Endometriosis facts at a glance

Endometriosis is commonly found in 10 to 15% of women between 25 and 44 years of age; it is also found in teenage women.

Between 25 to 50% of infertile women have endometriosis.

Severe endometriosis can cause distortion of normal pelvic anatomy, which makes it more difficult to conceive, and partially explains the high incidence of infertility among women so affected.

Symptoms include: pelvic pain, changes in menstruation, pain with intercourse, pain while defecating or urinating during menstruation, and infertility. Some women with the disease, however, may not have any symptoms at all.

Treatment is individualized, based on the patient's age, severity of symptoms, and reproductive wishes. Treatments include symptomatic relief, medications to suppress further growth of the endometrial tissue, ovulation blocking agents, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, surgery to remove the endometrial implants or growths, and hysterectomy.

Suppressive medical therapy or conservative surgery does not effectively cure endometriosis, and recurrence of the disease is likely. Only by totally stopping ovarian function can doctors prevent the recurrence of endometriosis.

For help, see your primary care physician or obstetrician/gynecologist.
For more information, contact:

Endometriosis Association,
8585 N. 76th Place,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53223 USA,

(800) 992-3636
(US, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas),
(800) 426-2END
(Canada),
(414) 355-2200,
FAX: (414) 355-2200.