The expert’s view: the whole truth about endometriosis

Endometriosis – what is it, and how to identify the disease?

Is Endometriosis Treated?

Is it possible to get pregnant or do IVF with endometriosis?

Prevention of endometriosis

Increasingly, women are frightened by this diagnosis.  Endometriosis appears in medical history, but there are many questions and misunderstandings in the head – what does this mean?

We have decided to ask about this pathology Yurii Iosifovich Gerevich, a practising obstetrician-gynaecologist, reproductive endocrinologist, Candidate of Medical Sciences, doctor of the Kyiv IGR Medical Centre. He answered common questions that women may have after such a diagnosis is made – from its causes to possible treatment and prevention.

Endometriosis – what is it, and how to identify the disease?

Endometriosis is an overgrowth of tissue that is similar in structure and properties to the endometrium of the uterus. It can be found out in various organs – not only in the cervix and around it.

Now the disease is rapidly growing younger and more common. The reason may be that modern girls and women are in no hurry to have children. And those, who are still expecting or raising a baby, have 1-2 pregnancies.

Now, remember the generations of our grandmothers, for example. It was a common practice to have a large family, and now, it is something extraordinary. And it turns out that while women were carrying children and then breastfeeding them, they did not have their periods – and it was an enormous period throughout their lives.

Modern girls who are of childbearing age have significantly more menstruation. They are not blocked either by frequent pregnancies or breastfeeding. And it leads to changes in the epithelium.

Hence its pathologies arise. What’s next?

The tissue that can menstruate grows and continues to bleed periodically – as it was prescribed by nature. But at the same time, it destroys those tissues on which it has taken root.

There is inflammation, pain, discomfort, and, as a result, a violation of the woman’s reproductive function. In simple words, the disease interferes with getting pregnant and can cause adhesions. On these grounds, endometriosis is diagnosed.

Is endometriosis treated?

The disease can be latent and not manifest itself. And sometimes, it “disguises itself” as other pathologies. When, nevertheless, it was possible to identify foci of the proliferation of such tissues and confirm the diagnosis, the treatment will still be troublesome and, alas, will not give 100% of the result.

That is, endometriosis cannot be cured and forgotten about it forever. In young women, who have a normal menstrual cycle and have regular periods, the growth of these tissues does not stop. It is simply impossible to remove all foci – there are too many of them.

But experts will still offer symptomatic treatment. With its help, it will be possible to relieve discomfort, reduce pain – the patients return to full-fledged life.

Is it possible to get pregnant or do IVF with endometriosis?

Endometriosis and pregnancy are sometimes incompatible. Different stages and prevalence of this pathology can cause various disorders that interfere with conceiving a child.

In such cases, IVF comes to the rescue. The procedure is safe for patients with such a diagnosis and can give a long-awaited baby. If it is not possible to get pregnant for a long time, various reasons should be excluded. It is necessary to conduct examinations and understand whether a woman can become a mother on her own or whether artificial insemination is required.

But in other cases, pregnancy is an effective treatment for endometriosis. After all, the action of the drugs that are prescribed for this treatment of this disease is aimed at reducing of regular menstruation. That is, they stabilize the hormonal background and remove cyclical changes in the endometrium.

And during pregnancy, this process occurs naturally – without side effects and with positive dynamics.

Sometimes you may need the services of a surrogate mother. There are clinics and programs in Kyiv that provide confidential pregnancy management, safety and complex follow-up support. One of them is KINDERLY.

Prevention of endometriosis

Here, everything is simple:   regular visits to a gynaecologist help to recognize endometriosis in its early stages. Sometimes, with a latent course of the disease, it is diagnosed “by accident” – when on ultrasound or other examinations, foci of the proliferation of such tissues are found.