Going through a menstrual period is already a nuisance in women’s lives. These include cramps, bloating, headaches, backaches, pimples, mood changes, malaise, and the effects of menstruation that can disrupt daily activities. For ‘endowomen’, women who live with endometriosis, a change in which the endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus, these conditions intensify and can compromise organs, the ability to reproduce, in addition to significantly affecting health and well-being. -being them in day-to-day relationships.
On this May 7th, International Day to Fight Endometriosis, it is important to highlight this silent disorder that affects more than seven million Brazilian women, according to the World Health Organization.
In an interview with Acorda Cidade, doctor Andréa Alencar, who works at the Women’s Hospital in Feira de Santana, addressed the subject, bringing information about the symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment options for women who suffer from this condition.
What is endometriosis?
“Endometriosis is a change in the endometrium, which is a glandular tissue that is the internal part of the uterus. It is an inflammatory disease, with a dependent hormone that varies from estrogen, so it is a disease that occurs due to the anomalous implantation of the endometrium outside the uterine cavity”, explained the doctor.
Symptoms
According to the Ministry of Health, one in ten women in the country are affected by the disorders. Worldwide, it is estimated that around 180 million women suffer from abnormal pain. There are several ways in which the condition affects the patient’s health. The main symptoms are called 6D Syndrome.
“It is dysmenorrhea which is pain during menstruation, deep dyspareunia which is pain during sexual intercourse, pain when urinating, pain when defecating, difficulty getting pregnant, in 70% of cases the patient may have infertility and pelvic pain, which can also be related in around 50% of cases, is what we call 6D disease”, he observed.
The disease can be silent, because women often neglect the pain they feel and in the rush of double shifts, work, family, caring for others, they also forget to pay attention to what they feel or ignore what their body is feeling. trying to say.
Diagnosis
For the patient to be diagnosed with the condition, all symptoms are not necessarily taken into account. The CA 125 blood test may show the presence of proteins (CA-125) in the bloodstream, which, depending on the indexes, can confirm endometriosis. Transvaginal ultrasound, pelvic or endovaginal resonance are also some procedures that can reveal the chronic disease.
“The main way to give a diagnosis is through the clinic. That patient who arrives referring to complaints, dysmenorrhea, pain during sexual intercourse, so once you see a patient who has the complaints mentioned, you will go for evaluation mainly through imaging exams that we have as a method of excellence in diagnosing ultrasound with preparation for research into deep endometriosis and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvis. Previously, videolaparoscopy was also an important indication, but today video laparoscopy or laparotomy has been left aside for treatment purposes” .
Risk factors
Uterine malformations and family history should be considered as risk factors for them. Retrograde menstruation, when you menstruate earlier and there is a late menopause, may also be predisposed to the disease.
“10 to 15% of all women in the reproductive phase of life at menarche may have endometriosis and family history is also important for this patient to develop the disease.”
Treatment
Before talking about how to treat the disease, it is important to highlight the importance of gynecological monitoring for women. According to a survey carried out by the Brazilian Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Associations (Febrasgo) through the Datafolha Institute, more than 40% of Brazilian women do not undergo routine gynecological exams.
You need to take care of your body even before you show any symptoms. This is a universal premise for preventing any type of disease. Carrying out preventive measures, paying attention to your own body, the signs it may give, not reducing your pain to painkillers and trying to understand what you are feeling is also essential to avoid major disorders in the future.
For those who have already been diagnosed with endometriosis, all that remains is to embrace, understand and seek treatment as soon as possible. This will allow for a healthier and fuller life in the face of the adversities that the disease can bring.
The presenter and digital influencer, Patrícia Ramos, has been living with endometriosis for a few years. On social media, she speaks openly about the subject, in fact, one of her posts went viral when she showed the swelling of her belly after eating inadequately. Many thought about pregnancy, but it was the effects of endometriosis.
“When you have endometriosis and all you smell is gluten/lactose/sugar. It’s sleeping with a swollen belly and waking up with it high. My doctor warned me and I just believed in practice; Diet is the main factor in treating the disease.”, wrote Patrícia.
Therefore, the gynecologist reinforced the need to recognize that each patient is different. Nutrition, hormonal treatment and even surgical interventions to remove endometrial tissue may be requested.
“We must individualize each patient, because a patient who has endometriosis and wants to become pregnant, one of the treatments would even be contraception. Most of the treatments that have good responses are the use of hormones, so this patient already using hormones would have difficulty with pregnancy. Treatment ranges from nutritional treatment, hormonal physiotherapeutic, analgesic and in some cases surgical treatment, so for us to treat endometriosis we have to individualize each patient, the patient’s complaint and propose the appropriate treatment for each one, ranging from a more as simple as treating even the most serious and invasive surgeries with analgesia, so it depends on the degree of endometriosis for you to be able to carry out the ideal treatment”, he explained.
With information from reporter Paulo José from Acorda Cidade
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