By Molly M. Ginty
WeNews correspondent
Diagnosis Can Take Years
Since endometriosis doesn’t have visible outward symptoms and since it is often confused with other conditions, it takes an average of 10 years to diagnose.
“This can be extremely frustrating for patients,” says Dr. David Redwine, an endometriosis surgeon from Bend, Ore. “Mothers, nurses and even doctors tell them, ‘You’re not comfortable being a woman. That’s why you have pain with intercourse. Every other woman has periods. Learn to live with it.’”
To screen for endometriosis, doctors may perform an ultrasound or take a CA-125 blood test, an older test that detects proteins found in the blood of some women with the condition.
Until a newer, more accurate blood test is perfected, the only sure-fire way to diagnose the disease is through surgical laparoscopy, in which a scope is placed through the bellybutton to look for abnormal tissue.
If a woman has the disorder, the misplaced endometrial tissue in her body responds to hormonal cycles, shedding blood that can get trapped and lead to the growth of cysts and scar tissue. Over time, these adhesions can bind organs together, sometimes adhering the fallopian tubes to the abdominal wall and causing infertility.
As much as 40 percent of women with endometriosis eventually become infertile. Those with the disorder are also at higher risk for a host of other health problems: allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue syndrome, eczema, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, lupus, Lyme disease, melanoma, migraines, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and cancers of the breast and ovaries.
Many patients must take extreme measures to control their symptoms.
Due to debilitating fatigue, Mary Lou Ballweg, the director of the Endometriosis Association, has spent 18 months of her life bedridden.
To manage her gastrointestinal problems, Sharon Deevey, a 61-year-old endometriosis patient from Columbus, Ohio, eats what she describes as “a diet fit for toddlers: completely bland, with no seasonings whatsoever.”
To ease chronic abdominal pain, Jen Singer, a 38-year-old Kinnelon, N.J., resident with endometriosis, had an elective partial hysterectomy at age 37.
“A year later, I’m in daily pain once again, most likely from an adhesion in my right fallopian tube,” she says. “At this point, the most I can do is pray for menopause, when the symptoms of endometriosis usually cease.”
(Source: Women’s E-News)
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