BY NORM TOLLINSKY

Diet and lifestyle are the culprits for an epidemic of hormone related health issues affecting women, claims Dr. Kathleen Reid, a Sudbury-based naturopath specializing in women’s health.

Estrogen dominance, defined as a relative or absolute excess of estrogen or estrogen-like compounds in the body, has been linked to endometriosis, fibrocystic breast disease, cancer and fibroids.

Reid attributes the phenomenon to the prevalence of herbicides and pesticides in the environment and to eating and drinking out of plastics and cans.

“They all have what we call an enzimo estrogen effect on the body. They mimic estrogen and stimulate the growth and proliferation of tissue. We’re particularly concerned about it because of the huge increase in breast cancer.”

Originally from Timmins, Reid practiced as a psychologist at Sudbury General Hospital for six years before deciding on a career as a naturopath.

“I realized there was more to treating people than breaking the m up into fragments and having one person take one piece and someone else take another piece. What was missing in the system was someone who could look at the whole (person) to determine what’s going on.

“That’s what really drew me to naturopathic medicine, because naturopahic medicine is more than just using natural therapeutics. It’s looking at the totality of the person and their overall global functioning. What we’re really trying to do is get to the underlying causes rather than just look at it from a symptom level.”

Women concerned about the effects of estrogen dominance can make a point of buying locally-grown, organic food and minimize their consumption of refined, processed foods, she said.

Liver

They can also check to make sure their liver is functioning well, but not through conventional blood tests requisitioned by medical doctors.

“They only tell you if you have a disease,” said Reid. “They don’t tell you how well the liver is functioning. That can only be assessed by a naturopathic doctor or an integrative medicine specialist.

“In the 1930s, we were subjected to an average of 6,000 chemicals. Now, it’s in excess of 30,000 over our lifetime, so we know that the liver is working extra hard today and it needs all the help it can get.”

Choosing liver-healthy foods like pomegranates, garlic, greens and green tea, and taking supplements and herbs can help support liver detoxification, said Reid.

She also recommends infrared sauna treatments and chelation therapy as effective methods of ridding the body of chemicals and heavy metals.

Heavy metals in the body can’t be detected using blood tests, she said.

“Unless there’s acute exposure, conventional blood or urine tests won’t detect heavy metals because they’re sequestered away around the body. The only way we can get them out is to provoke them out with a chelation agent.

“I can tell you that I have definitely seen clinical results in patients that have received chelation therapy.”

Reid finds higher than average traces of nickel in her Sudbury patients. She also finds mercury, which she says “is notorious for its effects on the central nervous system, but also affects the gut and the immune system.”

She complains that dentists are still using mercury in fillings and that the Canadian Dental Association considers it safe.

“That’s interesting because mercury is safe when it’s in amalgam, but the moment it comes out of your mouth, it’s a hazardous substance. I don’t understand what the logic is there.”

Menopause

Many of Reid’s patients are looking for relief from the symptoms of menopause, especially sleep and mood disturbances.

“What we want to do is minimize the symptoms for the woman as she moves through that natural transition. It’s not a disease and doesn’t require hormone replacement therapy (HRT) unless we’ve tried all of the other strategies.”

She says she prefers to use less invasive hormones that are a closer match biochemically to what would naturally occur in a woman’s body. She uses salivary hormone testing to tailor a program for each patient.

“Hopefully, MDs are more conservative in their approach to HRT since the Women’s Health Initiative Study in 2003 because the guidelines as I understand them are to only prescribe HRT for women with the most aggressive symptoms that have been unresponsive to other strategies.”

Reid is convinced that the symptoms related to menopause are more acute today than they were 20 or 30 years ago.

“Women are stressed more than they ever have been, and we know this because they’re dying from stress-related diseases. Most women today work, raise families and are caretakers for their aging parents.”

The good news, said Reid, is that eight out of 10 women who see her for help with their menopause symptoms “walk out stable.”

Reid is eager to work co-operatively with MDs in Sudbury.

“I’m open to working together, respecting each other’s differences and acknowledging that we all have a role to play. I’m not inclined to believe that I’m going to replace any of the conventional therapies, but my niche is in the area of identifying dysfunction and working proactively to be as preventative as possible.

“We are highly educated professionals and it would be wonderful if we can all work together for the greater good of the patients. That’s what it’s all about.”

Last year’s passage of the Naturopathy Act, which brings Ontario’s 850 naturopathic doctors under the auspices of the Regulated Health Professions Act and provides for a new self-regulating college, is an important milestone and a validation of the role that NDs play in the health care sector, said Reid.

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