Imagine enduring agonizing abdominal pain once a month. That's the fate of nearly five million American women who have a reproductive illness called endometriosis. The illness is caused by an excess of uterine tissue that attaches itself outside the uterus, often resulting in painful, dangerous endometriosis cysts.
The causes of endometriosis are not well understood, although the most recent research seems to indicate that genetics plays a big role in the condition. Women whose mothers, sisters, or other close female relatives have endometriosis are seven times more likely to develop the condition themselves. Other signs of susceptibility to endometriosis include starting periods at an early age and having heavy periods or periods longer than seven days.
Though its causes may not be known yet, the effects of endometriosis are felt every month by millions of women. The primary symptom of endometriosis is severe pain. The pain results from the migrated uterine tissue acting like the lining of the uterus. Each month, the uterus prepares itself for the possibility of receiving a fertilized ovum. When no ovum implants itself in the blood-rich uterine lining, the tissue is discharged through menstruation. Endometriosis tissue behaves in this same way, except that the tissue has nowhere to go. Thus it builds up, swells and often forms painful endometriosis cysts.
A woman is more likely to get endometriosis if she started having periods at an early age, experiences extremely heavy periods or periods that last more than seven days, or has a close female relative with the same issue. Unfortunately, endometriosis is a disease that can be treated, but not cured. The type of treatment a woman chooses for endometriosis typically depends upon whether she intends to have more children, or whether she's forced into a health crisis by bleeding or burst endometriosis cysts.
In severe cases, a woman may become completely disabled by the pain of endometriosis, or she may suffer burst or bleeding endometriosis cysts. When these situations occur, her gynecologist may recommend immediate surgery, either by the laparoscopic method or by major abdominal surgery. Sometimes it's possible to remove the endometriosis without removing a woman's reproductive organs, but in severe cases the only relief is a complete hysterectomy.
See your gynecologist immediately if you're suffering from symptoms that resemble endometriosis. Only your physician can diagnose your illness properly and recommend the right treatment.
The causes of endometriosis are not well understood, although the most recent research seems to indicate that genetics plays a big role in the condition. Women whose mothers, sisters, or other close female relatives have endometriosis are seven times more likely to develop the condition themselves. Other signs of susceptibility to endometriosis include starting periods at an early age and having heavy periods or periods longer than seven days.
Though its causes may not be known yet, the effects of endometriosis are felt every month by millions of women. The primary symptom of endometriosis is severe pain. The pain results from the migrated uterine tissue acting like the lining of the uterus. Each month, the uterus prepares itself for the possibility of receiving a fertilized ovum. When no ovum implants itself in the blood-rich uterine lining, the tissue is discharged through menstruation. Endometriosis tissue behaves in this same way, except that the tissue has nowhere to go. Thus it builds up, swells and often forms painful endometriosis cysts.
A woman is more likely to get endometriosis if she started having periods at an early age, experiences extremely heavy periods or periods that last more than seven days, or has a close female relative with the same issue. Unfortunately, endometriosis is a disease that can be treated, but not cured. The type of treatment a woman chooses for endometriosis typically depends upon whether she intends to have more children, or whether she's forced into a health crisis by bleeding or burst endometriosis cysts.
In severe cases, a woman may become completely disabled by the pain of endometriosis, or she may suffer burst or bleeding endometriosis cysts. When these situations occur, her gynecologist may recommend immediate surgery, either by the laparoscopic method or by major abdominal surgery. Sometimes it's possible to remove the endometriosis without removing a woman's reproductive organs, but in severe cases the only relief is a complete hysterectomy.
See your gynecologist immediately if you're suffering from symptoms that resemble endometriosis. Only your physician can diagnose your illness properly and recommend the right treatment.
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