Hundreds of thousands of women receive hysterectomies each year.  At least half of these are unnecessary, and some studies show that up to 90% of all hysterectomies performed each year are done so unnecessarily.  90% is of course an astronomical number, but even if “only” 50% of hysterectomies performed each year are unnecessary, we’re still talking about 300,000 women each and every year who have this procedure without due cause.

But why would medical doctors recommend so many of these surgeries to these women if many of them weren’t necessary?  There are numerous reasons, but there are two primary reasons why this procedure is performed on so many women.  First of all, there’s the financial incentive involved, which of course is the case not only with hysterectomies, but with other surgeries as well.  Even with the cuts these providers receive through the insurance companies, they still make good money by performing these surgeries.  Plus, many medical doctors don’t see the harm in performing such a surgery, as they don’t consider the long term consequences.

A second reason why most medical doctors recommend these surgeries is because they don’t know what else to do.  For example, if a woman has uterine fibroids, many consider a hysterectomy as the only option.  Most medical doctors aren’t trained to use alternative methods.  Once again, this is the case with many other conditions as well, including thyroid conditions.  This is the same reason why most endocrinologists recommend RAI for people with hyperthyroidism, as well as thyroid hormone for people with hypothyroid disorders.  They simply don’t know what else to do.

What Is The Cause Of Most Hysterectomies?

There are multiple reasons medical doctors use to justify why a hysterectomy is recommended.  Uterine fibroids and increased uterine lining are two of the more common reasons.  Some women with endometriosis will also end up receiving this surgery.  A uterine prolapse is another reason why this procedure will be recommended.  And while sometimes a hysterectomy is needed, such as in certain types of cancer, sometimes with severe uterine fibroids, or other extreme conditions, many times these conditions can be cured naturally.  But as you know, most medical doctors don’t know how to treat such conditions naturally, and therefore never try to correct the actual cause of the problem. 

Estrogen dominance is a hormonal imbalance that causes many problems.  It can cause or contribute to the development of a thyroid condition (I wrote a previous blog post about this), and it also can lead to many of the problems which will cause a doctor to recommend a hysterectomy.  In order to determine whether someone has estrogen dominance, a female hormone panel should be obtained, which will show the ratio of estrogen to progesterone, as well as the levels of some of the other hormomes which could also be a factor.

How To Prevent A Woman From Getting A Hysterectomy

For those women who want to avoid having a hysterectomy, the primary goal is to first find out what is causing the problem, and then if possible, get to the underlying cause of the problem.  For example, if the problem is uterine fibroids, one needs to keep in mind that estrogen dominance is a common cause of them.  So if a women has estrogen dominance which is causing the development of one these fibroids, and if the uterine fibroid isn’t too large and thereby causing complications, then the obvious solution is to correct the estrogen dominance.  If you have been reading my articles and blog posts for awhile, then you probably know that correcting such a hormone imbalance can be accomplished through a purification program, eating well, and changing other lifestyle factors. 

Sometimes taking natural progesterone is also necessary to correct estrogen dominance, but most of the time this condition can be corrected without taking any hormones.  The good news is that since many people with thyroid conditions have estrogen dominance, by correcting the hormonal imbalance this not only will reduce the likelihood of you having a hysterectomy recommended by your medical doctor, but it can also help restore your thyroid health as well.

What If You’ve Already Had A Hysterectomy?

If you already have had a hysterectomy, you still need to correct the underlying hormone imbalance.  And if your ovaries were also removed, then you most likely will need to take some natural progesterone regularly.  So just because you had a hysterectomy doesn’t mean the underlying cause can’t be addressed, although lifetime support with hormones and/or certain nutritional supplements is usually necessary.

Speaking of removing the ovaries, many doctors will justify removing the ovaries because they will tell their patients that this will eliminate any chance of them getting ovarian cancer, which is of course true.  However, they will also tell them there is no use for their ovaries after the uterus has been removed, which isn’t true.  In addition, while removing the ovaries will eliminate any chance of the women developing ovarian cancer, research shows an increased incidence of heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis. 

