What Is Estrogen Dominance

"Estrogen dominance" is a term coined by Dr. John Lee in his book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. It's a condition that can be at the root of numerous health complaints, and one that is treatable when properly diagnosed. In a series of four short but very informative videos Dr. Marcantel, a naturopathic doctor in Gilbert, AZ, talks about what estrogen dominance is, its causes and symptoms, how it is related to endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and PMS, and why women of all ages are often affected by the condition.

When we say "estrogen dominance" what we're saying is that we have too much estrogen hormone in ratio to progesterone hormone. Remember: All the hormones dance with each other; they work with each other; they support each other. Estrogen and progesterone work with one another. We have to have them in balance. When they're in balance, when that ratio is good, the woman feels well. She's at peace with her world; she can handle stress a lot better. So when I say estrogen dominance it means that there's too much estrogen built up in the blood as compared to the proper ratio of progesterone. So we have to balance that out.

We use something called "DIM." It helps the liver to metabolize and get rid of all that extra estrogen that's in the body. It's very easy to do, but very effective. I've done it myself.

We have three different kinds of estrogens: E1--estrone; E2--estradiol; and E3--estriol. We want to check estrone, as well, because we want to make sure it's in a low amount because when they do find estrogen receptor sites that are positive [for cancer] it's usually the estrone.

The other way that we increase the progesterone and, of course, get the estrogen to progesterone ratio at a good level is by giving progesterone--bioidentical progesterone.

Dr. Tina Marcantel, NMD
201 W. Guadalupe Rd. Ste. 202
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Office: 480-892-0211
Website: http://drmarcantel.com