Endometriosis

[Shauna]

I have this and several of us have wondered if it's all related.  Research:

 

Study suggests common immune system condition underlies range of allergic,

autoimmune, hormonal ills

     Sept. 26 ?  Women with endometriosis ? a leading cause of infertility in which tissue from the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body ? are much more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and allergies, new research has found. The discovery suggests these conditions may be connected by an underlying immune system abnormality, experts say.    

 

       THE STUDY, published this week in the journal Human Reproduction, is the first to document something that has been noticed by many women with the painful disorder, which afflicts about 10 percent of women of childbearing age.

      These findings ?suggest a strong association between endometriosis and autoimmune disorders and indicate the need to consider the co-existence of other conditions in women with endometriosis,? said study author Ninet Sinaii of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

      The cause of endometriosis, as well as of the other diseases, remains unknown.

      ?What is the underlying factor, the commonality, between all of these diseases? If we can find out what the one factor is, or group of factors, we can target that and hopefully come up with a way to treat not only the endometriosis, but also some of the other diseases,? said Warren Nothnick, a University of Kansas professor of obstetrics and gynecology who was not connected with the study.

     

IMMUNE SYSTEM CHEMICALS MAY BE LINK

      His own work, as well as that of other scientists, suggests that the malfunctioning of certain immune system chemicals called cytokines may be a common link.  

 

 

 

       Assuming endometriosis occurs before the other diseases, it may also be possible one day to spare women with endometriosis from developing some of the additional diseases, Nothnick said.

      The study, conducted by scientists at National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, George Washington University and the Endometriosis Association, involved 3,680 women with endometriosis.

      The scientists found that 20 percent of the women had more than one other disease. A third of the women who had other diseases had fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, and some of those women also had other autoimmune or hormone diseases.

      Chronic fatigue syndrome was more than 100 times more common than among the general U.S. female population.

      Hypothyroidism, which involves an underactive thyroid gland and causes mental and physical slowing, was seven times more common.  

 

        Fibromyalgia, which is characterized by widespread body pain and tiredness, was twice as common among the women with endometriosis.

      Autoimmune inflammatory diseases ? systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis ? also occurred more frequently than normal.

      Rates of allergic conditions were higher, too. While allergies occur in 18 percent of U.S. women, they occurred in 61 percent of the women with endometriosis. The rate climbed even higher if the women had additional diseases.

     

GAP IN DIAGNOSIS

      The study also confirmed previous findings that there is typically a lengthy gap between the time women first get the pelvic pain and the diagnosis of endometriosis.  

 

         ?As well as finding an increased prevalence of this wide range of diseases and conditions among women with endometriosis, we found that they reported significant pain and disability and, very worryingly, that there was typically a 10-year delay between the onset of pelvic pain and diagnosis,? Sinaii said.

      The scientists do not know whether endometriosis develops over time or whether it can occur when girls reach puberty. They are also unsure about whether early treatment can prevent chronic pain.

      Sinaii and her colleagues are urging doctors, particularly those who treat adolescents, to be aware that pelvic pain could mean endometriosis and that it is linked to other conditions.

      ?It is vital therefore that attempts should be made to diagnose and treat endometriosis in adolescents,? added Dr. Pamela Stratton, who worked on the research.

      The most common symptom of endometriosis is pain, especially excessive cramps during menstrual periods or pain during or after sex. Infertility occurs in about 30 to 40 percent of women with endometriosis.

      Two-thirds of the women reported having relatives with either confirmed or suspected endometriosis, suggesting it may run in families.

     

UNDERSTANDING ENDOMETRIOSIS

      Endometrial tissue outside the uterus responds to the menstrual cycle similarly to the way it responds in the uterus. At the end of every cycle, when hormones cause the uterus to shed its endometrial lining, endometrial tissue growing outside the uterus also breaks apart and bleeds.

      However, unlike menstrual fluid from the womb, which is flushed from the body during menstrual periods, blood from the misplaced tissue has no place to go. Tissues surrounding the area of endometriosis may become inflamed or swollen.

      It is one of the most complex and least understood gynecological diseases and, despite many theories, the cause remains unknown.

      One theory is that during menstruation some of the menstrual tissue backs up through the fallopian tubes into the abdomen, where it implants and grows.

[Guest Rose Marie]

Thanks!

 

I am the only one in my family that has a pituitary tumor, but all of us from my maternal grandmother's side have some kind of hormone issue whether it is thyroid related, osteoporosis, or even endometriosis. I just wonder if there is a central 'switch' like Goodidea lady eluded to on one of the other posts.

 

I wish someone would turn my switch off (sigh).