Patient advocate and writer Mary Shomon transformed her own 1995 thyroid diagnosis into a mission to educate and empower other patients who struggle with thyroid, autoimmune, and weight loss challenges.

Mary is author of a number of best-selling books on thyroid disease and weight loss, and a nationally-known patient advocate. In addition to her work with About.com, Mary founded and runs the Thyroid-Info Website, and since 1997 has published Sticking Out Our Necks, the only independent, bimonthly print newsletter on thyroid disease for patients.

Experience:

Mary is the author of numerous patient-oriented health books and educational materials. Her 2004 book "The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss," was a New York Times best-seller, an Amazon.com Top 10 Health book of 2004, and a semi-finalist for the Quills Awards.

Mary is also author of Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual and Hormonal Problems at Every Age, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your doctor Doesn't Tell you...That You Need to Know, Living Well With Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism, Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and Living Well With Autoimmune Disease, all published by HarperCollins. She co-authored What Your Dr May Not Tell You About Parkinson's Disease, published by Time Warner.

Mary also serves on the faculty of the New York Open Center, a leading holistic health educational center located in New York City.

Education:

Mary belongs to the Endocrine Society, the world's largest professional organization of endocrinologists in the world, known as the leading source of research and advancements in endocrinology and metabolism.

She is also one of the first patient members of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare, a professional society dedicated to research and education in patient-doctor communications.

Mary holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Mary Shomon in the Media:

In her work as a patient advocate, Mary has been featured in the media, including ABC World News Tonight, CBS Radio, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's World, First for Women, Alternative Medicine Magazine, the CBC, and hundreds of TV, radio, magazine, and news outlets in the U.S. and abroad.

From Mary Shomon:

As many as 60 million Americans have thyroid conditions, and the majority aren't even diagnosed. Among those who know they have thyroid problems, the majority don't even feel well. Clearly, something needs to be done to help patients get diagnosed accurately and quickly, and once diagnosed, receive effective treatment.

Unfortunately, doctors tend to think of thyroid disease as a mundane, easy to diagnose, easy to treat, one-size-fits-all problem. Patients, however, recognize that the truth is far more complex, and that effective treatment requires innovation, and often includes not only conventional approaches, but nutritional and lifestyle changes.

Information, empowerment, and support is essential. Providing these necessary components is my focus for this site, my Thyroid-Info.com site, and my patient-oriented books and resources for patients.

My motto and battle cry is clear: "We're patients. . . not lab values!" We deserve to feel well!

References:

• Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual & Hormonal Problems at Every Age
  Explores the thyroid's link to fertility, sex drive, pregnancy, menopause and menstruation.
• Living Well With Hypothyroidism, Revised 2nd Edition
  Best-selling book on conventional and alternative hypothyroidism diagnosis and treatment.
• The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss
  New York Times best-seller that offers effective guidelines on weight loss for thyroid patients.
• Living Well With Graves Disease, Autoimmune Disease, Newsletters, More...
  More information on Mary Shomon's books, guides and newsletters is available at her webs site.