Endometriosis Can Cause Female Infertility

Endometriosis is a common health problem in women.It is a condition in which endometrial tissue, the tissue that lines the inside of the uterus, grows outside the uterus and attaches to other organs in the abdominal cavity such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. Endometriosis is a progressive disease that tends to get worse over time and can reoccur after treatment. Symptoms include painful menstrual periods, abnormal menstrual bleeding and pain during or after sexual intercourse.

What’s more,endometriosis can cause female infertility.The endometrial tissue outside your uterus responds to your menstrual cycle hormones the same way the tissue inside your uterus responds - it swells and thickens, then sheds to mark the beginning of the next cycle. The blood that is shed from the endometrial tissue in your abdominal cavity has no place to go, resulting in pools of blood causing an inflammation that forms scar tissue. The scar tissue can block the fallopian tubes or interfere with ovulation. Another result of endometriosis is the formation of ovarian cysts called endometrioma that may also interfere with ovulation.

There is no single cause of infertility in endometriosis but rather several factors that decrease the chances for conception. In advanced endometriosis , endometriomas (chocolate cysts) or pelvic adhesions interfere mechanically with ovulation and egg/embryo transport. In early endometriosis , the mechanism of infertility is less clear and more complex. Studies from medical survey have shown that in endometriosis, the intraperitoneal environment, through a variety of mechanisms, prevents conception. It has been demonstrated that the peritoneal fluid from women with endometriosis contains different biochemical substances with anti-fertility effects. These substances produced by the endometriotic cells or cells of the immune system include several prostaglandins with smooth muscle contracting properties, various cytokines, abnormal autoantibodies, and reactive oxygen radicals. They can prevent ovulation by inducing early LUF (luteinized unruptured follicle) Syndrome; others prevent egg capture by the fimbria of the fallopian tube, interfere with tubal function and its ability to transport gametes and embryos, interfere with hormone production by the corpus luteum, and have embryo-toxic or anti-implantation effects. The anti-fertility effect of the peritoneal environment is, however, variable and depends on the amount of the peritoneal fluid produced and the concentration of these biochemical factors. Consequently, infertility in women with endometriosis is relative. That is to say endometriosis can cause infertility.