Endometrium is the inner lining of the uterus.
Endometriosis is when those cells begin to appear outside of the uterus, usually in the pelvic area. There are different stages and types of Endometriosis. Each month during the period endometrium sheds, causing inflammation, pain, internal bleeding (since the endo is usually somewhere where the debris isn't easily drained), irregular periods, mid cycle bleeding, depression, infertility, pain during and after intercourse, and so many more symptoms due to treatments such as heavy painkillers, hormones, etc. Some women don't experience all or any of the symptoms, some experience a great deal more, it's very individual to the person.
As the Endometriosis Awareness and Information page rightly states, it's under-researched, under-diagnosed, and under-treated. Even thought it's a serious and widespread illness that can develop into cancer - research is happening, there are charities - (which I will list later on) I didn't even know about it until I researched my symptoms and found a specialist who dealt with these things. 10 million women and teens are estimated in Canada and the States alone to have Endometriosis, 80 million in the world - and that's just the portion that has been diagnosed.
It's not a new disease, not a product of stressed society, it's been around for centuries. Now it's diagnosed more than in the darker ages of medicine, and it's been given a name. Also women wait longer in modern times to have babies, or they don't have them at all; whereas women in before now would have children at much earlier ages. This is thought, due to hormonal changes, to stifle the growth of this illness. Some doctors will tell Endo patients to have children in order to cure themselves, this is a fallicy. Although it might work for some women, some just aren't so lucky. There's no definite cure, and getting pregnant is no exception.
The Dr. John Sampson theory of 1921, "The Retrograde Theory" suggests that the lining of the uterus backs up into the fallopian tubes into the pelvic area. Now this is an interesting theory but endo can be located anywhere from the legs, arms, lungs, intestines, even the brain.
Another theory is that these cells travel through the lymphatic system throughout the body, or even the blood stream. There are theories upon theories, but for the purpose of this page I'll keep it simple for now!
It's trial and error, hormone pills, pain killers, anti-infammation medication, laparoscopy to find and remove the disease in visible areas, combination therapies including all the things I've mentioned, alternate therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. There's no treatment that works for everyone, but there are treatments that help women considerably.
The Stages (revised 4 times since it's 70's release) of endometriosis are labels that describe the amount and seriousness of the disease. Location, amount, depth, and size - those four factors are what the doctor takes into account, points are awarded to each and then classified.
The Stages range from 1 to 4: minimal, mild, moderate, and severe.
Stages have nothing to do with the pain of the disease, someone with minimal endometriosis can have chronic and debilitating pain - and someone with severe endometriosis can be asymptomatic.
The pain isn't caused by amount, but location. Endo can make its home on nerve endings and torture the patient. It also has to do with inflammation of the tissue during the menses, irritation, - and what I like to call bodily confusion. Imagine how disturbed the body must be to have such familiar cells in such strange locations! This confusion no doubt forces the body to act in strange ways.
The stages are also not related to the amount, frequency, or variety of symptoms. Keep that in mind!
-Chronic or intermittent pelvic pain
-Painful menstruations
-Infertility - painful sex (during/after)
-Miscarriages, tubal pregnancy
-Backache, leg pains, back cramps
-Nauseau/vomiting
-Abdominal Cramping
-Diarrhea, rectal pain, constipation, painful bowel movements, blood therein
-Sharp gas pains
-Bloating, tailbone pain, painful urination (blood in urine)
-Tenderness around kidneys
-Flank pain radiating toward groin
-Urinary frequency, retention, or urgency
-Hypertension
-Coughing up blood during menses
-Constricting chest pains / shoulder pain
-Shortness of breath
-Collection of blood in chest cavity
-Deep chest pain
-Leg pain, hip pain, radiating down
-Painful nodules at skin surface visible to the naked eye, which bleed during menses or appear blue
-Fatigue, chronic pain
-Allergies
-Immune system related problems
As stated before, not all women get all of these symptoms, it's all individual. Some women feel no pain at all, some women feel excrutiating pain, some women won't have digestive system problems, some women will have to go through several tests before they're diagnosed because they seem to have gastro-intestinal problems! That's another reason why it's so hard to diagnose, it can appear to be several other diseases depending on symptoms. Without the laporoscopy it's almost impossible to diagnose most of the time.
(Click here if you want to see a few pictures)
It is as individual as the person it can be any colour or shape; they can be miniscule so that laparoscopies can't see them, or they can be quite large. Tiny hidden endometriosis can easily hide between organs, inside flesh. They can be black, brown, red, or clear.
-Internal Endometriosis
(inside flesh as opposed to simply rooted)
-Appendicitis
-Ovarian cysts / PCOS
-Bowel Obstructions
-Colon Cancer
-Diverticulitis
-Tubal Pregnancy
-Fibroid Tumors
-Gonorrhea
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease
-Irritable Bowel Syndome
-Ovarian Cancer
-PID - pelvic infammatory disease.
-other digestive disease
-Hypochondria
It is said that women with endo have a greater risk of developing certain types of cancer. A Swedish study of over 20 thousand women concluded that women with endo have a 20% greater risk of getting cancer of the ovaries, breast, blood and lymph cells: but strangely enough had a lower risk of cervical cancer.
Endometriosis and the surrounding tissue are enriched in growth factors, and cytokines, which has a negative effect on normal tissue - and organs. This causes irregularity, mutation - cancer.
Not all women who have endometriosis will have cancer, but it's imperative to be diagnosed early enough; then cancer can be caught at it's earliest stages through regular visits to your doctor.
This higher risk can be a factor of many things, not just your natural state (genetics and such). Women with endo often take a lot of hormone pills, combinations, trail and error tests, the altered lifestyles including lethargy, depression, nutritional changes, exposure to certain products that contain dioxins... these things are also very likely to cause cancer, not the actual endometriosis.
Endometriosis Association
Endometriosis Awareness and Information
IVF Endometriosis