The Center for Disease Prevention & Reversal Blog

One of the most common complaints driving women to my Evanston office is the complaint of feeling anxious and crazy toward the latter half of the patients' cycle.

This can also be seen in newly menopausal women as well.

Often patients relate the difficult they have in falling or staying asleep, the irritability or short fuse they feel, especially towards family, and the weight gain in their mid-section.

This new feeling is disquieting and can make woman feel as though they are losing the self they have always known to a new, less desirable self.

What is actually happening is the balance of estrogens to progesterone is shifting and contrary to popular belief, the estrogens are in excess relative to the progesterone. This is one event that can increase anxiety as progesterone is one of the most potent anti-anxiety compounds produced.

Another event that seems to be occurring is the autonomic nervous system often appears to be in stuck in "fight and flight" and the patient feels stressed even when there is nothing to stress about.

The development of IR or insulin resistance seems to intensify around menopause for many women. IR can snowball creating more insulin with a given amount of carbohydrates, which leads to hypoglycemia and then more carbohydrate cravings.

A common question is one regarding the excessive estrogens as the common wisdom is that women stop making estrogen as they approach menopause. This is not true. While cycles may be anovulatory, peripheral conversion of cholesterol into estrogen using the aromatase pathway can be very active.

My patients will tell me they had their levels checked and there is no estrogen, but the lab work they bring in only shows the estradiol or E2 level. The aromatase pathway produces E1 or estrone. Estrone must be degraded into metabolites and depending upon the toxin burden of the liver, the metabolites might be very active and stimulating for tissue growth.

I always perform a complete hormone profile on my patients to get the real picture. Excessive estrogens or their metabolites can be tampered by supplements that help the liver degrade the hormone and by supplements that decrease the activity of the aromatase pathway.

Bio-identical progesterone can be helpful towards the end of the cycle at night for proper balance and sleep restoration.

Reflex biofeedback can be a life saver when it comes to resetting the autonomic nervous system and getting the patient out of the "fight and flight" pattern. I use SCENAR for this with excellent and immediate results.

Sound nutritional support with some simple but powerful dietary changes can make a huge difference in controlling the insulin resistance that often develops, bringing back the waistline and confidence of any patient.

Uterine fibroids are a very common phenomenon among women of all backgrounds.
Women of African decent do have a higher risk of developing fibroids but the incidence rate among women in general during the reproductive years is about 30 %.

A fibroid is a non-malignant growth of tissue in the muscular layer of the uterus and can continue to grow as long as the woman has hormones feeding it. There are theories as to what causes fibroids, estrogen stimulation is the main working theory based on behavior of the tumor to hormone suppression.

Mainstream treatments can consist of hormonal manipulation and often surgery.

The hormonal treatment is typically contraceptive pills, which controls the cycle and the amount of estrogen, or Lupron, which shuts down the whole system and puts the woman into a chemically induced menopause. While this can prove to be effective, the patient often suffers from many objectionable side effects emotionally and physically from being thrown into menopause overnight.

A myomectomy is where just the fibroid itself is removed, or, in the case of a very large fibroid, a hysterectomy, where the total uterus is removed. And while these can be effective as well, they do nothing about the actual cause of the fibroid and having to undergo general surgery when there are less invasive options is not preferable.

In my Evanston office, I manage these patients by taking a careful history, looking at possible dietary, environmental toxin or emotional factors that could be contributing to the growth of the fibroid.

I get a complete hormonal laboratory workup and often suggest many dietary changes.
In addition, I often complete a homeopathic evaluation and perform SCENAR on the uterine acupuncture points which can alleviate any pain or discomfort the patient may have been having from the fibroid.

Supplementation with I3C or DIM as well as herbs to help the liver detoxify the hormones can also be helpful.

There are times, that this is not enough and the patient does need to undergo surgery, but in all fairness, it is almost always when the patient just can't or won't make the necessary dietary changes.

Look for future blogs on hormones in our food chain and how to limit our exposure to them.

There is a new darling of the "liposuction alternatives", it's termed Pure Lipo.

It claims to be minimally invasive which is true, however, it poses a death risk from lidocaine toxicity and there have been a few deaths from Pure Lipo across the country.

The need for ample amount of lidocaine anesthesia is great as it would be a very painful procedure without it.

There is also suction involved in the procedure, albeit with syringes and not a more powerful machine as in liposuction but this can leave the patient with disruption of their collagen, cutaneous nerve damage and asymmetry. And, in fact, this is what is noted on complaint boards on line regarding Pure Lipo.

The reason I still prefer lipodissolve in my Chicago area office over any other treatment for body sculpting, is there is no death risk, there has never been a death related to it and the safety record in general is stellar. Patients do get swelling and often some bruising but no anesthetic is necessary, the compound used is bio-identical and non-toxic which means no risk of allergic reaction.

Many plastic surgeons have badmouthed lipodissolve stating it is not FDA approved but this is a word game as no procedures are FDA approved, they do not have an approval process for procedures at all. Therefore, the same negative claim can be made for liposuction, pure lipo or any other procedure.

Liposuction surgeries have declined and many of these plastic surgeons are feeling the decline in income over it, hence the negative PR campaign.

The compound used in lipodissolve is a mixture of bile salts and lecithin or PCDC, these are bio-identical and naturally occurring substances. According to FDA laws only licensed medical practitioners can administer injectable PCDC. But this is contrary to the rumor that the FDA banned PCDC. There is no ban on it as long as it is manufactured by a pharmacy and used by a licensed physician. PCDC has been used for procedures since the 1950's, has a wonderful track record and has been used for aesthetic procedures since the mid 1990's.