Can Endometriosis Go Away On It’s Own?
The answer is a strict no; endometriosis does not go away on its own. Although considered by many people tend to believe that the disease usually resolves on its own, this is a false belief. This may be due to the reason that in some cases there are no symptoms that come to notice at an early stage only to lead to infertility in later point of time while in some cases symptoms resolve with the onset of pregnancy. Clinically endometriosis is defined benign overgrowth of the uterine tissue, the endometrium exterior to the uterus which may even involve the ovaries and sometimes the fallopian tubes too. Endometriosis can only be treated by the help of medical and surgical interventions and even after those there is high recurrence rate.
The cause of the condition is still unknown and various studies are being conducted to determine the apt reason of its causation. But almost all physicians are of the mindset that hormonal imbalance of FSH and LH (the Gonadotropins which are released by the anterior pituitary gland) is one of the reasons behind the disorder.
Pregnancy and Disappearance of Endometriosis
It is typically seen that if pregnancy occurs in a patient suffering from endometriosis the symptoms disappear. This is accounted to various hormones that are at an increased level particularly progesterone. Due to this the levels of gonadotropins is very low in comparison to non-pregnant female with normal menstrual cycle. The benign scar or tissue requires preliminarily estrogen for its further growth and the levels of which decrease with progression of pregnancy. The various hormones in pregnancy engineer the dormancy seen in endometriosis. But after the pregnancy is over the symptoms of endometriosis reappear.
Another misnomer in people is the fact that abortion is one of the reasons behind endometriosis, this is totally false as scientific studies have not found any link between the two.
Menopause and Endometriosis
It is frequently seen in milder to moderate cases of endometriosis that the abnormal growth of the endometrium like tissue and at times the symptoms too recede after menopause. This is understood by the fact that the endometrium requires hormones to flourish after menopause as the secretion of hormones is almost nil in quantity. Thus, the positive effect of menopause is seen in these cases. Although severe cases may still fail to resolve after menopause to release of estrogen from some parts of the body as a result the pain, hematuria, discomfort and other symptoms persist and the disease may advance to produce grave consequences. The longer the duration of disease before menopause the less chance it has to iron out after menopause.
Women already diagnosed with endometriosis and taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are at an increased risk of worsening the illness. In HRT, ovarian hormones are delivered to post-menopausal females or in females where in oophorectomy has occurred.
So, the above segment clarifies one’s doubt about the disappearance of the symptoms of endometriosis it raises a question in one’ mind, what can be done to cure endometriosis?
Apparently endometriosis does not have a sound or a perfect cure. There are only means to treat the symptoms of the disease. Medical Interventions involve pain medications, hormonal treatment and drugs like danazol while the surgical interventions involve laparoscopy, hysterectomy, and oophorectomy. The disease may be subjected to more severe complications if none of the interventions are used. Apart from this dietary modifications are also needed to keep the condition in check which certainly involves giving up on drinking and smoking.
The disease has no cure till date; in spite of this there are various measures to treat it. Patients with pelvic pain should most certainly visit an OB-GYN specialist for further diagnosis.
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