Successful pregnancies following Naturopathic treatment for Endometriosis

Seeing her partner, Peter, play with their two sons, toddler Wilfred and seven-year-old George, is a moving experience for Elizabeth Raven-Hill.

For more than a decade, Elizabeth, now 39, suffered from endometriosis, the gynecological condition that causes agonizingly painful periods and, for many sufferers, infertility.

Elizabeth's problems started early. From the age of 15 her menstrual cycle was erratic and she bled heavily. Her doctor put her on the pill, but three years later she was still suffering from heavy and painful periods. 'I had terrible cramping pains in my womb, accompanied by hot flushes and anxiety, as well as diarrhea and vomiting,' remembers Elizabeth.

'Standing up was so uncomfortable that I had to keep moving, and I had acne on my face and body.' Over the next few years Elizabeth was offered different contraceptive pills and stronger painkillers, but no diagnosis (a survey by the Endometriosis Society found that the average time between first reporting symptoms and receiving a diagnosis was seven years).

It wasn't until 1994 that a laparoscopy confirmed that Elizabeth had moderate to severe endometriosis.

The condition causes cells from the womb to migrate and lodge outside it, principally on the lining of the abdomen and sometimes the fallopian tubes, ovaries and gut wall. With each menstrual cycle these misplaced cells grow and create scar tissue, which can cause painful adhesions. One woman in ten of childbearing age is a sufferer, and there is no cure for endometriosis, although surgery, hormonal intervention and complementary therapies can alleviate the symptoms.

Despite diagnosis, Elizabeth still desperately needed to find help, yet time and again she says she came up against unsympathetic doctors. Several said (wrongly) that her best hope was to get pregnant then in the same breath told her that this was unlikely to happen. Her consultant warned her that if her symptoms got worse, she should have a hysterectomy.

'I felt as if my life was falling apart,' says Elizabeth. 'I was constantly tired, tearful and moody, and I was bloated and experiencing low-level abdominal pain almost all the time.' So she decided to consult naturopath Roderick Lane at the Eden Medical Centre in London, and was amazed when his solution to her problem was to put her on a strict vegan diet no animal products for 12 months.

'Roderick explained that the human body is designed to eat animal protein and if it doesn't get it, the body will recycle itself in an effort to find the protein it needs,' says Elizabeth. 'It starts scouring the body until it finds some protein then "devours" and reuses it. It may sound weird, but I thought it made sense.' 'The body routinely cleans itself, replacing old or damaged cells, but endometriosis only becomes a priority once a month,' says Roderick Lane.

'Naturopathy aims to clean up the body so that it has nothing else to do.

The idea is to bump up the immune system so that if it finds any colonies of alien tissue it changes the body environment so they weaken, then digests them.' To this end, patients are prescribed a pure, semi-raw vegan diet with a high intake of vegetables plus freshly juiced vegetables and supplements.

A matter of months later, Elizabeth noticed that the bloating and pain had gone. Bit by bit, her energy levels picked up and she started sleeping better. In December 1996, with some trepidation, she came off the pill and was astonished to find that her periods were regular, pain-free and normal. She then became pregnant and along came George then Wilfred.

Elizabeth credits her recovery and 'the incredible blessing' of her children to Roderick Lane's vegan diet. Consultant gynaecologist Mr Michael Dooley of Dorset County Hospital agrees that, 'It's a fascinating approach.’

Endometriosis is a difficult condition which is often poorly diagnosed, poorly understood and poorly treated. As Western doctors we have to admit our shortcomings and trust qualified and experienced complementary practitioners.'

Source: Mail on Sunday (London, UK)


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