By the way, some medical doctors will recommend unopposed estrogen to all of their female patients who have a hysterectomy.  This is usually a huge mistake, especially for those who have received this surgery due to the effects caused by estrogen dominance.  Since this deficiency involves either a decrease in progesterone or an increase in estrogen, giving estrogen will drive the women further into estrogen dominance, further exacerbating the symptoms.  Giving progesterone along with the estrogen may be a better option, but many women don’t need estrogen at all.  Once again, rather than make any assumptions, a female hormone panel needs to be obtained.

In summary, hundreds of thousands of women receive a hysterectomy each year unnecessarily, when following a simple natural protocol would have corrected this problem.  While sometimes this surgery is needed, if your doctor recommends it to you, it’s a good idea to seek the advice of a competent holistic doctor as a second opinion.  This can help you determine whether or not this procedure can be avoided.  If you have already received a hysterectomy and are still having severe symptoms, keep in mind that the underlying cause probably hasn’t been addressed, and until it is, these symptoms are likely to persist.

It continues to amaze me that many endocrinologists are quick to recommend radioactive iodine to their patients, essentially destroying the thyroid gland.  The reason I decided to write about this is because after doing a little bit of cleaning in my office I came across some of the pamphlets I received during my visit to the endocrinologist when I was first diagnosed with Graves’ Disease.
  
To no surprise the pamphlets I received were all medically oriented, as the different options it gives to treat hyperthyroidism and Graves’ Disease include 1) Anti-thyroid medication, 2) Beta blockers, 3) Radioactive iodine, and 4) Surgery.  The good news is that it does admit surgery is not preferred due to the risk of damaging the parathyroid glands and/or to the larynx, and is usually a last resort when anti-thyroid drugs and RAI has failed.  For anyone considering having thyroid surgery, the risks of damaging other structures of the body are higher than you might think.

However, it still irritates me as to how lightly most endocrinologists think of radioactive iodine therapy.  Here is the description of this harsh treatment method, according to this pamphlet: “Radioactive iodine will cure the thyroid problem, but usually leads to permanent destruction of the thyroid.  You will very likely need to take thyroid hormone pills for the rest of your life to have normal hormone levels.”  It also mentions the following with regards to receiving RAI when having thyroid eye disease: “Radioactive iodine treatment may make the symptoms of Graves’ ophthalmopathy worse but it’s often treatable with a steroid medication (prednisone).”

Radioactive Iodine IS NOT A Cure For Hyperthyroidism & Graves’ Disease

It just amuses me how these doctors consider radioactive iodine as being a “cure” to hyperthyroidism or Graves’ Disease, even though it will “usually lead to permanent destruction of the thyroid”.  Sure, this will stop the thyroid gland from producing synthetic or natural thyroid hormone, but this doesn’t mean it’s a cure.  This is especially true with Graves’ Disease, as RAI does absolutely nothing to address the autoimmune component.  But even with primary hyperthyroidism, the cause usually isn’t directly related to the malfunctioning thyroid gland, as other affected areas of the body are usually responsible for the development of a thyroid condition.

In addition, I mentioned how it states that “Radioactive iodine treatment may make the symptoms of Graves’ ophthalmopathy worse, but it’s often treatable with a steroid medication”, and gives prednisone as an example.  So in addition to making the person hypothyroid for the rest of their life, it can also worsen other symptoms, such an existing case of thyroid eye disease, and their solution is for the person to treat these symptoms with steroid medication.  One of these days I’ll dedicate a separate post to the dangers and side effects of these steroid prescription drugs, as they have many different side effects that can wreak havoc on your body. 

