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April 18, 2013

A recent study determined that women who have surgery for endometriosis lower their risk for ovarian cancer. Endometriosis results when the tissue that is normally inside the uterus (endometrial tissue) grows outside of the uterine cavity; it is often a painful, chronic disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 5.5 million women in North America have endometriosis, which can lead to infertility in 40 percent of cases.

March 14, 2013

A diagnosis of unexplained infertility can be frustrating to say the least. You’ve tried to conceive on your own for several months and just when you think your fertility doctor is going to find the cause of your inability to get pregnant, test results come back with no known cause, or unexplained infertility.

A recent study out of Turkey suggests that women diagnosed with unexplained infertility might actually have an underlying case of endometriosis that was initially missed. The cases of six hundred women diagnosed with unexplained infertility between 1995 and 2008 were examined. Laparoscopy was performed on all 600 women during the follicular phase, in which eggs begin to grow and endometrial tissue builds up. Results indicated that 15% of participants actually had endometriosis, while another 20% suffered from pelvic adhesions, or scar tissue that can result from endometriosis. A French study, published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology discovered that by using laparoscopy, 72 of 114 patients initially diagnosed with unexplained infertility were identified as having endometriosis.

March 1, 2013

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, a time when women should be informed that painful periods may be a sign of a significant, fertility disrupting disease.

Endometriosis is characterized by growth of endometrial tissue outside of the uterus. It can attach to the ovaries, bowels, or bladder and can cause severe pain and irregular bleeding which impact a woman’s quality of life on a daily basis.