suzanne Somers. This book, published in the year 2006 became a number one best seller in the New York Times. Over the years, since the book was published, it has predominantly overtaken many other books that have been published serving the same purpose as this one serves and presenting the same ideology and concepts of bio identical hormones. The author puts into light concepts of long lasting vitality and youthfulness among the aging population. Scientific data, information and concepts have also been put forward to support the claims that the author presents in the book about bio identical hormones and therapies involved. The book is designed for unisex suitability, and by great margin addressed to the aging members of the society. As the author puts it, aging is a manageable process and it cannot therefore be equated neither illness nor debilitation. Suzanne goes ahead to assert that age can actually be controlled by making informative choices that are characteristic of non-conventional measures of preventive practices. The author integrates her previous works into the context of this book by making the book a progressive work of her previous research work, The Sexy Years. The previous work was more of conducting a research that achieves its purpose in the Ageless book. Bio identical experts and therapy professionals were integrated in the previous work, and the outcome of the process is reported in the book reviewed in this paper. Suzanne is one author who values the people interested in her work. She employs simple and articulate language and writing styles in order to accommodate the diversity of her readers. In so doing, she expresses the functionality of the bio identical hormones, outlining their role alongside other daily practices like exercising, sleeping and choices of lifestyle. All these factors combined are tailored towards enhancing life quality and disease prevention. Unlimited medical information is a major focus in this book. All aspects of bio identical hormones are presented. Risks and treatment of breast cancer is also addressed. The author’s personal experiences are the basis upon which this book is developed. She takes into account her suffering and survival with cancer, presenting her procedural lifestyle towards attaining good health in spite of her illness. Discussions presented herein show that non-conventional treatment methods are still an option and that there is a significant need to integrate them in the conventional methods of treatment rather than sidelining them. The importance of non-conventional treatment methods is well presented, especially the insisted need for balanced hormones in the body (Somers 409). Intensive research has been conducted by both the author and hormonal therapy physicians, who combine the clinical results, and further share them with the readers of the book. The medical tests and the presented results show that replacement of bio identical hormones within the body can act as a way to treat and prevent the occurrence of diseases. For instance, it is noted that bio identical hormonal replacements can by greater extent lead to reduced anxiety, insomnia, depression, migraines, fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic pains among many other complications that are greatly influenced by hormonal adjustments in the body. This book is set in a way that questions conventional treatment methods and practices. The author is actually challenging the reader to take caution since conventional treatment methods are just but a quick solution to a manageable long term life aspects. Numerous interviews have been used in the book, which makes the text interesting to read. The presentation of anti-aging solution is captivating and makes the discussion in the text readable. The use of interviews is a conventional communication style that leaves the reader wanting to know more about what the interviewer and the interviewee actually concludes about the subject matter. The articulation of anti-aging medicine in the book is prone to being challenged but the author captures that quite easily by addressing the many and newly discovered types of diseases every now and then. The book presents this scenario as one that is caused by the use of conventional medicine. That is, by solving one aspect of disease, another is left harboring itself slowly by slowly, and the end result is a series of complications. Suzanne outlines the need to avoid modern and conventional means of hormone replacement, and therefore advocates for the non-conventional means of hormone replacement in the body. Natural hormone replacement as highlighted by this book is a therapy perfectly suited to both men and women. By so doing the complications aforementioned are avoided. These are: use of conventional medication, surgery and the uncountable side effects of conventional curative and preventive measures. Deteriorating health status and quality moves proportionately in the same direction with quality of life. Given that this is a consequence of body hormonal imbalances, working towards balancing the hormones a positive step towards improving the quality of life. In this regard, Ageless becomes a vital reading material that can help improve vitality and the general quality of life, specifically working out best for the aging population. The book is divided into thirty three chapters, under different five sections. As earlier mentioned, the book takes into account the needs o both men and women in addressing aging issues. It described that in order to deal with problems of aging; the body needs to maintain a balanced state of its hormones. The importance of this balance is to establish a reduced or no likelihood of disease, alleviate disorders and prevent skin wrinkling. The use of non-conventional methods of medical care is not new as identified from the book. It is evident that numerous doctors have prescribed non-conventional ways of hormone replacement in their line of duty. This therefore makes this book true to type because this discussion takes the form of interviews between Somers and medical experts who have at least engaged in bio identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) with some of their patients (Somers 414). The author claims that the masses are misinformed on health matters and that many conventional doctors have contributed to that. Cancer is deemed as a killer disease by many, but Suzanne has a totally different view on this. She believes that it is all in the mind, and the most important