What do you think?
Rate this book
Signals
**Includes a bonus Q&A with Claudia Hammond**
' Signals is a special book, a witty, utterly fascinating guide to who you are and how you work . . . It's compassionate, humane and grounded in the author's deep clinical experience. A true gift.' Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People
Dr Saira Hameed is one of the UK's leading endocrinologists. In Signals, she invites us into her clinic to see the profound impact of misfiring hormones and shows us how fixing the problem recalibrates a life. We sit beside Dr Hameed as she hears stories from spirit-sapping exhaustion to agonising infertility, absent libido to frenzied disorientation. We see an emaciated girl who is close to death and another battling obesity. We meet a young boy who can't stay awake and a teenage girl a whose racing heart will not be able to keep going much longer.
Hormones animate every aspect and every moment of our lives. This is a vital book for anyone who wants to understand their health and their happiness.
' A fascinating insight into the real-world mystery-solving of the doctor's clinic, and discoveries past and present.' Mishal Husain
' Signals is a special book, a witty, utterly fascinating guide to who you are and how you work . . . It's compassionate, humane and grounded in the author's deep clinical experience. A true gift.' Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People
Dr Saira Hameed is one of the UK's leading endocrinologists. In Signals, she invites us into her clinic to see the profound impact of misfiring hormones and shows us how fixing the problem recalibrates a life. We sit beside Dr Hameed as she hears stories from spirit-sapping exhaustion to agonising infertility, absent libido to frenzied disorientation. We see an emaciated girl who is close to death and another battling obesity. We meet a young boy who can't stay awake and a teenage girl a whose racing heart will not be able to keep going much longer.
Hormones animate every aspect and every moment of our lives. This is a vital book for anyone who wants to understand their health and their happiness.
' A fascinating insight into the real-world mystery-solving of the doctor's clinic, and discoveries past and present.' Mishal Husain
Audible Audio
Published June 3, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 26, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to review this ARC — opinions are entirely my own (though my hormones may have tried to get involved). With a background in Mental Health in the NHS, I’ve seen more than my fair share of the emotional, physical, and biochemical chaos that can masquerade as “just life.” So when this book popped up, my heart did a little leap. Yes, that was probably the hormones too. Five stars were already warming up in the wings.
Dr Saira Hameed, one of the UK’s leading endocrinologists, invites us into her clinic where hormones behave like over‑enthusiastic stage managers — pulling strings, dimming lights, and occasionally dropping the scenery on someone’s head. Through cases of exhaustion, infertility, disordered eating, obesity, palpitations, and sleep that behaves like a sulky teenager, she shows how these tiny chemical messengers run the whole show. We only notice them when they start throwing tantrums.
As we sit quietly in the corner of her consulting room, Hameed walks us through the science: from foetal development to childbirth, through the rollercoaster of menopause, and into the tangled territories of sleep disorders and weight regulation. Her storytelling is compassionate, clear, and peppered with the history of the scientists and doctors who first decoded these mysterious signals. She also takes a satisfying scalpel to the myths and nonsense that clutter the wellness world, leaving you with explanations that actually stick.
What I loved most is how reassuring the book is. Hormones aren’t mystical forces or moral failings — they’re simply part of being human. When they misfire, ignoring them won’t help. Understanding them might.
You don’t need a biology degree, a medical dictionary, or even a particularly cooperative pituitary gland to enjoy this. I’ll be recommending it widely when it’s published — it’s an illuminating guide to the chemical conversations happening inside all of us, whether we like it or not. There is, quite literally, no escape.
Dr Saira Hameed, one of the UK’s leading endocrinologists, invites us into her clinic where hormones behave like over‑enthusiastic stage managers — pulling strings, dimming lights, and occasionally dropping the scenery on someone’s head. Through cases of exhaustion, infertility, disordered eating, obesity, palpitations, and sleep that behaves like a sulky teenager, she shows how these tiny chemical messengers run the whole show. We only notice them when they start throwing tantrums.
As we sit quietly in the corner of her consulting room, Hameed walks us through the science: from foetal development to childbirth, through the rollercoaster of menopause, and into the tangled territories of sleep disorders and weight regulation. Her storytelling is compassionate, clear, and peppered with the history of the scientists and doctors who first decoded these mysterious signals. She also takes a satisfying scalpel to the myths and nonsense that clutter the wellness world, leaving you with explanations that actually stick.
