Fourth year UMHS medical student Jeyka Marin has co-written a book with Dr. Edouard Servy, a pioneer in reproductive endocrinology and his nurse practitioner, Aprile Melton. The book, Hormone Replacement 101: A Guide for Evaluation and Management, went on sale June 2, 2019 on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Book-A-Million, IndieBound and other libraries.
The UMHS Endeavour spoke to Ms. Marin about writing the book and why she believes hormone replacement therapy is something Caribbean medical school students and the health care community should learn more about. She discussed some of the common misconceptions about hormone replacement in both men and women.
While taking several clinical electives in OB-GYN, Ms. Marin had the opportunity to work with Dr. Servy and Ms. Melton on the book. The book covers topics like normal physiology of the ovaries, menopause, hormones, menopausal treatments, routes for hormone replacement, hormone replacement in males, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Study and the controversy of hormone replacement therapy.
UMHS student Jeyka Marin. Photo: Courtesy of Jeyka Marin
Misconceptions of Hormone Replacement Therapy
Misconceptions about Hormone Replacement Therapy are one of the important issues the book addresses. Ms. Marin first addressed the myth for women that “hormones are bad because they cause breast cancer.”
“After the WHI study concluding that Estrogen + Progesterone Hormone Replacement increased breast cancer risk, many fearful women stopped using hormone replacement after 2002,” she said. ‘It is important to understand that there are multiple risk factors that lead to breast cancer that needed to be mentioned in the study.”
The biggest myth for males is that men do not need Hormone Replacement Therapy.
“This is not true,” Ms. Marin said. “Testosterone loss is common as a male ages. It is important to identify the males that need hormone replacement and treat them accordingly. One out of four men over 30 have low testosterone levels but only one out of 20 have clinical symptoms linked to the deficiency.”
Two Takeaways
Two crucial aspects of menopause are outlined in the book. The first is the various symptoms associated with menopause.
“Symptoms of menopause are not only hot flashes; there are various symptoms that are manifested during menopause,” Ms. Marin said. “I created a table that shows all symptoms of menopause and the hormones that are involved. It is very important to be able to evaluate the symptoms and to be able to treat accordingly for a better quality of life of the patients.”
Second, the various treatments for menopause are outlined.
“Menopausal symptoms can be treated with different dosages and there are different routes to administer hormones such as pills, IM injections, creams, patches, gels, sublingual, vaginal suppositories and finally, subcutaneous implants,” she said. “Each one of them has their own pros and cons, which I displayed in a table for easy reading.”
The book is aimed at patients and everyday people who are not in the health care world.
“The book is written in simple words, great for patients and people that are not in the medical field that want to know more about the topic,” Ms. Marin said. “If you are going to be an OBGYN or Family Medicine doctor you need to know about this since it’s a common complaint in women over 51.”
“I really enjoyed taking the opportunity of writing this book since it allowed me to better understand concepts and aspects about menopause and management.”
Ms. Marin started UMHS in May 2015. She graduates in September 2019 and is applying for the 2020 Match.
The cover of the book by Jeyka Marin, Dr. Eduoard Servy & Aprile Melton. Image: Bookbaby.com
Hormone Replacement 101: A Guide for Evaluation and Management is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Books-A-Million, IndieBound and other libraries for $8.99 for the eBook and $15.00 for the hard copy.
You can also get it directly in BookBaby via the link below:
(Top photo) Jeyka Marin. Photo: Courtesy of Jeyka Marin
About UMHS:
Built in the tradition of the best US universities, the University of Medicine and Health Sciences focuses on individual student attention, maintaining small class sizes and recruiting high-quality faculty. We call this unique approach, “personalized medical education,” and it’s what has led to our unprecedented 96% student retention rate, and outstanding residency placements across the US and Canada. UMHS is challenging everything you thought you knew about Caribbean medical schools.
Scott is Director of Digital Content & Alumni Communications Liaison at UMHS and editor of the UMHS Endeavour blog. When he's not writing about UMHS students, faculty, events, public health, alumni and UMHS research, he writes and edits Broadway theater reviews for a website he publishes in New York City, StageZine.com.
