Category Archives: Hormones

Heavy periods during perimenopause

Leave a reply

Do you know women who have heavy periods around the time of menopause? It is usually accepted as a normal part of the process. And if at all these women do see a gynecologist, they most likely end up with a hysterectomy! Or if the doctor is like me, an endoscopic surgeon, they may be treated with a procedure called hysteroscopic endometrial ablation. Which is simpler, but still a surgical option.

During perimenopause, the hormone progesterone is dropping, but estrogens may not be, leading to a situation called estrogen dominance. This basically means that you don’t have enough progesterone to balance out the activity of the estrogens still circulating in the blood stream. Estrogen dominance causes all kinds of symptoms such as:
 Depression
 Anxiety
 Panic attacks
 Aching body and joints
 Fatigue
 Breast tenderness
 Decreased sex drive
 Mood swings
 Allergy symptoms
 Insomnia
 Weight gain
 Water retention
 Hair loss
 Migraines
 Heavy periods and bad cramps

And the irony is that doctors have been prescribing estrogen, synthetic progestins and antidepressants to women who complain of these symptoms since the 1950’s! This makes no sense. They likely need natural progesterone, which is an important part of their personalized hormone management plan. Bioidentical progesterone is safe and easy to use.

 

Why Bioidentical? Because its the exact same molecule that we have in our body, so obviously it is accepted by the body and acts a lot better than the synthetic, chemical stuff we use otherwise. So find a BioIdentical Hormone Practitioner near you.

And once the hormones are balanced, the symptoms resolve magically. All symptoms, not just the heavy periods.

Several of my patients who were taking bioidentical progesterone for heavy periods, went into natural menopause after a couple of cycles or so. Were they happy? You bet!

Make informed choices. And stay healthy.

Images courtesy Google

Plastic Bottles

Leave a reply

We have all been hearing about the danger of BPA and plastics and how it can affect our endocrine system, immune system, and several other systems of the body.

This chemical BPA, or bisphenol-A, mimics the hormone estrogen, and therefore, it can have estrogenic effects in the body, and these effects have been linked to everything from cancer to diabetes to obesity. The list includes things like asthma, infertility, low sperm count, liver problems, ADHD, and its almost “Pick a disease, literally pick a disease,” and you’ll find a connection with estrogenic activity due to some of these chemicals.

These ‘outside estrogens’ are called xenoestrogens.

This BPA info has been out for a while, so a lot of companies have been switching to BPA-free plastics. You’ve all probably seen baby bottles and Tupperware and things that are marketed as being BPA free, the idea being that we can continue using these plastics since they are safe.  So, what’s really disturbing is that a lot of recent research, including a paper that recently appeared in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that almost all commercially available plastics, including the ones that are marketed as being BPA free, leach synthetic estrogens. Even when these plastics weren’t exposed to conditions that are known to unlock these potentially harmful chemicals, like heat, putting them in a microwave or putting them in a dishwasher or leaving a plastic water bottle out on the dashboard of your car in the sun, just normal contact with food or water was enough for these chemicals to leach into the food and the water.  And the problem is that some of the chemicals that are in the BPA-free plastics actually have been found to have greater estrogenic activity than BPA itself.

So, this is sort of trading the frying pan for the fire, really.  It means that we should really be cautious with any kind of plastic containers – plastic water bottles, plastic baby bottles, and things like that.

Phthalates, like BPA, are endocrine disruptors.  They interfere with the endocrine system, and are also used in plastics.  Phthalate exposure leads to sperm damage in men.

Tupperware is a brand, not a product. you have Milton, Rubbermaid, Tupperware. Not glass, steel, Tupperware.

Soft plastic or vinyl products that are often given to babies for teething can contain phthalates.  You should make sure that your toothbrush and especially those chew toys are labeled phthalate free. Pay attention to personal care products for phthalates.

Sometimes patients don’t respond as expected  to treatments. There can be a lot of different explanations for why that is, but one potential reason is exposure to these types of environmental toxins.

So what to do?

Use stainless steel or glass.

Simple.

And keep yourself, and your family, safe and healthy!

Inflammation and Illness

Leave a reply

Inflammation is the ‘bad boy’ of lifestyle illnesses. Even though it is useful in acute conditions, it can damage the body if inflammation becomes chronic.

There are a number of risk factors for chronic inflammation. These include: long-term infection, poor diet, toxins, heavy metals, smoking, stress, exhaustion and obesity. These factors put the body on high alert, even when an alert is unnecessary. Consequently, these inflammatory cell signals significantly damage health over time. For example, it can scramble DNA, interfere with cellular communications, impair immunity and create an environment that allows tumors to grow.

To eliminate chronic inflammation, we must reduce these underlying factors and support the body’s natural anti-inflammatory mechanisms. We need to tell the body to calm down.

Excess weight, especially in the abdomen, known as visceral fat, can itself produce inflammatory chemicals known as cytokines.

However, being thin is not necessarily any better. Eating pro-inflammatory foods can also throw your system off balance even if you are physically fit. That’s why we should all stay away from processed foods and control our intake of sugar and trans fats. In particular, processed, fried and grilled foods are high in advanced glycation end products, appropriately called AGEs, which promote oxidation and inflammation.

One study, conducted by researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, outlined how dietary changes can have a profound impact on inflammation and health. Two groups were assigned separate diets. One ate a normal Western diet, high in AGEs. The other was asked to poach, stew or steam their meals, processes that produce fewer AGEs. After four months, the latter group showed dramatic reductions in inflammatory markers and had other indications of improved cardiovascular and metabolic health. In addition, a protein that helps clear these toxic compounds increased, restoring the body’s normal protective mechanisms.

Eat more phytonutrients, which tend to be high in antioxidants and include other health-promoting compounds. Richly colored fruits, like tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries, are excellent sources.

Also, probiotic / fermented foods, such as yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, miso and kimchi, help maintain the balance of friendly flora in our digestive tract and are shown to help reduce inflammation.

Another cause of chronic inflammation is stress and lack of sleep. This can be reduced with practice of meditation, yoga, tai chi, etc.

Anti-oxidants are an effective way to counteract chronic inflammation, especially if obtained from dietary and natural sources,

What a simple way to keep ourselves healthy!

Integrative Medicine Patient example

Leave a reply

Integrative Medicine provides a holistic, root cause approach that provides the ability to treat common medical problems with fewer side effects, decrease dependency on drugs and surgeries, and empower patients with education.

So lets take an example, Ms TM, age 35, has diabetes, high blood pressure, is hypothyroid and has had heavy periods since forever. She says she has never known what it is to be functional during a period, it has always been so incapacitating. She has been taking treatment for these conditions since menarche,  occasionally requiring acute control  during periods of stress. 

She was given bio-identical hormone balancing for the heavy periods but resisted a complete protocol for her other conditions, preferring to stay on traditional modes of therapy.

About a year ago, she realised that the traditional system provided no more than suppression of her symptoms, and opted to go the whole hog. Along with hormones, she was given supplements, dietary guidance, an exercise suggestion, and stress reduction techniques. Important – she was given Mind-Body Balancing advice. She followed these faithfully and today she is free of all her ailments. She says, for the first time in her life, she knows what it is to continue to be productive even during a period. In fact, she is now able to advise family members!

Transforming lives, spreading the message of good health – its just such a blessing!