What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is endometrium in an ectopic location that contains endometrial glands and stroma. In other words, it is uterine-like tissue that is growing outside the uterus causing pain and/or infertility. Its cause is unknown. There are many theories and people who will tell you they know what causes it, but every answer has contradictions. It could be genetics. It could be retrograde menses. It could be congenital. It could be all of the above or none of the above. We simply don’t know. Endometriosis is common. The generally accepted percentage of women with Endometriosis is 5% to 15%. However, many women have Endometriosis and don’t have the symptoms (usually pain) or the pressing need to be diagnosed (usually infertility). Additionally, Endometriosis can be diagnosed as very mild to severe. There are likely many more people with very mild Endometriosis, which does not cause infertility. The only way to diagnose Endometriosis with complete accuracy is to see it. The only way to see
Endometriosis is a common health problem in women. It gets its name from the word endometrium, the tissue that lines the uterus (womb). In women with this problem, tissue that looks and acts like the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus in other areas. These areas can be called growths, tumors, implants, lesions, or nodules. Most endometriosis is found: • on or under the ovaries • behind the uterus • on the tissues that hold the uterus in place • on the bowels or bladder Endometriosis rarely grows in the lungs or other parts of the body. This “misplaced” tissue can cause pain, infertility (not being able to get pregnant), and very heavy periods.
The formal definition of endometriosis is endometrium in an ectopic location that contains endometrial glands and stroma. In other words, it is uterine-like tissue that is growing outside the uterus causing pain and/or infertility. Its cause is unknown. There are many theories, but every answer has contradictions. It could be genetics. It could be retrograde menses, menstruation that goes backwards through the tubes into the abdomen. It could be congenital. It could be immunological. It could be all of the above or none of the above. We simply don’t know. Endometriosis is common. The generally accepted percentage of women with Endometriosis is 5% to 15%. However, the true incidence is probably even higher. Many women have Endometriosis and don’t have the symptoms (usually pain) or the pressing need to be diagnosed (usually infertility). Endometriosis can be classified as very mild to severe. There are likely many more women with very mild Endometriosis, which does not cause any symptom
Endometriosis is a benign (non-cancerous) condition in which the lining of the uterus (called the endometrium) migrates / grows outside the uterus and is present in places where it is not normally found. Endometriosis is usually confined to the pelvis. Common sites of involvement are the ovaries, space behind the uterus (cul-de-sac, rectum, uterosacral ligaments) and urinary bladder. Although most common in the pelvis, endometriosis has been documented in nearly every location of the body, including such remote and unusual sites as the brain, sciatic nerve, lungs and even skin. The endometriotic implants outside the uterus continue to break down and bleed periodically; the result is internal bleeding, degeneration of blood and tissue shed from the growths, inflammation of the surrounding areas, and formation of painful adhesions and scar tissue. These endometrial lesions can block the fallopian tubes or impair ovulatory function.
Endometriosis is a condition which occurs when endometrial tissue, the tissue that lines the uterus and is shed during menstruation, grows outside the uterus. When this growth occurs outside the uterus, endometrial tissue can develop painful implants which are most common on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes and the ligaments that support the uterus. Other possible sites for endometrial growths are the bladder, bowel and vagina.
