Why you should be concerned about estrogen dominance
October is breast cancer awareness month!
Last week, in a post about three ways to help prevent breast cancer, I talked a little bit about estrogen dominance. You’re probably wondering what it is and why it matters. I’ll do my best to explain this as thoroughly as I can without getting too technical.
What is it?
Estrogen dominance occurs when you stop ovulating. During the first half of a woman’s cycle, estrogen stimulates growth of her uterine lining. Half way through the cycle, ovulation occurs. At this point progesterone production dominates-which limits further estrogen growth. Without ovulation, progesterone does not balance the estrogen produced in the first half of the cycle. Instead, a woman’s body continues to produce estrogen resulting in estrogen dominance.
When does this occur?
Estrogen dominance can occurs for several reasons. First is when young teenagers start their periods. They often have irregular periods for the first two to three years because of lack of ovulation. Second is during perimenopause (the transition to menopause). During perimenopause, a woman again stops ovulating and stops producing progesterone to balance estrogen. Finally, estrogen dominance occurs in women who have polycystic ovarian syndrome. This syndrome is a collection of hormonal symptoms that have at their root cause, lack of ovulation and thus estrogen dominance.
Why is this important?
Estrogen dominance during the perimenopause puts women at a greater risk for weight gain and breast cancer. High levels of estrogen can lead to constant stimulation for growth. This means all estrogen is encouraging all cells to grow-normal cells and abnormal cancerous cells in the breast.
What can we do about estrogen dominance?
During perimenopause, the simple addition of bio-identical progesterone can balance the estrogen. This corrects estrogen dominance, helps women lose weight, and reduces the incidence of breast cancer.
(Special thanks to MesserWoland for providing copyright permission of the pink ribbon through Wikipedia.)
Three easy ways to help prevent breast cancer
October is breast cancer awareness month!
Here’s the sad truth about breast cancer treatment. Despite billions of research dollars committed to the cure of breast cancer, the death rates due to malignant breast cancer have not changed. For one-third of women who are diagnosed with malignant breast cancer, the disease will be fatal.
Instead of waiting for breast cancer, how about working to prevent it all together? Treatment is important, but prevention is even more important. So that’s where we should focus our efforts. Let’s be proactive about breast cancer and not merely reactive.
Let’s start young. If a girl starts birth control pills when she is younger than 18, she triples her lifetime risk for breast cancer. Women who have their first child before 24, decrease their lifetime risk by as much as five times.
Let’s think about nutrition. Yes, what you eat affects your weight and your risk of breast cancer. A diet high in trans fatty acids, partially hydrogenated oils, sugar, refined carbohydrates but low in fruits and vegetables provides a favorable environment for cancer growth. Additionally, high exposure to Xenoestrogens (pesticides and hormones) in non-organic foods can provide a favorable environment for cancer growth.
Let’s talk about “estrogen dominance.” When a woman stops ovulating, the decreased progesterone in her body will promote unregulated breast tissue growth. Decreased progesterone leads to estrogen dominance. It occurs in menopausal women, overweight women, women with the rapidly increasing diagnosis of polycystic ovaries, and all young girls in their first 2-3 years of menstruation.
These are three easy steps women can take to avoid letting their bodies become a favorable environment for breast cancer.
- Proper nutrition and use of organic foods
- Elimination of birth control pills except for contraception
- Correcting estrogen dominance with progesterone
Let’s be proactive, not just reactive.
(Special thanks to MesserWoland for providing copyright permission of the pink ribbon through Wikipedia.)