One of the big problems with taking steroid medication is that it further causes problems with the adrenals, which in many cases is the actual cause of the condition in the first place!  Of course most endocrinologists don’t know that weak adrenal glands are frequently the cause of many thyroid conditions, which is why they will recommend steroid medication to their patients.  It just makes me sick to my stomach that people are told to receive RAI to destroy their thyroid gland when many times it isn’t necessary.

I Repeat, RAI Should Be A Last Resort!

Now just to be clear, some people do need radioactive iodine therapy.  But this, along with thyroid surgery, should be the very last resort, after everything else has been tried.  The problem is that the only other medical treatment option is anti-thyroid drugs, which offer only a temporary solution.  So it’s almost inevitable that those who are told to take prescription drugs and don’t go into a permanent state of remission will eventually have radioactive iodine recommended. 

So how do you know if you really need radioactive iodine therapy?  Part if it comes down to common sense, as while I personally can’t tell anyone not to receive RAI, what I can say is that when I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease, I didn’t even consider receiving radioactive iodine therapy until I tried natural treatment methods. 

How Should You Handle Severe Symptoms?

But how about if your symptoms are severe?  As I’ve mentioned in other posts and articles, sometimes it is necessary to use prescription drugs to temporarily manage the symptoms.  So in the case where someone has severe symptoms which need to be managed quickly, they can always take the drugs, and at the same time begin a natural treatment protocol.  To play it safe I would give the natural treatment methods at least 30 days to kick in, and then I would wean off the medication while continuing the natural treatment protocol.

Once again, I’m not telling anyone to take this approach, as I always advise people to consult with a healthcare expert.  The primary reason for this is because everyone is different, and should therefore be treated on an individual basis.  So hopefully this post has given you some insight as to why you need to keep an open mind, and why you can’t always take the word of your endocrinologist or medical doctor.  While most doctors are truly interested in helping their patients, and most do a wonderful job of treating emergency situations, when it comes to treating chronic conditions, in my biased opinion it’s always a good idea to seek the advice of a competent holistic doctor so you can try to get to the underlying cause of the disorder.

First of all, I’d like to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving, and would like to thank you for supporting this website.  I greatly enjoy providing this information on thyroid and endocrine health to you, and hope to continue doing so for many years to come.  I hope you have benefited from the information provided on both the blog posts and articles.

One of the great challenges is continuously trying to come up with interesting topics which appeal to a wide variety of people.  While it is not feasible for every post and article to benefit everyone, I do try my best to write content which will appeal to a high percentage of the visitors of this website.  I of course want to continue providing you with interesting content, and as a result I am going to ask you for a small favor.

If there are any topics I haven’t yet covered on my blog posts or articles which you would like me to discuss, please send me an email to let me know.  Ideally I would like it to be somewhat related to thyroid disorders, or at the very least be related to the endocrine system.  I can’t promise I’ll write about every topic that is emailed to me, but if I get multiple requests on the same topic I will strongly consider writing about it.

You can email me at info@NaturalEndocrineSolutions.com

Thanks for your feedback, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dr. Eric

Not too long ago I created a post which spoke about how we are constantly being exposed to xenohormones, as they are in the foods we eat, the products we buy, etc.  The purpose of that post was to educate you so you will try your best to minimize your exposure to these potentially toxic chemicals.  The reason why they can be toxic is because many of them are endocrine disruptors, and frequent exposure over a long period of time can lead to numerous health issues, including thyroid conditions.

In any case, while I went in depth about how you can try to avoid being exposed to many of these toxins by making healthier choices regarding the foods you consume and the products you buy, I really didn’t focus on what you can do to “clean out” your system of any xenohormones that have already accumulated in your body.  After all, everyone has been exposed to xenohormones, and although some people have had much more exposure than others, most people can benefit from cleaning out their system.

You might have guessed that doing this involves beginning a detoxification program.  While eating organic food and buying natural household products will help minimize future exposure to xenohormones, doing this alone won’t clean out your system.  In order to accomplish this you really do need to detoxify your body, and you need to do this in a smart way. 

