For a book that is supposed to be the best book to use on breast cancer, Dr Susan Love’s Breast Book falls short in many important areas. Of course, it is not a complete waste of print. It may help to know what to expect ahead of time, though .

The first problem is an obvious one. That is, too much of the book covers basic anatomy of breast tissue and development instead of the information that women who read the book need the most. The fact is, no one wants to wade through a bunch of non-essential material in order to find the answers to their most pressing questions. Especially when time is of the essence, which in this case, it usually is.

The next difficulty lies in the fact that the book was published only as recently as 2005. Surely the survival and mortality statistics the author quotes are outdated by now. The speed of medical advances in areas such as chemotherapy, antibodies, and hormonal therapy is usually a lot more swift than can be measured in five year increments. Consequently, the statistics on ten-year survival rates are especially suspect.

To make matters worse, the author only dedicates one paragraph to guide women on reading and interpreting the statistics! How can they possibly move forward in their fight when they are ill-prepared and fearful?

Another flaw with the book is that there is much too much detail about rare complications of surgery and recurrence. At a time when most readers are looking for cold hard facts about their options in order to make treatment decisions, the author agonizes over how many lives have been lost and the imperfections of the medical system. Once again, superfluous discussion is found where answers are most desperatley needed.

Even when Dr. Love does have some good information for the reader about how dangerous chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery can be, she still recommends it wholeheartedly. Even though she admits that the standard chemotherapy protocol is only effective in 2-9% of non-metastatic women and that the side effects can cause permanent damage and even death!

I think I would be wary of any healthcare provider who offers that kind of advice. After all, she is still a doctor, and has a very cold, calculating way of assessing the treatment plans.

It is not that you can’t get some good information from the book. Dr Susan Love’s Breast Book contains a respectable amount of material on breast cancer. However, I would not put all of my time into reading it, especially if I wanted to be able to take any kind of action right away in order to save my own life.

Looking for practical information about preventing breast cancer in yourself and the women you love? Visit the preventing breast cancer page on Holistic-Medicine-MD. Better yet, check out the book Breast Cancer: Reduce Your Risk With Foods You Love by Dr. Robert Pendergrast.

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