Skip to main content

Women's Health By the Numbers: Endometriosis Statistics

Image
By
South African Fertility Dolls
Endometriosis has been stated to be a "modern disease." It is a condition in which tissue from the lining of the uterus implants or sprouts and grows in the interior of the abdomen. It takes a surgery to make a firm diagnosis and tracking the disease is as difficult, as it takes a follow up surgery to figure out if it has been adequate treated. From being a rare condition in the early 1980s we now think there are 8.5 million women with endometriosis in the US today,  that means we have about 350,000 women in Illinois with the condition. Many women do not know they have the entity of endometriosis. The government does track some statistics for endometriosis. We know that non-hispanic white women are most at risk; and there is a genetic link as well. Women with red hair, women who are tall, women who have had melanoma are all more at risk for endometriosis. The most alarming statistic regarding endometriosis is that we are seeing more advanced cases. We do have some improvements in diagnosis so that could affect the numbers of cases we are seeing, but we think that the rate has dramatically changed since the 1980s. Advances in diagnosis and reporting do not explain the current epidemic rates of endometriosis. Greater awareness fails to explain documented increased rates of hysterectomies due to endometriosis, most notably in teenage girls. According to data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, and analysis by Dr. Gary Berger (Medical Director, Chapel Hill Fertility Center), hysterectomies for endometriosis increased 250% for young women between the ages of 15-24 and 186% between the ages of 25-34 during 1965 to 1984. So ask your gyno what you can do to protect yourself from endometriosis, and do what you can to keep your condition under control if you have been previously diagnosed. For those interested in endometriosis clinical research studies call 217-356-3736 and ask for the Women's Health Practice Clinical Research Division. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. Gene BerniceOctober 23, 2012 at 1:50 AM

    Post some preventive measures for endometriosis.
     Womens Health 

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gyno GabOctober 29, 2012 at 3:28 PM

    A reader asks how to prevent endometriosis. Endometriosis prevention is possible but difficult. No one dietary strategy has been shown to protect against endometriosis, but we still recommend having a blanced diet. Excerise in some studies has been show to reduce endometriosis. But the most reliable way to prevent endometriosis is to prevent menstrual periods. We think one way that endometriosis progresses is to have the uterine lining implanting inside the abdomen. Patients who do not have menstrual periods will not have the implantation of the lining. Continuous use of birth control pills, without monthly breaks, so there is no bleeding, or use of DepoProvera or Implanon will all help to prevent endometriosis. Having children and breastfeeding also...prevents periods...and prevents endometriosis. For an individual woman she needs to discuss with her own gynecologist what she might be able to do to prevent endometriosis. For women wantin to participate in clinical research studies for endometriosis call 217-356-3736 if you live in Central Illinois.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments and questions. WE hope you will buy our book, https://www.gynogab.com/shop This blog is not intended to replace medical care, but is informational only. We hope you will become a follower or visit Womens Health Practice. We offer a variety of unique services including MonaLisa Touch, Coolsculpting, Labiaplasty, and Gynecoloigic Clinical Research Trials. For more information on menopause see

Popular posts from this blog

Passing Your Uterine Lining, Menstrual Period Norms

By
Decidual Cast Periods can be fairly easy, passing some tissue at a time, or off can come the whole lining in one piece called a decidual cast. Generally the lining of the uterus is only 6-8 mm thick at the time of the menstrual period, and it is shed gradually, a few cells at a time. The decidual cast is when the entire lining passes spontaneously.  It's not uncommon, but it usually both uncomfortable, and alarming to some. But us women are designed to have some sort of periods  Or Not? We have to pass tissue each month. Or Not? Are they good for us? Or Not? Do we want them? Or Not? Is this something that is individual? Or Not? It's a complex topic that I will be discussing a lot over my time in this blog. So lets start with basics: How much do we bleed and what are we loosing, and just what was this that the patient passed? And another basic: track your periods, and the Women's Health Practice site http://www.womenshealthpractice.com/media/pdf/menstrual_chart.pdf you...
311 comments
Read more

Post-Endometrial Ablation Syndrome

By
If you have had an endometrial ablation and have developed symptoms of pelvic pain you might have post endometrial ablation syndrome. What is post-endometrial ablation syndrome? It is a constellation of symptoms due to entrapped blood or tissue within a uterus that has previously undergone an endometrial ablation. We are able to diagnose this at Women's Health Practic e but occasionally other conditions are causing similar symptoms. Other complications of endometrial ablation include pregnancy, risks from pre-existing conditions such as a polyp or fibroid, an infection of the uterus, or a pregnancy. If you have had a tubal ligation then it is possible that the condition could be post-ablation tubal sterilization syndrome. The ablation procedure is designed to destroy all lining tissue, but in fact there is no way to confirm the completeness of the ablation. It is thought that either residual or regrowth of the tissue is producing the symptoms of post-endometrial ablation syndrom...
647 comments
Read more

You Have an IUD: But a Positive Pregnancy Test

By
Fortunately IUD pregnancy failures are rare. But if you have an IUD for contraception, and you get a positive pregnancy test, you probably ask yourself, what next? Well, make your gyno appointment promptly, this is a condition that is not typically an emergency, but it can be and it’s not handled over the phone or on a blog, or through self diagnosis! That being said, some researchers from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas decided to look back at over 4100 women who had IUDs and of those 42 cases who became pregnant in their institution, over about a year period of time, to help understand what these women could expect when they got to their gyno and what actually happened to their pregnancies. Accurate pregnancy diagnosis, pelvic examination, and pelvic ultrasound were the cornerstones of the evaluations. They had very specific ways they looked at their ultrasound to prove there was no pregnancy in the fallopian tube, or partially in the fallopian tube...
199 comments
Read more