Mary Shomon
Mary Shomon, born 1961, is an American health activist and author whose primary focus is thyroid disease.
Published work
She is the author of one New York Times best-selling book, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, published by Harper Collins in 2004, along with a number of other consumer health books on thyroid disease, weight loss, auto-immune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. Shomon is also the original Guide for the About.com (formerly the Mining Co.) site on thyroid disease. She has also maintained other patient-oriented websites and email newsletters on thyroid disease since 1997.
Advocacy
In her work, Shomon advocates education, information, and knowledge of alternative and holistic approaches to health. She is critical of some of the practices of mainstream medicine, and especially endocrinology, in diagnosing and treating thyroid disease, and has been particularly outspoken about various issues concerning the leading drug in the field, Synthroid.
It should be noted that Shomon is not formally trained in any aspect of health care, and the information that she presents on thyroid conditions are her opinion only.
Education & Diagnosis
Shomon is a 1983 graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in International Finance from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She worked in advertising and marketing for a number of advertising agencies and grassroots outreach companies, developing advertising and outreach campaigns for commercial and non-profit clients.
Shomon was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an auto-immune thyroid condition, in 1995, and this became the impetus for her involvement with online thyroid support groups, and ultimately, the creation of her thyroid-related web sites and her work as a patient advocate. In 1997, she joined with the Mining Co., (now, About.com) to create the Thyroid Disease web site, and her site went live when the company was launched in April 1997. She continued as Thyroid Guide for About.com as of February 2007. In June 2008, she led a workshop called Living With Thyroid Disease: Creating Your Wellness Plan at the New York Open Center . She also writes, edits and maintains a number of other thyroid and health-related web sites.
Publications
Shomon has authored eight health books and has published many alternative medicine related articles on her web sites. Her books include:
- The Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough: Overcoming Sexual and Hormonal Problems at Every Age, 2006, Collins/HarperCollins; 1st edition, ISBN 0-06-079865-3
- The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, 2004, HarperResource; ISBN 0-06-052444-8
- Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, Second Edition, 2005, HarperResource, ISBN 0-06-074095-7
- Living Well With Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism:What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, 2005, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-074095-7
- What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Parkinson's Disease: A Holistic Program for Optimal Wellness, co-authored with Jill Marjama-Lyons, 2003, Time Warner, ISBN 0-446-67890-2
- Living Well With Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, 2003, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-093819-6
- Living Well With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, 2004, ISBN 0-06-052125-2
- Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, 2000, Avon/Morrow/HarperResource
References
- About Mary Shomon, About.com
- Mary Shomon at Thyroid info
- Murphy, Kate; "For Thyroid Hormones, How Low Is Too Low?" New York Times, November 8, 2005