About 180 million women around the world suffer from endometriosis, an incurable gynecological disease resulting in 25 to 50% of cases, infertility. Zoum on this little-known pathology which often manifests itself during adolescence and takes years to be diagnosed.
Endometriosis is a chronic, incurable gynecological disease that affects more than one in ten women of childbearing age and in 25 to 50% of cases, infertility. 180 million women in the world are concerned and yet, it is still unknown to the general public. This pathology results from the poor functioning of the endometrium, the tissue that lines the uterus. Usually then the menstrual cycle, the endometrium thickens for possible pregnancy and if there is no fertilization, disintegrates and bleeds, which causes menstruation.
But in some women, the endometrial tissue and the blood go in the opposite way, going up towards the tubes, until spreading in the cavity of the belly to the urinary, digestive systems, and sometimes even pulmonary. This migration then leads to internal lesions, profuse bleeding and very severe pain.
“It’s normal to have pain during your period”: but no damn it ****
Manon Hébert, 22, suffering from endometriosis since adolescence, explained this disease on her Facebook wall in mid-March. She describes pain during menstruation and intercourse. Also pelvic pain, during defecation and when urinating. Abdominal and lower back pain, severe fatigue, digestive disturbances, diarrhea, constipation, urinary burns, blood in the urine and above all, an incurable infertility.
“I repeated my final year, I had missed more than 200 hours of lessons. The teachers thought I was drying out.” Manon warns of this disease that doctors have taken 7 years to diagnose and which prevents her from living normally. “We’ve all heard at least once: ‘It’s normal to have pain during your period …’ No! God damn ****!”
Signs that can alert
The mechanisms that lead to endometriosis remain poorly understood. Several theories exist to explain the appearance of this disease, without any fully explaining all the forms of the disease. Since the symptoms vary according to the type of attack and the various organs affected, as complications such as adhesions and scars cause pain that becomes independent of the cycle, the clinical picture of endometriosis is ultimately very polymorphic. It varies so much from one woman to another that we speak of several endometrioses.
Endometriosis first manifests as very severe pelvic and abdominal pain during menstruation. Then it almost always causes disorders which are initially quite mild and become more and more intense, sometimes even intolerable. At the onset of the disease, the pain occurs mainly during menstruation or only in special situations, for example after intercourse, during urination or defecation. Another manifestation of endometriosis that causes patients to seek medical attention is pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia). The peculiarity of these dyspareunias is that they tend to last. The disease can also remain silent (asymptomatic) for a long time. It is then discovered when the young woman fails to conceive naturally.
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