This Month's Book Reviews

A Commuter's Guide To Enlightenment

Life Extension Media Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9658777-2-5, 288 pages, $49.99.

Drawing from 30-plus years of clinical experience, Dr. Edward Lichten has written a new book, Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones, highlighting the applications and benefits of bio-identical hormone therapy.

One of the most promising applications of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is in the management of diabetes in men. For many men affected by diabetes, testosterone therapy may be more important than oral diabetic medications.]Restoring healthy sleep provides the foundation for good health. Dr. Lichten reports that L-tryptophan, GABA and other nutrients can provide powerful support for restorative sleep.

Less-than-optimal function of the thyroid gland may contribute to poor overall health. Dr. Lichten’s clinical experience suggests that bio-identical thyroid hormone therapy may offer superior benefits to synthetic hormone replacement.
Restoring optimal hormone balance may help alleviate many other common health complaints, including menopausal symptoms, headache, premenstrual syndrome, andropause and osteoporosis.

Before beginning bio-identical hormone replacement, it is essential to undergo comprehensive blood testing to determine base line levels of hormones and other health biomarkers that will guide therapy.

The Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones provides creative strategies for circumventing chronic illnesses that are not adequately treated by mainstream medicine. It will help enlighten both physicians and interested lay people about aggressive, but safe methods to combat the most prevalent health concerns of today’s aging population.

Based on his extensive clinical experience, Dr. Lichten’s book not only illustrates the essential benefits of restoring hormone balance in aging men and women, but more importantly, directly tackles the controversy that surrounds hormone replacement. Unfortunately, most physicians fail to properly understand the body’s need for hormones at all stages of life and are therefore unnecessarily reluctant to prescribe proper hormone therapy for their patients. Despite the complexity of this topic, the Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones speaks to the reader in a friendly, conversational tone. Dr. Lichten clearly states from the very beginning of the book that, “I am compelled to write this book because of the dangerous state of confusion that exists concerning what aging women and men should do to properly balance their hormones.”
One of the most important aspects of Dr. Lichten’s book is that it provides a road map for regaining one’s health and ideally, for extending one’s lifespan. “The body can most often heal itself if supplied with the proper building blocks of vitamins, minerals, fats and especially bio-identical hormones,” writes Dr. Lichten, “The contents of this book are aimed principally at individuals who want to take charge of their own bodies.” To that end, Dr. Lichten describes a variety of conditions and health issues and potential solutions to these problems, which may be implemented by the patient in concert with his or her physician.

Some of these conditions and their suggested treatments, such as bio-identical estrogen and progesterone for the treatment of symptoms of menopause, will likely be familiar to readers. But others may come as a revelation. In all cases, Dr. Lichten provides detailed examples from his own experience, describing the process of discovery that led him to unexpected causes and novel treatments, for his patients’ medical complaints, which include diabetes, insomnia, fibromyalgia, congestive heart failure, thyroid disease, Crohn’s disease, colitis, menstrual pain, PMS, migraine, osteoporosis and male andropause.

Dr. Lichten has developed a formula using gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) lozenges, high-dose vitamin D and pharmaceutical-pure L-tryptophan to successfully treat countless patients plagued by chronic insomnia. He has found that when restful sleep patterns are restored and hormones are balanced to reflect a more youthful state, up to 75 percent of clinically reported depression is resolved.

The Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones presents a wealth of information on hormone therapy drawn from decades of Dr. Edward Lichten’s real-life clinical experience. Written in an accessible and conversational format, this timely book is recommended for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the complexity of the human body and its many hormone-driven functions.

Reviewed by Dale Kiefer

Past phenomeNEWS Book Reviews