Endometriosis: Are scientists making any headway?
Endometriosis is a gynecological condition that causes debilitating pain and a heavy flow of one's period, as well as many other symptoms that lower quality of life. This condition often requires regular surgical interventions, and it has no cure. Some researchers hope to find out more about it.
Endometriosis is a chronic condition that can affect girls of adolescent age and women up until menopause.
In this condition, endometrial tissue, which is normally present only inside the uterus, grows in other parts of the body — for instance, on the ovaries and fallopian tubes, on or inside the bladder, or on the kidneys.
Although there are no clear statistics indicating how many people live with endometriosis, this condition seems to be very widespread.
Estimates from the Office on Women's Health suggest that more than 11% of biologically female people aged 15–44 in the United States may have this chronic condition.
Despite the numbers, research on endometriosis is still limited — currently, researchers do not know what causes this condition.
As for treatment, more often than not, doctors will advise people with endometriosis to have the extra endometrial tissue removed through regular surgical interventions, as the tissue tends to grow back.
The main reason why it is unclear how many people actually have endometriosis is that doctors often find the condition difficult to diagnose. Symptomatic diagnoses can lead to wrong conclusions, since doctors may mistake the symptoms of endometriosis for those of other conditions, such as pelvic inflammatory disease.
One way of spotting endometriosis-associated cysts is by performing an ultrasound, but this technique is not foolproof either.
The only way to diagnose the condition beyond a doubt is by conducting a laparoscopy — a minimally invasive surgery in which the surgeon introduces a laparoscope (a thin instrument with a micro light and a camera) that allows them to see inside the abdomen.
During this procedure, the physician can also collect tissue samples that they can send to a laboratory for analysis.
Working to eliminate inaccuracies
In a new study, researchers from institutions in Estonia and Finland — including the University of Tartu and the University of Helsinki, respectively — have aimed to find out how to make the diagnosis of endometriosis more precise.
"Today, the disease is mainly diagnosed surgically. In general, patients have to undergo a laparoscopic procedure in which lesions are surgically removed from the abdominal cavity. Small pieces of this tissue are taken for histological analysis that helps to confirm the diagnosis," notes first study author Merli Saare, Ph.D.
In their study — the findings of which appear in the journal Biology of Reproduction — the researchers explain that studying gene expression in endometrial tissue is important in determining the correct biomarkers associated with endometriosis.
Moreover, identifying endometriosis-related biomarkers can help doctors better understand any changes in this chronic condition and their possible biological causes, which may allow them to address these changes more appropriately.
However, the team notes that gene expression in endometrial tissue is dependent on hormonal activity, which changes with a person's menstrual cycle stages. If doctors collect sample tissue at the "wrong" phase of the cycle, this may render inaccurate or even false results.
