Medical Literature

In the “Resources Section” of each of these blog entries are links to medical literature that you can review, print out, and give to your healthcare providers!

Endometriosis in Captive Critters?

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monkey in a tree
Female Mandrillus Sphinx

So we’ve previously read about a German Shepherd being diagnosed with Endometriosis. Today we’re going to talk about Mandrills (a form of primate that used to be considered a Baboon) who had been diagnosed with Endo. I’ve read a lot of previous studies where Endometriosis was purposely implanted into critters for study and dissection, but these primates weren’t for study.

There was a study from 2012 about a Mandrill that had died after showing signs of weakness and peritoneal bleeding.  Upon autopsy they found her uterus was covered in blood clots and it was stuck to her ovaries and pelvic wall.  The biopsy confirmed she had Endometriosis.  This is considered the first confirmed case of Endo in a Mandrill.

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Is Flax Good or Bad for Endometriosis

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wooden bull with whole flaxseed inside

So for the past several months, I’ve been using flax milk instead of coconut milk in my tea, cereal, and protein shakes.  I’d grown tired of coconut milk, and am also wanting to lose an unwanted and “sudden” 20-pound weight gain.  It really wasn’t sudden, I just hadn’t noticed it until none of my pants fit…grrrr.

I’d read the flaxseed (also known as linseed) was a phenomenal source of Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber, and people boast of it’s anti-inflammatory properties.  So I was ecstatic to try it out and actually not mind the flavor of flax milk!  It’s gotta be good for my Endo, right?

That is, until this weekend, when someone on an Endo group on Facebook responded to my flax milk post that flax is bad for Endometriosis.  Why?  She didn’t say until several posts later, but it looks like flax seed and flax oil mimic estrogen, much like soy… *grumble grumble grumble*

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Cervical Endometriosis

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Sprinkle-covered donut
…not really a cervix, but you get it… 😉

So, WordPress shows me a lot of the searches that people run that lead them to my site.  One has recently come up again and again.  “Cervical Endometriosis” and “Endometriosis on Cervix.”

Seeing as I’ve never touched up on that particular location, I figured I would today!

What are the symptoms? How are you diagnosed?  What’s the treatment?

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Does coloring my hair make my Endometriosis worse?

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vintage drawing of girl holding up Acme Hair Dye sign

My title is misleading.  I don’t color my hair…but it got you here! Do you color yours?

Why are we talking about hair dye on our Endo blog today?  Because it came up at one of our support group meetings.  While we were hurling out ideas and things we’ve heard can be toxic to our illness, someone asked about hair dye.  I mean, sure, it makes us look great, but it’s right up there close to the brain, but what does it do to our bodies?  It sure ain’t natural: full of chemicals!  Chemicals that could seep into your skin and…do what?

That’s what we’re here to find out.

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Endometriosis & Wine

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A spilling glass of red wine

So, we’ve all heard that a glass of wine can be good for you.  Healthy, actually.  Then we’ve all heard that it can be harmful.  Throw in the mix that some of us suffer from Endometriosis…and that many people try to cut alcohol out of their lifestyle to prevent flare-ups and symptoms.  Alcohol is not only harmful to our bodies and livers, but contains a lot of sugar, as well as wreaks havoc on our system.  But I like me some vino!

Cutting out alcohol all together is likely your safest bet if you’re wanting to live cleaner and healthier.  The liver filters out toxins, as well as estrogen, from the body.  As you may have read elsewhere, Endometriosis is an estrogen-fed and reliant disease.  If our livers cannot properly filter out estrogen, we are simply empowering our illness.  Alcohol is also high in sugar…and we’ve previously discussed how sugar may increase your Endometriosis pain and flare-ups.  Studies have shown that alcohol may also increase estrogen levels due to phytoestrogens in alcohol…plant estrogens that  mimic human estrogen (…wait…I didn’t know that. Crap.)

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Iceland : Endometriosis Care & Support

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Embed from Getty Images

It’s that time, again!  Time to pick a random country and analyze how they deal with Endometriosis.  Today we’ve chosen Iceland (as of today, we’ve had 13 views from Iceland).

Iceland is a little bit smaller than Cuba (40,000 sq. miles) and sports roughly 329,000 people and has a 5% unemployment rate.  I also learned that Iceland doesn’t charge for upper secondary education (think of this as a junior college with most attendees between 16-20 years old), nor does it charge tuition for university attendance!  That’s just so awesome!

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Chronic pain affects your brain

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drawing of a human brain in a jar

So a lot of people with Endometriosis suffer from chronic pain…hell, a lot of people without Endometriosis suffer from chronic pain.  There are theories and studies out there that suggest chronic pain affects memory, cognitive function, and mental health.  Not only does Endometriosis present painful symptoms, but it’s also incurable.  And there are many people who do not get any symptom-relief from any of the treatments available.  You can see where this may cause some “mental health” issues.  Here’s some interesting tidbits on how pain affects brain activity and function.

What is gray matter all about?  It maintains memory, sight, hearing, emotions, speech, impulse control, and executive functions (reasoning, problem solving, cognitive functions, etc.).  Gray matter volume naturally decreases with age.  So…it happens naturally.  Chronic pain may just spur it along a bit more.  Studies have indicated that children who suffer from chronic pain have a greater loss of gray matter volume when they are adults.

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Reader’s Choice : Oophorectomy & Endometriosis

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A plushy ovary by I Heart Guts
Plushy ovary available on iheartguts.com

When I was getting ready to get wheeled into the Operating Room back in 2014 for my cystectomy, my Doc tells me that if he gets in there and there’s extensive damage, he may need to perform an oophorectomy (pronounced oh-uh-fuh–rek-tuh-mee).  I signed the permission slip/waiver without blinking and off we went.  Luckily, he didn’t have to perform one.  And this turned out to be my Endo diagnostic surgery.  Quite the day.

One of our readers & fellow blogger, SnowDroplets, asked the other day if I could look into the pros & cons of oophorectomies, when to have them, and hormone replacement therapy after the ovary(ies) is removed (especially how it may affect with with Endo).  You know how I love to learn about new things, so here goes!  And thank you, SnowDroplets, for asking this question.  I learned A LOT today.

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Blood Biomarkers & Endometriosis

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Test tubes full of blood

You may have read some of my previous blogs about biomarkers…blood tests for things which may help doctors diagnose Endometriosis without surgery, such as CA-125 levels.  There are a lot of hopes that indicators may help save costly diagnostic surgeries, surgical risks, and painful recoveries.

A study published on May 1, 2016, reviewed 141 past studies and analyzed the data.

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