Endometrios is A Medical Mystery

Pelvic pain, killer cramps, extreme fatigue, infertility—all can be warning signs of endometriosis. This poorly understood disease devastates millions of women without regard to age, race, or income. Experts estimate 7 to 10 percent of women have it.

What, exactly, is endometriosis? It’s not an infection and it’s not cancer. Basically, it’s any abnormal growth of the type of tissue called “endometrium” outside of a woman’s uterus.

Normal endometrium is the layer of mucous membrane lining the inside of the uterus. In endometriosis, this tissue can grow on the outside of the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, bowels, bladder, rectum—even, in rare cases, in the lungs.

Outside the womb, this tissue acts just as it would inside the womb. Each month it breaks down and bleeds as a result of hormonal signals. But the body can’t get rid of the waste. The tissue just builds up, causing inflammation, swelling, and scarring.

No one’s sure what causes endometriosis. Some doctors believe it occurs when menstrual fluid backs up through a woman’s fallopian tubes and leaks into the pelvic area behind the womb. Others blame heredity, immune disorders, or cellular changes.

The only sure way to diagnose endometriosis is through surgery. The doctor makes a small incision and looks inside the body through a lighted instrument called a laparoscope.

Treatments include pain medicines, hormones, and surgery. But the best treatment—and the degree of relief—will vary from woman to woman.