I frequently talk about how people shouldn’t self-treat their thyroid condition, and the same concept applies with detoxifying their bodies.  Just going to your local health food store and purchasing some liver detoxification supplements usually isn’t going to do a sufficient job.  And a big reason for this is because most detoxification supplements out there are crap, and many don’t actually do what they claim they do.  Plus, any successful detoxification program is going to take at least a few weeks to complete, which is a big reason why most people won’t start one.  Taking detoxification supplements is easy, but changing your diet and being strict about it for two or three weeks is something that most people aren’t willing to do, no matter how much it will benefit their health.

You Should Detoxify Your Body On A Regular Basis

Let’s face it, most people don’t eat a 100% organic diet (including myself), and most don’t buy 100% natural household products.  As a result, it’s a good idea to detoxify your body on a regular basis.  I actually spoke about this in another blog post which focused on detoxification, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again.  The thing is, most people won’t even go on a single detoxification program during their entire life, so I realize I’m speaking to the minority when I talk about doing one or two detoxifications each year.

So the obvious first step is to set a goal for yourself to detoxify for the very first time.  It’s probably not a bad idea to set a date a few months in advance.  This way you have a set date and can mentally prepare for your detoxification.  Because while some people do experience symptoms during detoxifying that makes them quit (headaches, nausea, etc.), you’ll stand a much better chance of completing a detoxification program if you are mentally prepared. 

But even once you go through an initial detoxification program, it is a good idea to do this at least once each year, and for some, every six months would be better.  If you’re accustomed to eating junk food on a daily basis, then it definitely is tough to make such a change, even if it’s only for a few weeks.  On the other hand, and as I also mentioned in the past blog post on detoxifying your body, the goal shouldn’t be to detoxify once or twice each year so you can “get away” with eating junk food the rest of the time, as the goal should be to eat healthy most of the time, perhaps cheat a little bit every now then, and go through a detoxification program once or twice each year to help maintain your health.

Will You Still Need To Detoxify If You Eat Healthy Most Of The Time?

If you eat healthy most of time, and buy natural household products, why would you need to detoxify your body once or twice each year?  Well,  even if you do eat healthy most of the time and try to buy all natural household products, chances are you will still be exposed to xenohormones, as well as other toxins.  There really is no way to completely avoid exposure to xenohormones, which is why it’s a good idea to go through one or two detoxification programs each year regardless of your eating habits and whether or not you solely buy natural household products. 

While you might not look forward to detoxifying, I promise that once you have completed such a program you will be in a much better state of health.  This of course assumes you don’t do it on your own and instead consult with a holistic doctor who has experience putting patients on such programs, which will help minimize any symptoms you experience and will make sure you receive optimal results.  In summary, going through your first detoxification program can be a challenge, but due to the health benefits it can bring you it is definitely well worth it.  So make it a goal to detoxify your body sometime within the next few months, and set a date on your calendar to mark when you plan on starting this.

One of my favorite books was written by Dr. John R. Lee, and is entitled “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause”.  This book gives a lot of great information that can help benefit your overall health.  Even though it is targeted towards menopausal women, anyone can benefit from reading this book, and it is especially helpful for people with thyroid conditions. One of the reasons for this is because it goes in great detail about “hormone health”, and a high percentage of people with thyroid conditions have hormone imbalances.

In this book, Dr. Lee focuses a great deal on the benefits of natural progesterone.  While he doesn’t refer to this as being a “miracle” hormone, by reading the book it can easily give the reader the impression that progesterone is a miracle cure for many conditions.  Once again, he doesn’t specifically say this, although he talks about how natural progesterone can cure many different conditions, and discusses many of these conditions in this book. 

So does this mean you should run to your nearest health food store or pharmacy, or go online and purchase natural progesterone?  Well, Dr. Lee was correct when stating that natural progesterone can help with many different conditions.  But if you read the entire book word for word, you’ll also notice that he mentions many of these conditions can be cured through eating well, taking quality nutritional supplements, doing a better job of managing stress, etc.  So while he recommended natural progesterone to a high percentage of his patients, many of which no doubt received great results, he also understood that other factors were equally important in one’s recovery.

