Selling the fountain of youth : how the anti-aging industry made a disease out of getting old, and made billions / Arlene Weintraub.

Title :

Selling the fountain of youth : how the anti-aging industry made a disease out of getting old, and made billions

Author:

Weintraub, Arlene.

Format:

Books

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

9780465017218

0465017215

Physical Description:

ix, 246 pages ; 25 cm

Contents:

"Physician, heal thyself!" -- All for money -- Too tempting to resist -- Homemade sex hormones -- The Hollywood connection -- The invention of male menopause -- Ragtag pharmacists cash in -- Potions galore -- Anti-aging goes mainstream.

Subject:

Longevity.

Pharmaceutical industry.

Somatotropin.

Hormones, Sex.

First Title value, for Searching:

Selling the fountain of youth : how the anti-aging industry made a disease out of getting old, and made billions / Arlene Weintraub.

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Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... McGovern-Stella Link	Adult	Non-fiction	Book	338.476151 W424	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

The beauty industry--which once revolved around creams and powders, subtle agents to enhance beauty--has become the anti-aging industry, overrun with steroids, human growth hormone injections, and "bio-identical" hormones--all promoted as "cures" for getting old. Acclaimed BusinessWeek science reporter Arlene Weintraub takes us inside this world, from the marketing departments of huge pharmaceutical companies to the backroom of your local pharmacy, from celebrity enthusiasts like Suzanne Somers and Oprah to the self-medicating doctors who run chains of rejuvenation centers, all claiming that we deserve to be forever young--and promising to show us how.

Weintraub reveals the shady practices that run rampant when junk science and dubious marketing meet consumer choice. She shows for the remarkable economic and cultural impact of anti-aging medicine, on the patients who partake and on the rest of us. It's not a pretty story, but Weintraub tells us everything we need to know to avoid being duped by this billion-dollar--and dangerous--hoax.

Author Notes

Arlene Weintraub has over fifteen years of experience writing about health care, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. As a reporter for BusinessWeek , she explores both the science and business of health. She lives in New York City.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This hard-boiled expose probes not serious antiaging research but the hucksterism in one seamy corner of the longevity industry: the booming field of hormone replacement therapy, whose physician-entrepreneurs prescribe human growth hormone, testosterone, and a medley of female reproductive hormones to help oldsters build muscle mass, restore libido, and go surfing. Weintraub, a former senior writer for Business Week, portrays the hormone replacement sector as a cesspool of unproven claims, unacknowledged side-effects, and marketing scams. It's also a zoo of colorful quacks, presided over by actress Suzanne Somers, author of best-selling alternative medicine treatises. Weintraub mixes acute reportage with a censorious tone; she deplores the notion that old age is a disease. Weintraub makes a good case that hormone therapies are useless, but she will likely not quell the hopes of enthusiasts. (Sept. 1) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Preface	p. vii
1 ôPhysician, Heal Thyself!ö	p. 1
2 All for Money	p. 25
3 Too Tempting to Resist	p. 53
4 Homemade Sex Hormones	p. 77
5 The Hollywood Connection	p. 107
6 The Invention of Male Menopause	p. 133
7 Ragtag Pharmacists Cash In	p. 161
8 Potions Galore	p. 187
9 Anti-Aging Goes Mainstream	p. 209
Acknowledgments	p. 231
Resources	p. 233
Index	p. 235

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Table of Contents