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What is Endometriosis

The lining of the womb, known as endometrium, breaks down on a monthly cycle (menstrual period). Endometriosis is a condition whereby patches of the endometrium grow outside the uterus in other areas.

These patches behave like the normal womb lining (shed on a monthly basis), but cause pain, subfertility and inflammation. One in ten women suffers from endometriosis during their reproductive age (16-45 years). Endometriosis is a condition that usually worsens with time and may reoccur after treatment.

The usual site for this to happen is elsewhere in the pelvis, involving the ovaries, the space behind the uterus (known as pouch of Douglas), the tubes, the bowel and the bladder. In this situation the patches respond to the female hormones and shed like the lining of the womb, and the endometrium and blood have nowhere to go. It builds up to cause cysts and scar tissue (adhesions). It can also happen in other parts of the body such as the muscle layer of the womb (when it is known as adenomyosis) or more rarely away from the pelvis in the upper abdomen and the lungs.

Sometimes endometriosis can develop from within, cover or grow into the ovaries and may form cysts which are called endometriomas (or endometriotic cysts or chocolate cysts). Endometriosis is divided in to four stages, with stage I being the least severe and stage IV the most severe.

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