Endometriosis is a common disorder of the female reproductive organs and it causes severe pelvic pain in woman.
Woman who have endometriosis develops tissue similar to the lining of the uterus in other áreas of the body (pelvic área or abdominal cavity).
Endometriosis may not produce symptoms and most woman don´t have any. But the woman that expecrience symptoms, they include;
-Pelvic Pein that worsens before woman´s mestruation.
-Pelvic pain that increases during menstruation and gets better at the end of the period.
-Pain during sexual intercourse
-Infertility
Most women diagnosed with endometriosis are between 25 and 35 years old. It is difficult to determine the number of women with endometriosis since many women do not have symptoms.
About 1% of women are observed to have endometriosis during pelvic surgery.
Endometriosis is more commun in Caucasian woman that in African American or Asian women and also it is more commun in taller and thin women with a low body mass index (BMI).
Women with relatives who have endometriosis are also more likely to develop the same condition, suggesting that the genes a woman inherits from her parents.
Infertility is commun in women with endometriosis but not all infertile women have endometriosis. It is not clear why endometriosis causes infertility but it may involve physical blocking of the Fallopian tubes.
Woman often describe the pain as a constant, aching pain that is deep and spreads to both sides of the pelvic, abdomen and buttocks.
Physical examination findings cannot positively diagnose endometriosis, the doctor may find pelvic nodules that are tender during a physical exam or masses in the ovaries that are common signs of endometriosis.
An area of endometriosis on the ovary that has become enlarged is referred to as an endometrioma. Endometriomas filled with blood are know as a chocolate cysts, referring to the appearance of the tissue. Chocolate cysts can become very painful.
Causes of Endometriosis
-The endometrium is the inner layer of uterine tissue that is shed during menstruation.
-Endometriosis occurs when growth of this endometrial tissue develops outside the uterus. This growth usually occurs within the pelvic region on the ovaries and other pelvic structures, such as the bladder and colon, but it also may occur within the abdominal cavity and as far away as the lungs, arms, legs, and even the brain.
-Hormone levels affect the course of endometriosis. It is not commun for women to develop endometriosis before menstrual cycles begin or after menopause.
-Endometriosis tend to be less severe when hormone levels are more constant like pregnancy or other times when there is lack of a menstrual cycle.
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E medicine health
Medical Author: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD