I started an Endometriosis board on Pinterest to keep up with articles, diet, exercise, and all things endo related. But I've been running into a problem. Darn scientific articles don't have pictures that will "pin"!!! My solution is this blog. I mostly want to be able to keep up with this data and have it available online in case I can not to get to my own computer. I hope if you are searching for information about endometriosis that this will be a good reference for you too.
So here's my first article to "pin." It is a release from the National Institute of Health (from 2002) stating that women with endometriosis have a higher occurrence of other diseases such as allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia- indicating the need for further research into the immune aspect of the disease. Here's the link to the website (article included below):
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2002/nichd-26.htm
Women with Endometriosis Have Higher Rates of Some Diseases
- Autoimmune diseases — disorders in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome — a strong feeling of fatigue that lasts for at least six months without letting up.
- Fibromyalgia — a recurrent pain in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
- Endocrine diseases — disorders of the glandular tissue
- Atopic diseases — such as allergies or asthma
The researchers found that women with endometriosis were at greater risk than were other women for such autoimmune diseases as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s Syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. The women in the study were over a hundred times more likely to experience chronic fatigue syndrome than the general population of U.S. women. The women with endometriosis were more than twice as likely as other women to experience fibromyalgia. In addition, 20 percent had more than one other disease, and up to 31 percent of those with more than one disease had also been diagnosed with either fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Hypothyroidism — an underactive thyroid gland — was seven times more common in the endometriosis patients. In many cases, hypothyroidism may also be an autoimmune disorder, resulting from an immune system attack on the thyroid gland. The researchers also found that the rates of allergies and asthma were higher among women with endometriosis than among women in the U.S. population, and higher still if they had other diseases. The researchers found that 61 percent of the women with endometriosis reported allergies (as compared to 18 percent of the general female population) and 12 percent had asthma (as compared to 5 percent). If a woman had endometriosis and an endocrine disease, the percent with allergies rose to 72 percent, and if a woman had endometriosis plus fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, the rate for allergies rose to 88 percent. Two-thirds of the women reported that relatives also had diagnosed or suspected endometriosis, suggesting a familial basis for the condition. The study authors cautioned, however, that the study may not be representative of all patients with endometriosis. First, the women may have joined the Endometriosis Association because they were experiencing pain from their condition and so may not be typical of all patients with endometriosis. Also, such self-reported surveys may be more open to error than are surveys taken by a trained interviewer. For example, some of the women who answered the survey may have misinterpreted questions, may not have recognized the names of specific diseases, or may not have accurately reported conditions experienced by their family members. The women who responded to the Endometriosis Association survey were predominantly white (nearly 95 percent) and educated (90 percent had at least some college education), and ninety-one percent were of reproductive age (15-45 years old). To compensate for such possible sources of bias, the researchers conducted a type of statistical test known as a sensitivity analysis. This analysis helps to confirm that even if a disease is underestimated in the general population and overestimated in the study sample, the rates of the various conditions reported in women with endometriosis are probably still significantly higher than in the general population. “These findings suggest a strong association between endometriosis and autoimmune disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia" said Ms. Sinaii. “Health care professionals may need to consider endometriosis when evaluating their patients for these disorders.” More information about endometriosis is available from the NICHD publication,
Endometriosis, at
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/endometriosis.pdf. Information about endometriosis is also available from the Endometriosis Association, 8585 North 76th Place, Milwaukee, WI 53223; phone, 414-355-2200;
http://www.EndometriosisAssn.org/ The NICHD is part of the National Institutes of Health, the biomedical research arm of the federal government. The Institute sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. NICHD publications, as well as information about the Institute, are available from the NICHD Web site, http://www.nichd.nih.gov, or from the NICHD Clearinghouse, 1-800-370-2943; e-mail NICHDClearinghouse@mail.nih.gov.