UNDERSTANDING ENDOMETRIOSIS

Endometriosis is the presence of endometrium located outside the uterus. This means that it is going to behave exactly the same way as it behaves in the uterus. Normally after menses, the endometrial lining inside the uterus slowly thickens until the end of the cycle and it will pass out as menstrual blood. Similarly for endometriosis, the endometrium will thicken and shed off at the end of each cycle but the endometrium that sheds off cannot get out of the body. Instead, it flows to another location within the body and starts a new endometriotic spot.

To understand better, there is a situation whereby a woman has endometriosis in the inner aspect of the bowel. Whenever this woman passed motion during menses, the blood came out together with the faeces. They thought that it was haemorrhoids but it is actually endometriosis. The difference is that haemorrhoids pass blood anytime, but endometriosis passes blood only during menses.

However, if endometriosis is on the ovary, back of the uterus, or at the fallopian tubes, the endometrium cannot be passed out. The endometrium will shed off from one site to another to form a new endometriotic spot. This process goes on and on every menstrual cycle.

Endometriosis is often referred to as ‘invisible disease’ because it cannot be detected through an ultrasound scan or CT scan as they are just spots of blood. This explains why many women suffering from endometriosis remain undiagnosed because a routine ultrasound scan shows nothing is wrong with their body, but the reality is they are actually living with an invisible disease. Endometriosis can only be detected through an ultrasound scan when it already formed a cyst, and once they have a cyst, they are already in advanced stage of endometriosis.

Stages Of Endometriosis

Endometriosis has a few stages depending on how much it has spread, from stage 1 to stage 4.

Sometimes, endometriosis is also called “benign cancer”. It means that it can spread like cancer, but it is not fatal.

The chance of endometriosis to become a cancer is about 3%, especially if it is not treated for a long time, and also if it keeps growing back despite treatment.