Endometriosis

Endometriosis affects about 15% of women of reproductive age. Women with this condition experience chronic pelvic pain, and many experience years of frustration in a search for a diagnosis. But advancements in surgical techniques and new studies have given doctors additional methods of diagnosis and treatment. Donna, 30, went through 15 years of chronic pain and a series of doctors before her condition was diagnosed.

Desperate to help their autistic children, hundreds of parents nationwide are turning to an unproven and potentially damaging treatment: multiple high doses of a drug sometimes used to chemically castrate sex offenders. The therapy is based on a theory, unsupported by mainstream medicine, that autism is caused by a harmful link between mercury and testosterone. Children with autism have too much of the hormone, according to the theory, and a drug called Lupron can fix that.

Women with endometriosis--a leading cause of infertility in which tissue from the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body--are much more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and allergies, new research has found. The study, published last week in the journal Human Reproduction, is the first to document something that has been noticed by many women with the painful disorder.

Christina Shimek is only 17, but she has already had more pain than many adults have in a lifetime. She woke up one morning a year ago, she says, "in excruciating pain in my lower back and pelvic area. I was in tears." Frantic, her parents took her to the hospital, where doctors assumed the trouble was her appendix and took it out. The appendix was normal, however -- and the pain persisted. The Leominster, Mass.

Christina Shimek is only 17, but she has already had more pain than many adults have in a lifetime. She woke up one morning a year ago, she says, "in excruciating pain in my lower back and pelvic area. I was in tears." Frantic, her parents took her to the hospital, where doctors assumed the trouble was her appendix and took it out. The appendix was normal, however -- and the pain persisted. The Leominster, Mass.

A drug commonly used to treat circulatory disorders may prove to be an effective new therapy for infertility caused by endometriosis, an often painful condition suffered by millions of women worldwide, researchers announced Thursday. In a study directed by Dr. Alex Steinleitner of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami, researchers induced endometriosis in hamsters.

As she entered midlife, Connie Koller was losing almost a week of every month to her abnormally heavy menstrual periods. Employed full time in the accounting department of Baltimore's Good Samaritan Hospital, trying to keep up with the schedules of three children, the 41-year-old Parkville, Md., woman often felt as if she were having to plan her life around her periods. "I was afraid to go anywhere because of the excessive bleeding," she says. "I knew I had to do something."

Jackie Apuzzo is 16 weeks pregnant -- something she was beginning to think would never happen. Following nine years of unsuccessful efforts to have a baby, including failed in vitro fertilization, a miscarriage and a diagnosis of endometriosis, the 37-year-old social worker finally visited an acupuncturist on the advice of a friend. After two months of acupuncture treatments and a regimen of Chinese herbs, she became pregnant.

On a recent rainy evening, Rita McCrerey Vogel was setting out leaflets at UC San Diego Medical Center, getting ready for the monthly meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the Endometriosis Assn. She looked cheerful. She looked healthy. "I am healthy, now," she said. "I feel wonderful." She looked equally healthy four years ago, McCrerey Vogel said. Then, suddenly, she awoke in the night in excruciating pain. "I had no idea I had endometriosis," she said. "I'd never even heard of it."

Endometriosis is a chronic disease that affects one out of 10 women of childbearing age in the United States, causing such symptoms as intense pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue and infertility. Every month, the endometrium--the lining of the uterus--thickens with blood in response to rising levels of the hormone estrogen. If conception does not occur, the body sheds this lining during the normal menstrual bleed.

Women with endometriosis--a leading cause of infertility in which tissue from the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body--are much more likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and allergies, new research has found. The study, published last week in the journal Human Reproduction, is the first to document something that has been noticed by many women with the painful disorder.

Endometriosis is a chronic disease that affects one out of 10 women of childbearing age in the United States, causing such symptoms as intense pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue and infertility. Every month, the endometrium--the lining of the uterus--thickens with blood in response to rising levels of the hormone estrogen. If conception does not occur, the body sheds this lining during the normal menstrual bleed.

As she entered midlife, Connie Koller was losing almost a week of every month to her abnormally heavy menstrual periods. Employed full time in the accounting department of Baltimore's Good Samaritan Hospital, trying to keep up with the schedules of three children, the 41-year-old Parkville, Md., woman often felt as if she were having to plan her life around her periods. "I was afraid to go anywhere because of the excessive bleeding," she says. "I knew I had to do something."

Endometriosis affects about 15% of women of reproductive age. Women with this condition experience chronic pelvic pain, and many experience years of frustration in a search for a diagnosis. But advancements in surgical techniques and new studies have given doctors additional methods of diagnosis and treatment. Donna, 30, went through 15 years of chronic pain and a series of doctors before her condition was diagnosed.

A drug commonly used to treat circulatory disorders may prove to be an effective new therapy for infertility caused by endometriosis, an often painful condition suffered by millions of women worldwide, researchers announced Thursday. In a study directed by Dr. Alex Steinleitner of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami, researchers induced endometriosis in hamsters.

On a recent rainy evening, Rita McCrerey Vogel was setting out leaflets at UC San Diego Medical Center, getting ready for the monthly meeting of the San Diego Chapter of the Endometriosis Assn. She looked cheerful. She looked healthy. "I am healthy, now," she said. "I feel wonderful." She looked equally healthy four years ago, McCrerey Vogel said. Then, suddenly, she awoke in the night in excruciating pain. "I had no idea I had endometriosis," she said. "I'd never even heard of it."

The long, frustrating search for a drug treatment to substitute for surgery in most cases of endometriosis--a disease that may affect as many as 15% of all pre-menopausal American women--may be nearing a decisive end, doctors at UCLA and in San Francisco agree.

Desperate to help their autistic children, hundreds of parents nationwide are turning to an unproven and potentially damaging treatment: multiple high doses of a drug sometimes used to chemically castrate sex offenders. The therapy is based on a theory, unsupported by mainstream medicine, that autism is caused by a harmful link between mercury and testosterone. Children with autism have too much of the hormone, according to the theory, and a drug called Lupron can fix that.

The long, frustrating search for a drug treatment to substitute for surgery in most cases of endometriosis--a disease that may affect as many as 15% of all pre-menopausal American women--may be nearing a decisive end, doctors at UCLA and in San Francisco agree.