What I loved most is how reassuring the book is. Hormones aren’t mystical forces or moral failings — they’re simply part of being human. When they misfire, ignoring them won’t help. Understanding them might.
You don’t need a biology degree, a medical dictionary, or even a particularly cooperative pituitary gland to enjoy this. I’ll be recommending it widely when it’s published — it’s an illuminating guide to the chemical conversations happening inside all of us, whether we like it or not. There is, quite literally, no escape.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is fabulous. I love anything with a medical theme so when I saw this book I knew I’d find it interesting. It seems to follow a similar method of writing to another book I read some time ago, Critical by Dr Matt Morgan. For each function of the endocrine system, a patient is presented along with their symptoms, we’re then told how that function is meant to work and what could possibly have gone wrong. It will cover the history of discoveries, not only of treatments but of tests that can verify what is happening, even the history of discoveries made of how certain aspects of the endocrine system actually work.
Apparently this is how medical schools in the UK now teach, using Case-Based Learning, using a patient case as a framework to learn the science, history and potential cures. In other words a listening approach (to the patient) and detective work. This is exactly how this book is written making it easy to understand and absolutely fascinating to read.
What I found particularly gratifying was those doctors and scientists whose work went unrecognised at first, who discovered huge breakthrough’s and yet had no desire for financial reward. Their reward was just knowing that their work could help the many people whose hormones had gone wrong to the extent of being perhaps even life threatening, and that their discoveries could help resolve the patients suffering.
It certainly makes you think about how amazing the human body is, and how we really should take a little more care of what we put into it and stop taking it’s magical systems for granted. However the book isn’t preachy in any way, these are just my own conclusions that I’ve drawn from reading it, particularly in relation to Type 2 diabetes.
If you’ve ever wondered what those hormones in your body actually do, how they work together and how they keep you ticking along every day, then I would highly recommend this book – insightful, surprising, and completely absorbing to read. I enjoyed every page.
** It wasn't the audio book that I 'read' but it's the only edition listed on here. I read a Netgalley e-ARC. **
Apparently this is how medical schools in the UK now teach, using Case-Based Learning, using a patient case as a framework to learn the science, history and potential cures. In other words a listening approach (to the patient) and detective work. This is exactly how this book is written making it easy to understand and absolutely fascinating to read.
What I found particularly gratifying was those doctors and scientists whose work went unrecognised at first, who discovered huge breakthrough’s and yet had no desire for financial reward. Their reward was just knowing that their work could help the many people whose hormones had gone wrong to the extent of being perhaps even life threatening, and that their discoveries could help resolve the patients suffering.
It certainly makes you think about how amazing the human body is, and how we really should take a little more care of what we put into it and stop taking it’s magical systems for granted. However the book isn’t preachy in any way, these are just my own conclusions that I’ve drawn from reading it, particularly in relation to Type 2 diabetes.
If you’ve ever wondered what those hormones in your body actually do, how they work together and how they keep you ticking along every day, then I would highly recommend this book – insightful, surprising, and completely absorbing to read. I enjoyed every page.
** It wasn't the audio book that I 'read' but it's the only edition listed on here. I read a Netgalley e-ARC. **
June 17, 2026
Many thanks to Netgalley and Faber for the opportunity to read this book.
Dr Saira Hameed takes us into the world of hormones and their ability to control many aspects of our lives.
This was a really interesting read. It can get a little medical jargon heavy at times but the real cases balance it out. The author does a good job at trying to explain things. I also liked the historical side and learning how things came about. Its fascinating to see the role they play and how much they can impact our lives. I'm always interested in knowing more about how our bodies work and this really helped to understand hormones more. A good read for anyone interested in the subject.
Dr Saira Hameed takes us into the world of hormones and their ability to control many aspects of our lives.
This was a really interesting read. It can get a little medical jargon heavy at times but the real cases balance it out. The author does a good job at trying to explain things. I also liked the historical side and learning how things came about. Its fascinating to see the role they play and how much they can impact our lives. I'm always interested in knowing more about how our bodies work and this really helped to understand hormones more. A good read for anyone interested in the subject.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews