Endometriosis is a condition of abnormal growth of endometrial tissue outside its usual location, the endometrium.
Translated. The endometrium is located around the uterus (inside) and is what protects the fetus in case there is a pregnancy. In cases where there is endometriosis, this endometrial tissue is located in unusual places, such as the ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue that lines the pelvis (although in exceptional cases, endometriosis may appear in other more organs). away).
Endometriosis generates these tissues outside the uterus, which are usually benign cysts, but the problem is that they generate a lot of pain throughout the woman's hormonal cycle, and that, in 30% of cases, can imply infertility.
How to cure endometriosis
Although many women suffer from endometriosis (according to 2017 data, it is estimated that 1 in 10 women suffer from it), there is no known cure in conventional medicine. What is done is to treat the symptoms that this alteration causes. The different current approaches to treating endometriosis are:
Hormonal alteration of women.
Artificially, women with endometriosis are treated with artificial hormones, in order to limit the growth of the endometrium. The drawback of this solution is that it implies clear consequences on the woman's fertility, due to the alteration in the hormonal balance necessary to achieve pregnancy.
Treatment with analgesics and anti-inflammatories.
This vision of the treatment of endometriosis allows the painful symptoms to be mitigated (although not their cause), but implies long-term consequences for the stomach, liver and kidney.
Surgery to remove the cysts.
This is the most radical solution. The problem is that, like the other two solutions, it fails to cure the root problem, which is the abnormal growth of endometrial tissue. Therefore, the removal works as long as the body does not grow endometrial cysts again. And the reality is that, on some occasions, growths of endometrial tissue appear again outside the uterus, and the symptoms reproduce.
Everything in the body is subject to the meticulous functioning of hormones and enzymes, which work in rhythm to make life possible. The hormonal cycle and endometrial growth are no exception.
The female cycle and endometriosis
To understand how and why endometriosis is a problem for female fertility, it is worth reviewing how the female reproductive cycle works, and some basic concepts.
What is the endometrium and what is its relationship with the female reproductive cycle?
The endometrium is the inner layer that lines the uterus and is very sensitive to a woman's hormonal cycle. Thus, the endometrium grows as the menstrual cycle progresses.
In the event of fertilization, the endometrium is the tissue in which the fertilized egg will be nested, to protect it. If there is no implantation, the endometrium will peel off, producing menstrual bleeding. With each new cycle a new endometrium is generated.
Hormonal balance in the female cycle
In the first part of the female reproductive cycle, the production of the hormone estrogen It is the trigger for the proliferation of endometrial tissue.
In the second part of the cycle, it is the hormone progesterone which is responsible for the maturation and maintenance of said tissue. That is, the Estrogens are generally proliferative hormoness (which generate endometrial tissue).
On the contrary, the progesterone is a hormone that compensates adequately this proliferative function of estrogen on the one hand, and on the other, it is capable of maintaining this enlarged tissue long enough to favor a possible nesting of a fertilized egg.
The imbalance in endometriosis
In cases of endometriosis, there are endometrial tissue cells out of place, that is, outside the inside of the uterus. And these tissues are hormonally sensitive to a woman's monthly dance of hormones, growing just as the endometrium does, but without the possibility of expelling during menstruation.
The consequence of this imbalance is the creation of endometriomas or chocolate cysts, usually benign, but they can generate many adverse symptoms and even infertility in a 30-40% of the cases.
Three possible causes at the base of endometriosis
The reasons why these endometrial cells are located outside their original place is a mystery even for science.
There are different theories but none has been able to provide a satisfactory answer to the number of cases that occur, which, unfortunately, is increasing.
It is currently believed that the problem may be in the patient's own immune system or in a sustained hormonal disorder.
There are three ingredients that make up the endometriosis cocktail.
Ectopic or endometrium outside its original place.
There is evidence that 90% in women suffers from what is called retrograde menstruation, through which waste from menstruation can travel up the tubes and colonize areas of the pelvic cavity, ovaries and other tissues.
This was the theory that explained endometriosis until a few years ago, however, this theory would not explain the strange cases of intestinal or even pulmonary endometriosis.
Furthermore, in the vast majority of cases, this delocalized endometrium is reabsorbed without problems by the body.
In fact, that is why we talk about a “cocktail” of ingredients. Because by itself, the fact that endometrial tissue is located in unusual areas should not be a problem: the immune system should do its job, identify these foreign cells and help eliminate them.
So, What does seem clear is that for endometriosis to occur, the immune system must also stop doing its job well..
Furthermore, this ectopic or misplaced tissue, constantly growing in each cycle, generates a situation of abnormal inflammation that continuously activates the immune system.
Immunological alteration.
This new theory is the one that is gaining more prominence today. We have already commented how the immune system seems not to be able to induce programmed cell death of these cells that are where they do not belong.
And we have seen how this situation causes a situation of continued struggle without a solution, of mild but constant inflammation, maintained over time.
The consequences of this situation are very negative for the functioning of the body. A continually stressed immune system is not efficient in its functions., putting the health of the organism at risk. The pathologies that can develop once this situation occurs can be very varied and depend on the peculiar characteristics and weak points of each person.
Hormonal alteration due to excess estrogen
A sustained imbalance in the reproductive cycle of women, in which excess estrogen ends up taking precedence, usually degenerates into some type of tissue proliferative disorder: fibroids, cysts, tumors, adenomyomas and yes, also endometriosis.
These estrogens, in addition to promoting the growth of the “usual” endometrial tissue itself, also stimulate the endometrial tissue located outside its place, thus favoring the chronification of the disease and the constant activation of the immune system.
Hormonal imbalance also favors the chronic inflammatory reaction in the ectopic endometrial tissue (that outside the uterus).
Causes of excess estrogen that can cause endometriosis
The causes of reaching an estrogenic excess are varied:
Excess insulin hormone
If this excess insulin is maintained over time, it will favor the production of estrogens from the body's natural androgens.
Stressful situations
Stress, in its right measure, is good for the body; in fact, our body is prepared to tolerate certain amounts of stress. But if it continues over time, it causes the adrenal glands to produce hormones... among them, an excess of estrogen.
Poor elimination of estrogen
If liver function does not function at 100% and does not carry out the “normal” liver detox, the amount of estrogen increases and can lead to endometriosis.
Now that we know exactly what endometriosis is, its possible causes, and the impact in terms of fertility, we are going to give you some tips to prevent and improve endometriosis in case it has already manifested.
It may interest you:
Some references that may interest you:
- What is endometriosis: https://www.endoinfo.org/que-es-endometriosis/
- Web: https://www.endoinfo.org
- DOSSIER ON ENDOMETRIOSIS 2017. Endomadrid.org
- Cocharne Systematic Review: Acupuncture for the treatment of pain in endometriosishttps://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007864.pub2/abstract/es
- Japanese-Style Acupuncture for Endometriosis-Related Pelvic Pain in Adolescents and Young Women: Results of a Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1083318807002574
- Is There a Role for Acupuncture in Endometriosis Pain, Or 'endometrialgia'? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1136/aim.26.2.94
