UTERINE FIBROIDS & OVARIAN CYSTS:

Of fibroids that develop in the uterus, Dr. John Lee states that they are:

another example of estrogen dominance secondary to anovulatory cycles and consequent progesterone deficiency. They generally occur in the 8-10 years before menopause. If sufficient natural progesterone is supplemented from day 12 to day 26 of the menstrual cycle, further growth of fibroids is usually prevented (and often the fibroids regress).

Ovarian cysts are also a problem in many women. Dr. Peat says these are usually associated with a low thyroid condition, and that administration of thyroid hormone can get rid of them by lowering estrogen levels and making the ovaries produce more progesterone.

Dr. Lee's approach, on the other hand, is to administer just the progesterone directly. He says that "natural progesterone, given from day 5 to day 26 of the menstrual month for two to three cycles, will almost routinely" cause disappearance of these cysts by suppressing normal FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone), and estrogen production and giving the ovary time to heal. Furthermore, studies have been reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute as far back as 1951 in which progesterone even produced evidence of regression of cervical tumors.

It's reassuring to know that progesterone can protect us in so many ways; but we must all be alert to the fact that the long-range harmful effects of "estrogen dominance" in the body are not widely recognized.

ENDOMETRIOSIS

Majid Ali, M.D., calls endometriosis, which he says afflicts five million American women, “a painful, often disabling disorder that can lead to infertility.” Endometriosis is sometimes treated, mistakenly, with synthetic birth control pills. He blames estrogen “overdrive” for the “growth outside the uterus of misplaced cells that normally line the uterine cavity.” Linda G. Rector-Page, N.D., Ph.D., adds that this tissue often attaches to other organs, and there is a backup of some of the heavy menstrual flow.

Endometriosis and Estrogen
     Dr. Ali maintains that treatment with synthetic estrogen, so widespread among doctors, is a grave error. In fact, Women on Menopause, by Ann Dickson and Nikki Henriques, reveals that unopposed estrogen was first linked in 1970 to “abnormal cell growth in the endometrium,” resulting also in the possibility of endometrial cancer. Today, women need to be aware of the many other serious side effects when estrogen is administered alone and their progesterone levels are down: nausea, anorexia, vomiting, headaches, and fluid retention leading to weight gain. It is important, say the authors of this book, for women who have other physical disorders to avoid supplementation with only estrogen, for it can exacerbate high blood pressure, diabetes, migraines, and epilepsy.

Endometriosis and Hysterectomy
     A study in Sweden also showed that women using high doses of the synthetic estrogen known as ethinylestradiol (used in lower doses in the birth control pill in the United States) had an increased rate of breast cancer. Sandy McFarland, who was suffering from endometriosis, was only nineteen when her gynecologist said she should have a hysterectomy. According the Endometriosis Association, this condition, which affects girls and women from the ages of eleven to fifty, is “the leading cause of hysterectomy.” Fortunately, Sandy’s father was a nutritionist, and he decided to try to correct what he thought might be a hormone imbalance with natural progesterone. This decision not only saved Sandy’s uterus but also normalized her once irregular periods.