thing to do is to manage once problems in the most suitable way. For her, conventional treatment is not an option, but something that only makes her condition more complex and unfavorable. She prefers her natural way of getting things done. By so doing, she seeks to pass the information she has to the masses as way to offer a solution to the long lived troubles that emerge from conventional ways of health care and medication. A greater concern is tailored towards breast cancer, and she presents resentment to the fact that medications with adverse effects to the masses are still being prescribed despite the fact they are known to affect quality of life negatively. This mode of passing messages and information to people who know or do not know about the bio identical hormone therapy is interrelated across people, thereby establishing an interpersonal framework of communication between the author and the readers. In order to keep fit, maintain high quality life and reduce aging rates, hormones presence in the body should be real and properly balanced. Hormones are diverse and dynamic, forming a fundamental structure of composition and role. Hormones coordinate activities in body in a structured manner, such that they purposes are interrelated and they all function together. Complementing each other in terms of roles and functions requires that a balance be stricken among these hormones in order to realize the full benefits of the functions they are required to undertake in the body. Their maintenance and functional aspects makes them unique and equally important to the body. However, as age advances, they decrease in number and lose coordination of functions within the body, allowing for abnormalities to occur within the body. These abnormalities are for instance stress, depression, disease, fatigue, insomnia, chronic pains among others; leading to a reduced quality of life, that worsens at advanced ages. Suzanne Somers has been criticized for this particular publication, but such critiques land on deaf years. Her claims seem to be working out perfectly. She has a team of doctors who have provided evidence to her claims. Some of these doctors actually run anti-aging campaigns and they have made non-conventional prescriptions to patients who know little or nothing about Suzanne. What is important with practicing the claims of the author is to engage a qualified doctor to oversee the administration of all the non-conventional measures and methods of hormone control put forward by the author of this book. Regulation of this activities and practices is fundamental since the users are just introduced to it through a reading material. The practical part of it require special treatment and monitoring so that the effectiveness and full benefits so claimed by Somers can be realized without further complications any life for that matter. The idea of countering diseases is very well expressed in this book. Suzanne goes ahead and makes a long list of types of foods that are sources of important supplies to the body. She identified food categories that are characteristic of her claims. However, on the same ground, she stands challenged by the fact she perceives cancer among other health problems as consequences of mismanaged hormones in the body. In other words, imbalances of hormones cause health complications, among them aging. The challenges lies within the age group that is considers youthful. That is, there are so many young people ho are victims of cancer among other health problems. Suzanne tries to justify that reduced, deteriorated or imbalanced hormones are responsible for this. While the aging people may experience hormone imbalance and reduction over time, what has happened to those of the young people? The author fails to account for this provision. The youth are still young and their hormonal stature is at its peak, meaning that they have enough to maintain them healthy. In some instances, children at their tender age have been reported to have cancer. It is obvious that the cancer in this case is not as a result of aging, nor is it a critical imbalance. In this regard, author’s work better suits the aging people because otherwise, she stands challenged by the simplest obvious facts of life. Somers notes the functional role of the major important hormones in the body and outlines how she managed to get her life back to normal out of controlling and balancing her hormones. She quotes, “Progesterone protects the spinal cord by making the myelin sheath, it seems, and studies are underway to see if it helps with MS or spinal cord disorders. Progesterone, estrogen and tester one, the sex hormones, are really the minor hormones. Adrenaline, thyroid, cortisol, insulin, DHEA, melatonin and human growth hormone are the major ones. Vitamin D, also a hormone, should be included. Most of us are running our adrenal glands dry, which makes us so tired we can’t even sleep.” Suzanne presents herself as a personality that seeks not to rule out conventional medicine. At some point she acknowledges that conventional drugs and surgical procedures are welcome to save her life during an emergency. Her concerns however are that what conventional medicine does is to postpone the problem and cover up disease by depressing the symptoms. The root cause remains unattended to. BHRT therefore comes in as an ideal root-cause-detector and alleviator (Somers 419). It consequently protects life as age advances, although it is obvious that at one point in time people die. In conclusion, the text is fascinating and a current piece of information about health and healthcare issues that the masses need to be aware of. Such information is relevant in making decisions that are valid and informed. Somers is no exception to the rest of her women counterparts. She has engaged in different activities that many women engage in during their fertility age (15-50 years). Her life experiences and health problems have shaped whom and what she is today. Now that she knows what suits the aging fellows best, she is open minded and bold in sharing her secrets through this book. She says, “Eat a balanced diet throughout the day, sleep throughout the night, exercise some every day and take the BHRT as your informed doctor advises.” The benefits of this book are not limited to any sex, and anyone who comes across this book will find it interesting to read. Works Cited Somers, Suzanne. Ageless: the naked truth about bio identical hormones. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006. Read More