DailyMail.uk on Endometriosis

IBS and endometriosis have a a lot in common. They are both labels that don't explain why the problem is occurring. It is not unusual for patients to experience both problems and they can be linked.

Treating IBS can result in improvement in endometriosis as well. Patients with endometriosis should explore the possibility that food allergies are causing their problem.

From DailyMail.co.uk:

Jenny Genge was 34 when she made the decision to have a hysterectomy.

For nearly two decades she’d suffered the agony of endometriosis and, after trying everything from hormone therapy to laser surgery, this dramatic solution was all that was left to her.

‘I’d had years of terrible pain,’ says Jenny, an administrator from Minehead, Somerset. ‘I was desperate for relief.’

Jenny is one of around two million women in Britain with endometriosis.

The condition causes cells similar to the ones lining the womb to grow outside it — most commonly in the pelvic area, but in some rare cases they grow anywhere in the body, including the eyes, lungs and brain.

During a woman’s monthly cycle, her hormones stimulate the endometriosis, causing the cells to grow, then break down and bleed.

This internal bleeding, unlike a period, has no way of leaving the body and leads to inflammation, pain and the formation of scar tissue.

The condition raises the risk of infertility, because the ovaries and tubes can become blocked or damaged, and because endometrial cells kill sperm.

Endometriosis can appear at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed in women around the age of 30, when many start trying for a baby. While the cause is not clear, the condition is known to run in families.

For some, the symptoms can be mild, and controlled with the contraceptive pill — others are left in agonising pain and the condition is life-altering.

Full article available at DailyMail.co.uk
Image thanks to endometriosis.org