Causes
Of Uterine CancerIn the U.S. there are 35,000 women who are diagnosed
with a new case of cancer of the uterus every year and in the same year 4,500
women die of the disease. These statistics have not changed over the last
decade. The peak age group for women who develop uterine cancer is age 55 to 60.
Only about 5% of cases are reported in women below age 40 (data from Ref. 1 and
2). This table (data from Ref. 1, page 1195 and 1196) may need some explanation:
Until recently these factors were simply noted as an increased risk, but were
not thought to be related to each other. Recent eicosanoid research, however,
found the missing link (Ref. 3, page 144).
| Factors associated
with increased risk of uterine cancer: |
| obesity | estrogen
secreting ovarian tumor | | late
menopause | unopposed estrogen pills or injections |
| never had a baby | syndrome
of insulin resistance | | polycystic
ovaries | hypertension |
| diabetes | arthritis |
| hypothyroidism | rare
genetic syndromes (moderate risk) | It
appears that the one of the culprits is a high insulin level,
which changes the body chemistry. All of the conditions mentioned in the table
are in some way related to this syndrome of insuline resistance or "syndrome
X", how it was called in the 1980's and early 1990's. Now it has been renamed
as "metabolic syndrome". It is the combination of obesity, polycystic
ovary syndrome, diabetes, and hypertension. High insulin levels can cause many
forms of arthritis due to "bad eicosanoids"
(for further details see Ref. 3). As Dr. Sears, the inventor of the zone diet,
stated the "bad eicosanoids that increase insulin secretion are the same
ones that increase the likelihood of heart disease, cancer, and arthritis"
(Ref. 3, page 144). A Swedish study (Ref.4) confirmed that there is a high risk
of uterine cancer in patients with diabetes, hypertension
and obesity.
"The 'bad eicosanoids' that
increase insulin secretion are the same ones that increase the likelihood of
heart disease, cancer, and arthritis" (Dr. Sears, Ref. 3, page 144). |
Another culprit is unopposed estrogen exposure of
the endometrial lining of the uterus leading to an increased risk of uterine cancer
(late menopause, never had a baby, estrogen secreting tumor and unopposed estrogen
as pills or injections). On the other hand, the birth control pill was shown to
cut the risk for uterine cancer to about 70% to 80% compared to a woman who does
not use hormone pills or injections. The reason is that estrogen production from
the ovaries is blocked when outside hormones are given, even when women take modified
estrogen or progesterone molecules as with synthetic hormone products. The same
reasoning what is true for the BCP holds true for postmenopausal hormone replacement,
which is usually known under "ERT" meaning "estrogen replacement
therapy".
For many years physicians paid attention mainly to estrogen, because its lack
causes a postmenopausal woman get hot flushes and vaginal dryness. However, when
reports of increased uterine cancer rates appeared in the medical literature,
research was carried out, which showed that a birth-control pill like combination
of small amounts of additional progestin (like Provera) with estrogen rendered
the estrogen risk neutral or similar to the birth control pill. The physician
still must watch the side-effects of too much progestin, which leads to clotting
problems including strokes. This came out from the Women's Health Initiative (Ref.
13). As a result of these developemtns we now know that only bio-identical hormones
should be given for hormone replacement (HRT) in the proper mix to reduce the
risk for uterine cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. Finally there
are some rarer cases of genetic traits in certain families where there
is a moderate risk of increased uterine cancer rates. For more info on uterine
cancer click on "uterine cancer". |
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