Gallbladder surgery is rarely ever necessary

If you do it right, hormone replacement can change your life. And if you do it wrong? Well, it looks like you could be signing up for a life-changing stint in the operating room.

A new, large-scale study followed almost 71,000 menopausal French women between 1992 and 2008. And results showed that hormone replacement significantly raised the risk of cholecystectomy–the fancy term for gallbladder removal surgery.

The risk appeared to be restricted to women using oral estrogen therapy without added progesterone. I always include both in my HRT regimens for the sake of proper balance.

I also typically work with bio-identical creams–definitely a more natural delivery system as opposed to oral therapy. (In this study, gels and patches didn’t appear to confer added risk, either.)

But both of these factors aside, there are a few things that both men and women should know when it comes to gallbladder surgery. Like the fact that, for as common as it is, it’s rarely ever necessary.

Gallstones are the most common culprit behind gallbladder attacks. And simple dietary changes can go a long way in warding them off–no organ removal necessary.

But despite what you may have heard, giving up fat isn’t the answer.

So what is? Filling up on healthy, anti-inflammatory monounsaturated fats–from foods like avocado and salmon. So will evening out your body’s pH with a steady intake of alkaline foods, like broccoli, cucumbers, and almonds.

In other words, stick with my New Hamptons Health Miracle, and you won’t end up under the scalpel. It’s really that simple. For more on how to avoid gallbladder surgery, see the September 2012 issue of Logical Health

Source:
“Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of cholecystectomy: a prospective study based on the French E3N cohort.” CMAJ March 18, 2013.