Why Do You Have Uterine Fibroids After Menopause?

Uterine fibroid tumors affect millions of women and in many cases cause symptoms so severe that many will relent and undergo one of the surgical procedures to have them removed.

Most women are told that they can avoid surgery if they are willing to live with the fibroids until they go through menopause. There is a direct relationship between hormones and fibroid growth. Since reproductive hormone levels drop after menopause, this assertion makes sense. Many women do experience diminished symptoms. However, some women do not.

Why is this so? To better understand the condition it is important to recognize the role estrogen plays in the fibroid story. Excessive fibrotic tissue is the result of only two causes: trauma (such as scar tissue build up from an injury) and unopposed estrogen dominance.

This is the all-too-common situation found in most middle aged adults today. High levels of estrogen dominate the receptor sites of cells and do not allow "parking spaces" for other hormones. In men this means a reduction in free testosterone. This can lead to among other things, prostate problems. In women progesterone levels fall off (as well as testosterone too) because the parking spaces are filled by the over abundant level of estrogen. This causes fibrotic diseases such as fibroid tumors and fibrocystic breast disease. Progesterone acts as a natural antagonist to estrogen.

It is true that for post menopausal women, levels of estrogen have dropped. However, the hormone levels are less important than the ratio of estrogen to progesterone. Even if the estrogen level is one third of what it used to be, if the ratio of estrogen to progesterone continues to be out of balance, one can remain estrogen dominant after menopause and continue to grow uterine fibroid tumors and have fibrocystic breasts.

Nature demands that all things remain balanced. The problem is that there are many sources of estrogen in our lives that place us at risk for becoming estrogen dominant. Here are some of the culprits for post-menopausal women with fibroids:

1) Estrogen replacement drugs. Estrogen dominance is also strongly associated with cancer. Most women are warned about the increased risk of breast cancer when they seek estrogen replacement. Estrogen replacement is safe when the bioidentical form of estrogen (estriol) is used in place of the synthetic forms of estrogen found in most pharmaceutical formulations.

2) Estrogen rich foods. The top two foods to avoid are flax and soy products.

3) Corticosteroid medications. These cortisone meds are steroids used as anti-inflammatories, but they play havoc with hormone levels.

4) Herbicides, pesticides, the fumes of auto exhaust as well as many chemical solvents. These compounds are known xenoestrogens. They mimic the activity of natural estrogen.

The best natural treatment approach focuses on addressing both the cause and the symptoms of uterine fibroids. Specific supplements metabolize excess estrogen and potent systemic enzymes lyse away the fibroid tumors -- essentially digesting them.

Since fibroids are composed of fibrin, the same material of scar tissue, taking a professional strength systemic enzyme formula will dissolve the fibroid and remove this tissue altogether over time. When combined with the hormone balancing strategy this protocol offers the most rapid natural approach to defeating uterine fibroids once and for all.