Written in an approachable, conversational tone, A Barefoot Doctor’s Guide for Women focuses on women’s hormonal health. Author Georgette Delvaux describes issues such as menstruation, pre-menopause and menopause, explaining how they can begin as just an annoying occurrence and gradually develop into major problems that affect a woman’s body and mind. She also describes accompanying problems that can be directly related to hormonal issues or simply occur at the same time - fluid retention, inflammation, indigestion, anxiety and insomnia - and discusses how osteoporosis can be treated with good nutrition and weight bearing activity.One of the central themes of the book concerns the harmful effects of the popular practice of eliminating numerous hormonal imbalances using artificial or natural hormone supplementation. Delvaux encourages women to trust subtle changes in their own sensations that may indicate imbalance, showing that small imbalances are often easy to treat using reputable alternative practitioners. In addition, she explains that the development of more serious problems that may require treatments with dangerous side effects can be prevented. Delvaux introduces Thermography, an almost unknown but safe method of detecting dangerous changes in breast tissue and how this method also detects minor problems caused by hormonal imbalance that are easy to monitor and correct. The book discusses how contemporary Western medical approaches are complemented by alternative methods such as homeopathy and naturopathy, as well as age-old Eastern medical practices like acupuncture and Ayurveda.