The Benefits Of Taking Natural Progesterone
 
Even though I personally try not to give my patients natural progesterone if at all possible, one of the reasons why taking natural progesterone can help with so many conditions is because it can help with the symptoms of Estrogen Dominance.  Estrogen Dominance is a condition which involves an imbalance in the ratio of estrogen and progesterone.  And in most cases, this condition is due to a deficiency in progesterone.  So it makes sense that giving someone progesterone can help to manage the symptoms of Estrogen Dominance.

Recently I wrote a separate blog post on Estrogen Dominance, and how this condition can actually cause or contribute to the development of a thyroid condition.  For those with a thyroid condition who have Estrogen Dominance, it is necessary to correct this hormonal imbalance if there is any chance of using natural thyroid treatment methods to restore their health back to normal.  In addition, for those who have problems losing weight, often times this is also due to Estrogen Dominance.  So I’m not denying that giving someone natural progesterone can help correct this condition and quite possibly restore one’s health back to normal, although I’m about to explain why it’s rare for me to recommend natural progesterone to my patients.

The Risks Of Taking Natural Progesterone

There are two primary reasons why I don’t recommend natural progesterone to most of my patients:

Reason #1: Although many people can benefit from taking natural progesterone, most people can have their health restored back to normal without taking it.  With most thyroid conditions, eating well, taking quality nutritional supplements and herbs, exercising, doing a good job of managing stress, and addressing other lifestyle factors is enough to cure one’s condition.  However, to correct Estrogen Dominance one usually does need to go on a purification program, as just eating well and taking supplements usually isn’t sufficient to correct this hormone imbalance. 

Don’t get me wrong, as there are some people who do need to take natural progesterone.  However, when I do recommend natural progesterone to my patients it usually is for them to take on a temporary basis, and not for the rest of their life, as some healthcare professionals would recommend.  And the same concept applies with nutritional supplements and herbs.  When I recommend for my patients to take certain nutritional supplements and/or herbs, the goal is not for them to take them forever, as ideally I would like them to eat well and get most of their vitamins and minerals from the foods they consume.  Of course since most people don’t eat a perfect diet, most can benefit from taking some “basic” supplements daily. 

Just remember that even though we’re talking about “natural” progesterone, we’re still referring to a hormone, and not a nutritional supplement.  As a result there are greater risks of taking progesterone when compared to taking supplements, which I’m about to discuss next.
 
Reason # 2: There are risks when taking natural progesterone.  Once again, it’s important to realize that natural progesterone is not the same as a nutritional supplement.  So although Dr. Lee and many other healthcare professionals talk about how safe natural progesterone is, there is a much greater chance of experiencing side effects when taking any hormone.  One of the big problems with telling people to take natural progesterone is that it is easy to overdose, which will then create additional health issues.  Even Dr. Lee talks about this in his book, as while he talks about specific dosages he recommends, he also discusses how there is a problem with patients overdosing.

So this is another reason why I don’t recommend natural progesterone to many of my patients, as Dr. Lee did.  I’m not questioning the ability of natural progesterone to help with many different health conditions, but I just find that 1) it is not necessary to take in most cases, and 2) too many patients experience problems overdosing when taking it.  With that being said, taking natural progesterone definitely is a better option than most conventional medical treatment methods which many doctors recommend to their patients for different conditions, and so I do commend Dr. Lee for helping so many people who otherwise might have not had their health restored back to normal. 

In summary, natural progesterone sometimes is necessary for people with thyroid conditions to take.  It can also help with other types of conditions as well.  However, many people can have their health restored back to normal without taking natural progesterone.  And because so many people overdose when taking natural progesterone, or any other hormone for that matter, I only recommend it to my patients when absolutely necessary.