When an 80-year-old suffers a stroke, we accept it. It is terrible, but it?s common, a part of aging practically. But when a child suffers a stroke it?s a tragedy. They have their whole lives ahead of them. How will it affect their brain, their physical skills, their future? ?It turns out that stroke, by some estimates, is the sixth leading cause of death in infants and children. And experts say doctors and hospitals need to be far more aggressive in detecting and treating it,? says a New York Times article published about a boy named Jared, who suffered a stroke at the age of 7. (read the story here  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/health/19stroke.html).How can we explain when children start having strokes? They do not have high blood pressure, they do not have high cholesterol, etc. One plausible explanation is estrogen dominance ( this is my personal explanation ). Why?
In the human body estrogen is responsible for clotting factors and synthesis in the liver, so if there is too much estrogen more clotting factors are made, therefore increasing the chance for making a clot resulting in a stroke. So what are some of the reasons that a child?s estrogen can go up ?
A low fiber, low isoflavone, high carbohydrate diet can increase estrogen.
Intestinal Dysbiosis can increase estrogen by breaking down estrogen — bile acid complex. It is a bad bug in the gut, that prevents estrogen to be eliminated. The enzyme responsible for this is produced by this bad bug,  is called beta glucuronidase.
High sugar intake will cause high insulin levels resulting in the sex hormone binding protein level decrease resulting in free estrogen level going up.
Stress: when we are stressed we produce more stress hormone cortisol.  Progesterone and cortisol are make from the same material — cholesterol.  So when our body produces more cortisol, it has to produce less progesterone, because supplies are limited.  The result — less progesterone made and therefore estrogen/progesterone ratio is going up.
PCBs and dioxins — estrogen like effects.
Birth-control pills — increase estrogen effects.
So, what can be done to protect our children from a possibly deadly stroke?
Put them on a caveman diet. This means that they have organic lean meats, plenty of green, leafy vegetables, and limited if any carbs, wheat and dairy.
Avoid carbs – as mentioned before, carbs can make the estrogen levels go up.
Check your gut to avoid Dysbiosis.
Eat organic-this way you take less risk in the amount of toxins and additives in your food.
Prepare your food yourself if possible: no processed food.
Stay away from medications unless it is really necessary.
Check your estrogen and progesterone levels and get it balanced if necessary.
The two most important things to remember on the above list are to get your gut checked and to get your estrogen levels checked. In New York, especially, we are faced with so many illnesses, so many parasites, most likely because we are host to so many people from everywhere in the world. Parasites can screw up the gut and we need to make sure that we take the proper precautions with our bodies. You need to make sure that you see a doctor who knows to do the right kind of testing, like a holistic doctor. At our offices, we do more than even some gastroenterologists. We check the gut carefully so that we can change your life and better your health.
What about you?
Are you at risk for stroke?
When did you check you estrogen and progesterone levels?
Are you having a lot of stress lately?
what kind of food you eat?
For more information, call Sergey Kalitenko MD?s office at 718-382-9200.