Endometriosis Affects Women

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Autoimmune Disease Felicia Johnson Kaplan University Endometriosis Felicia Johnson: Kaplan University: Endometriosis is a disease of the uterus, and it affects women. The uterine cavity is lined by endometrial cells that are affected by reproductive hormones, and when these cells grow in another place out of the uterine cavity, the resulting disease is endometriosis. Endometriosis mostly affects the cells that line along the abdominal cavity, the peritoneum. Endometriosis affects women of all ages, but is mostly discovered…show more content…
This pain is more intense during the menstrual period of a woman and may lead to excessive bleeding. The pain is because the endometrial cells that are also breaking up and bleeding from an area that is not supposed to. The pain is the same as a menstrual cramp pain, only that it can touch on the rectum and the lower back. Most women have also reported gnawing pain in the feet that disables them making them sick throughout the period of the menstrual period, and even shortly afterward. The pain is so intense, such that patients have reported that it is like someone is pulling out their insides. It is also noted that the pain does not correlate with the stage of the disease in that women with mild symptoms have been found to have extensive endometriosis while some women with less or no pain have been found to have extensive endometriosis to the extent that their insides have glued together. At times also, the pain has been so intense such that the body has developed its network of pain which occurs independently of the disease. Another pain that is commonly felt by women suffering from endometriosis is pain during sex, dyspareunia. This is caused by the accumulation of endometrial cells in the wrong place, and pressure exerted during sex causes the location of the endometrial cells to throb. Infertility is another symptom that is observed with endometriosis. Almost 50% of all women with endometriosis also…show more content…
Causes The first and primary cause of endometriosis is retrograde menstruation, which occurs when the menstrual period flows back into the Fallopian tubes and pelvic cavity instead of flowing down the cervix and out of the vagina. The menstrual flow is known to contain the endometrial cells that form the endometrial tissue which is produced during menstruation. When these endometrial cells attach themselves to the pelvic cavity, they grow into endometriosis. Endometriosis can also develop to a woman after surgery whereby the endometrial tissue from the uterine cavity can attach themselves on the surgical incision causing endometriosis to develop. The surgical procedure which can lead to endometriosis is any procedure in which the surgeon comes in contact with endometrial cells. At times, the blood can transport the endometrial cells to other parts of the body, and if the cells attach themselves to whenever they settle, they can grow into endometriosis. This is associated with the immune cell disorder in which the immune system in the body is unable to detect endometrial cells that grow in the wrong parts of the body, thereby preventing their

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