Eye-popping pain. Bloating. Heavy periods. Infertility. These are all symptoms of endometriosis, a chronic ailment that is believed to affect up to one in 10 women between the ages of 15 and 49. It can also take a serious toll on patients' mental health. Here's what you need to know about this condition.
1. THE NAME DOESN'T REVEAL MUCH ABOUT THE CONDITION.
Endometriosis, or endo, for short, gets its name from endometrium—the thin layer of tissue that lines a woman's uterus. "Endo is a condition in which endometrial-like tissue grows outside of the uterus, typically in the pelvic area," says Kristin Patzkowsky, M.D., an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Common sites for endometrial growths, called lesions, include the ovaries, fallopian tubes, outer surface of the uterus, and the ligaments and other tissues that hold the uterus in place. The number of lesions can vary and range in size from a few millimeters to grapefruit-size.
2. DOCTORS AREN'T SURE WHAT CAUSES ENDOMETRIOSIS.
The most widely accepted view is that endometrial tissue relocates to other parts of the body during a woman's period. Here's a quick review of the female reproductive cycle: Each month, under the influence of the hormone estrogen, the endometrium thickens and swells in preparation for a potential pregnancy. If pregnancy doesn't occur, the endometrium sheds and flows out of the body. This bloody discharge is menstruation, commonly known as a period. But sometimes menstrual blood flows backward, passes through the fallopian tubes, and enters the pelvic cavity—what doctors call retrograde menstruation. This backward flow can carry endometrial tissue to places far afield of the uterus, such as the digestive tract, lungs, and even the brain. It's been proposed that these transplants set up shop in their new locations, where they continue to respond to the cyclical influences of estrogen by swelling and bleeding each month, and causing the pain associated with endo.
There's an issue, though: Almost all women experience retrograde menstruation, so according to Patzkowsky, doctors don't know why some get endo and others don't. Some researchers think an imbalance in reproductive hormones might be to blame, while others suggest that a faulty immune system—which would normally curb the growth of endometrial cells outside their normal locale—may be responsible. Risk factors for endo include long periods (more than seven days), short cycles (less than 27 days), and having a family member who has endo.
3. PAIN IS A CLASSIC SYMPTOM …
Some women with endo feel pain in the back or chest, and others experience discomfort during or after sex or have painful, heavy periods. Since the pelvic region serves as a crossroads for a variety of organ systems, discomfort when urinating or having bowel movements is common. Some endo sufferers have a concurrent—but not the same—condition called adenomyosis, in which endometrial tissues grow into the muscular wall of the uterus. Endo can also cause large painful cysts on a woman's ovaries, called endometriomas. Often called "chocolate cysts," due to their dark, chocolatey appearance, endometriomas are noncancerous, fluid-filled growths that typically form deep within the ovaries. Mysteriously, some women experience no pain at all, Patzkowsky says. One study found that nearly 90 percent of women with endo experience depression and anxiety. According to some mice studies, it's possible that endo reprograms the brain, making women more vulnerable to mental health problems—although other researchers think the depression and anxiety are more to do with the pain and fertility problems.
4. … AND SOME WOMEN CAN EVEN EXPERIENCE INFERTILITY.
As many as half of all infertile women have endo, and up to 50 percent of women with endo are infertile—but doctors aren't sure how the condition affects a woman's ability to get pregnant. Endo lesions can block or scar a woman's reproductive organs, making it harder for the egg and sperm to meet up, but it's also possible that the scar