Tag: Adhesions

Teenage Symptoms may serve as indication of Endometriosis Severity in adults.

A study undertaken over several years has indicated that the most extensive form of Endometriosis may be predicted by the severity of menstrual periods in teenage girls.

The extensive form of Endometriosis is know as “Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis” (DIE).  There are three distinct forms of Endometriosis (not to be confused with different stages/levels): Superficial Endometriosis, Ovarian Endometriosis and Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis.  DEep Infiltrating Endometriosis is the most extensive, women with this condition will usually have extensive deposits of Endometriosis leading to adhesions in multiple parts of the body, including the vagina, bladder and ligaments that attach the uterus to the pelvis.

It is not unusual for several years (or longer) to go before a woman is diagnosed with Endometriosis due to the difficulty in diagnosis (the only reliable way is still a laproscopy and direct examination of the endometrium cells) and the number of diseases that can be similar to Endometriosis or may present at a similar time due to complications.  However the study, undertaken by Dr Charles Chapron and colleagues included nearly 230 women who had surgery at a medical center between 2004 and 2009, of these 43% had DIE and the rest had the less extensive forms (Ovarian and Superficial).

During the study symptoms and histories were taken, this has led to a general conclusion (however more studies are needed from multiple sources to confirm or to enable more firm conclusions) that women who suffered from more painful periods and were prescribed birth control pills to treat this pain were more likely to suffer from DIE.  Such evidence could lead to faster diagnosis of this severe type of Endometriosis.

However the study also concluded that any advance in diagnosis would not prevent the eventual progression to this invasive form of Endometriosis.

 

Original article source content (for the purposes of brevity this has been interpreted and re-written)

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, online November 11, 2010.

Tomatoes help Endometriosis?

As promised, more on alternative treatments for Endometriosis sufferers.

As readers of this site know, Endometriosis causes Pain due to the tissues that would normally be found in the womb being found elsewhere in the body, various complications surround this, such as adhesions due to the body reacting to the tissues presence etc..

However a study has found (preliminary results) that the chemical found in tomatoes (and watermelons) which is responsible for their red colouration may help to reduce symptons.  The chemical Lycopene has been known to be an anti-oxident for a quite a while, and has been linked to having benefits for cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

The specific aspect which may give relief is in the preventing of adhesions, these are formed around damaged cells, often thought to be part of the bodies immune response to injuries.  With the higher stages of Endometriosis it is not unusual for a surgeon to see webs of adhesions binding internal organs together during laproscopic surgery due to the Endometrial growths.

The Lycopene appears to inhibit the growth of these, therefore inhibiting one of the major suspected causes of pain in chronic sufferers.  The study was undertaken on culture cells, by Dr Dbouk, the cultures measured the formation of proteins which the body uses as markers for iniating the adhesion cell growth, in the cultures these proteins were reduced by 80 – 90%.

Dr Dbouk told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in San Francisco “What we found in our laboratory study is that lycopene can help with the adhesions that these conditions cause,” he said. “One of the major complications of endometriosis is that it causes inflammation which induces adhesions.

“The inflammation basically causes scarring. What we did was to look at protein markers that could help us trace the activity of the abnormal cells that cause these adhesions. The lycopene worked to reduce the abnormal activity of these cells.

“This means that you would not get the adhesions, which suggests that lycopene could work to mitigate the complications and ailments of endometriosis. So, hypothetically speaking, we might be able to reduce the adhesion effects of endometriosis.”

 

At this time there has been no study done to determine how much of the chemical is actually transmitted in the body from consumption in the diet, so whilst theoretically it is possible to postulate that the chemical may be available in high enough quantities to make a difference to Endometriosis sufferers there is no clinical evidence yet.

 

However you can take one very good bit of news if you don’t like raw tomatoes – ketchup contains the chemical as well, so there’s no reason to stop using it!

 

This story has been reported by many sources, including Marie Claire, Times Online, The Telegraph and The Daily Mail.  As a result we are confident that this story is valid and people can indeed carry on eating Tomatoes.

What is Endometriosis?

Endometriosis is when the endometrium, tissue that lines the inside of the uterus, is found outside of the uterus in other ares of the body, except the spleen. The growths respond to normal hormonal surges, to grow or shed, but the blood generated has nowhere to go, so causes pain, inflamtion, and adhesions.

Endometriosis tissue also generates small amounts of hormones themselves thereby meaning they continue to grow very slowly fuelling themselves – even after treatment for hormones etc..

FDA Approves Anti-adhesion substance

The information in this article is from the Endometriosis Association Newsletter Vol. 23, No.1, 2002.

The FDA has approved the use of Gynecare Inergel Solution, a gel that is poured into the abdomnial cavity after surgery to separate organs and tissues as they heal, during laparotomies. This gel, which hopefully prevents adhesions, has been in use in Europe since 1998 during both laparotomies and laprascopies.

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