Endometriosis and Fertility Resource Page

There’s promising hope for women who suffer from endometriosis, one of the most common causes of infertility and pelvic pain. A new study to be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine reveals that Pycnogenol(R) (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, significantly reduces symptoms of endometriosis by 33 percent.Pycnogenol(R), which holds a patent for reducing PMS/menstrual pain and discomfort, was chosen for this study because other endometriosis treatments can have unwanted side effects. “The cause of endometriosis is unknown and treatment to fully cure endometriosis has yet to be developed,” said Dr. Takafumi Kohama, a lead researcher of the study. “Common hormone treatments such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone agents (Gn-RHa) may likely restrict women from becoming pregnant during treatment. Danazol, another hormone treatment, produces side effects such as ovarian deficiency, osteoporosis and obesity. Our results convey Pycnogenol(R) as an extremely effective natural treatment without dangerous side effects,” he said.

The study, held at Kanazawa University School of Medicine, Ishokawa, Japan, sampled 58 women ages 21-38 who underwent operations for endometriosis within six months prior to the study. After confirming regular menstruation and ovulation for three months before treatment, patients were examined before and at 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks after treatment began to check for symptom control (pain, urinary and bowel symptom, breakthrough bleeding). Pain was evaluated by patients’ self-assessment and an investigator interviewed and performed a gynecologic examination.

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