Interview with Dr. Shames on the thyroid

[Guest guest]

http://thyroid.about.com/od/drsrichkarileeshames/a/feelingfffbook.htm

?nl=1

An Interview with Drs. and Karilee Shames On Their New Book

More than 30 million people in the U.S. are facing a wide range of

symptoms -- everything from weight gain, to fuzzy thinking and brain

fog, to panic attacks and depression. So many practitioners and

patients overlook the connections between these symptoms and the

hormone-related metabolic problems underlying them. Now, Harvard-

trained physician Shames, MD, and his wife and co-author,

holistic health expert Karilee Shames, PhD, RN, have released their

new book Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled? -- published early July,

2005 by Hudson Street Press -- as a guide to restoring hormonal

balance.

I had an opportunity read a pre-publication review copy of the book,

and am pleased to bring you this interview with the authors.

Q. We've seen a variety of books come out talking about hormones.

What do you feel is unique about Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled?

Our program is unique in a number of ways.

First of all, it works. It is based upon our thirty years experience

as a practicing doctor-nurse team, helping people successfully

rebalance their glands. Especially after recent years of doing one-

on-one telephone coaching with people across the US about the

material in our Thyroid Power book, we've seen that what a number of

endocrinologists are doing that has not been as helpful as people

would like. From this, we have developed an effective mutli-gland

balancing program that can save people years of chasing symptoms,

and years of yo-yo dieting.

Second, we recommend that instead of blood tests, health consumers

use saliva tests for all three " energy glands " - thyroid, adrenal,

and sex glands. These newer tests measure hormone levels in tissues -

- where hormones actually do their work -- thereby providing a more

accurate assessment.

Third, the Fat-Fuzzy-Frazzled program and the information on our

FeelingFFF.com website provide three levels of intervention:

Jumpstart with simple natural remedies to boost vitality fast

Intermediate steps to actually help restore the problem gland

Long-term steps to maintain your reclaimed health forever

In other words, in this new book, we reversed the order of

recommendation, starting first with advanced home testing,

alternative practitioners, and the latest & best natural treatments.

This protocol is then followed by the use of medical doctors and

prescriptions.

Q. What prompted you to write this book?

This book was inspired by our sampling of what appears to be

millions of people who are suffering needlessly because they can't

get their primary doctor to listen to their symptoms, order the best

testing, or manage their case flexibly and respectfully. For

instance, we had an entire research documentation section in our

previous book Thyroid Power that was called " Show This to Your

Doctor. " Every one of our ten steps was backed up by several

research articles from the medical literature to verify our

rationale for that step. Our office and coaching patients reported

to us that almost all of their doctors simply waved it away without

even looking at it.

Then, when we started giving public seminars and lectures, the

attendees were furious! We were telling them to guide their doctor

towards better care for them, and their doctors were not interested

in anything they had to say, no matter how knowledgeable or

assertive they were. That was an eye-opener for us!

Therefore, we came up with this new detailed program, which can be

totally self-directed and self-managed if necessary. We also

strongly suggest they more frequently use the great variety of

natural healing practitioners at various stages of hormone care.

Simply put, since the medical doctors don't consider this level of

gland imbalance to be a significant illness, it is up to the

consumer to rebalance her or his own hormones. Our new book provides

an updated consumer road map for thyroid, adrenal, and sex gland

rebalancing.

Q. At the beginning of the book, you make an appeal to doctors,

endocrinologists, nurses and natural health practitioners to have an

open mind when considering this topic. Why did you feel that it was

necessary to make this appeal?

This huge gland-imbalanced segment of our population (likely to

exceed 50 million, perhaps our country's largest epidemic) is being

underserved by the health professions. Whereas many other conditions

are being over-treated -- in our humble viewpoint -- this one is

largely ignored. To us, the reason is that it is a quality of life

issue, related to how people feel day in and day out, rather than

related to modern medicine's focus, which is loss of life or limb.

Our appeal is to invite all different kinds of caregivers to focus

more on this neglected corner of health care, and to treat their

patients more respectfully. It is also intended to encourage medical

doctors to be more responsive and respectful in treating patients

with these concerns.

What " Endo-Type " Are You?...

More......