Endometriosis May Be an Autoimmune Disease-PLEASE PARTICIPATE

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

After reading the article below, I would like to collect information

from you, and post it back to you through the organizations listed above

once I have received what appears to the majority of the answers. If

you would like your answers to remain anonymous, I will honor this

request.

~~~In '87, at the age of 27, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, and

ended up having to have a complete hysterectomy with a double

oophorectomy as a result.

I had undergone multiple laser surgeries to rid by body of the

endometriosis...yet, I continued to have the very symptoms of

endometriosis, including very painful menstruation. As it turned out,

one of my ovaries had " flipped " over and perhaps this was the cause of

the pain I was having since the biopsies noted no endometriosis on the

final testing. The original ones had.

Because I have a very personal reasons for wanting to know how many of

us have been diagnosed with endometriosis....I am asking each of you who

has or have been diagnosed with endometriosis and had breast

augmentation with breast implants, I would like to keep a record over

the next several weeks to see how many of us were diagnosed with

endometriosis, too.

Please send me the following information if you have or were diagnosed

with endometriosis:

1. What date were implants placed into your body?

2. What date were you diagnosed with endometriosis?

3. Did you undergo any or many laser surgeries to eradicate the

endometriomas?

4. Did you end up having to have a hysterectomy as a cause of the

endometriosis?

5. Did your biopsies after surgery prove that you did have

endometriosis? [Just as a note, mine did not....my lab reports came

back reporting that I did not have endometriosis, but instead had some

unknown form of connective tissue disease that closely resembled

endometriosis.

HERE IS THE ARTICLE TO READ FIRST:

Subject: Endometriosis May Be an Autoimmune Disease

Thanks, KKJ ~ " Toxic Discovery Network "

<toxicdiscovery@...>

http://womenshealth.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2001/09/09.07/20010906clin001.html

Endometriosis May Be an Autoimmune Disease

WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Sept 06 - Immunomodulating therapy may be

an alternative to traditional estrogens as a treatment for

endometriosis.

Dr. Warren B. Nothnick, of the University of Kansas Medical Center in

Kansas City, says that in a review of the literature he found

" overwhelming evidence " of a role for immunologic factors, particularly

cytokines, in the pathophysiology and etiology of endometriosis.

In particular, he says, research results show that levels of tumor

necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) are elevated in patients with

endometriosis. Given the success of TNF-alpha inhibitors in treating

other immunologic disorders, Dr. Nothnick proposes examining these

therapies as an option for treating endometriosis.

Disturbed levels of other cytokines, cell apoptosis, and T- and B-cell

abnormalities have also been observed in patients with endometriosis, he

notes in the August issue of Fertility and Sterility.

" What we as researchers and physicians need to be aware of is that many

factors and pathways can contribute to the growth and progression of

endometriosis and the cytokines may be one commonality among these

factors or pathways, " Dr. Nothnick told Reuters Health.

While for now there is only a small amount of evidence to support an

immunologic approach to treating endometriosis, he believes " we need to

explore all possibilities and take advantage of today's technologies. "

" A treatment that could suppress the disease and its symptoms

independently of compromising a women's reproductive cyclicity would

hold great promise, " he noted.

Fertil Steril 2001;76:223-231.

PS. I realize that this " questionnaire " does not follow the format of a

proper scientific form of acquiring information....I would just merely

like to know how many of us have/had been diagnosed with endometriosis,

and would then like to report the findings back to you.

Sincerely,

Lany Donnelly

SBI Prayer Forum