Endometriosis

It is a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the womb and causing pelvic pain, especially associated with menstruation. Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows outside it. The main symptoms are pelvic pain and infertility.

Symptoms: The most common symptoms include:  painful periods or heavy periods, pain in the lower abdomen (tummy), pelvis or lower back.  pain during and after sex, bleeding between periods,  difficulty getting pregnant.

Diagnosis: In some cases, an ultrasound scan may be recommended. This type of scan uses high frequency sound waves to create an image of part of the inside of the body. It can be used to look for cysts in ovaries that may have been caused by endometriosis, but it is not an accurate test to diagnose endometriosis itself. Endometriosis can only be confirmed with a surgical examination called a laparoscopy.

Epidemology: Presence of infertility, miscarriage, coexistence of other autoimmune diseases, and family history of autoimmune diseases was also investigated in all subjects. Celiac disease was diagnosed in 5 of 223 women with endometriosis and in 2 of 246 controls (2.2% versus 0.8%; P = 0.265). Patients with endometriosis showed a largely higher rate of infertility compared to control group (27.4% versus 2.4%; P < 0.001). Results confirm that also in Italian population an increased prevalence of celiac disease among patients with endometriosis is found, although this trend does not reach the statistical significance.