Endometriosis is a little-known condition that affects nearly one in ten women worldwide. This disease can be highly disabling because it causes in most cases severe pain at the time of menstruation and can be the cause of infertility problems. Few today are the effective drugs to treat this disease. It may well be that the new Orlissa, which has just been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is changing the game and enabling millions of women to have a decent daily life when they arrive their menstruation.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a condition that affects 200 million women of childbearing age around the world. It is related to the presence of tissue similar to the endometrium, which is the lining of the inner lining of the uterus, outside of the uterus.
These tissues may be present on the outer wall of the uterus, on the fallopian tubes, on the ovaries, in the bladder or colon.
These tissues present on unusual sites behave like the endometrium and they bleed but this blood can not be evacuated naturally as it is the case for the rules which causes strong pain. Endometriosis is also often accompanied by problems of infertility.
What causes endometriosis?
For specialists and health professionals, the causes of endometriosis remain unclear, if not ignored.
For Hervé Dechaud, an obstetrician gynecologist at CHU d'Angers, "several genes are probably involved in the occurrence of endometriosis, but other environmental reasons may also be involved. In this case, in animals exposed to substances such as dioxin, there is an abnormally high rate of endometriosis in females. The demonstration has not been made in humans, the doubt is allowed.
If scientists have not yet managed to explain how it is possible for endometrial cells to migrate outside the uterus, we know at least one thing. Dr. Williams from the Columbia University Medical Center says, "Lesions cause inflammation, which causes estrogen production, which causes more inflammation, and so on. "
Existing treatments
Until today, there are three main ways to treat endometriosis.
The first is hormonal therapy to induce amenorrhea, or the absence of menstruation, by keeping the estrogen level low. This treatment, which prevents bleeding, does not stop the growth and spread of the lesions.
The second treatment consists of taking anti-inflammatories.
When the last treatment is surgery. It consists of surgical removal of endometriotic lesions where they are located. Some women, to escape the suffering caused by endometriosis, go as far as to undergo a hysterectomy.
Orilissa
For Dr. Agarwal, obstetrician gynecologist at the San Diego Hospital, the release of this new treatment is "a huge step in the world of women's health."
Trials for this drug involved over 1,700 women with moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis and significantly reduced pain.
Orilissa is a medicine that falls into the category of hormonal treatments. It prevents the production of estrogen "gently" by preventing the brain from sending the ovaries the signal of estrogen production.
2 main advantages
1. Less side effects
This mode of operation that Dr. Agarwal describes as mild would have the advantage of not causing the same side effects as other hormonal drugs for endometriosis.
2. Delay or even prevent surgery
Dr. Williams explains, "The goal of hormone management is to try to delay the growth of endometrial lesions in order to relieve symptoms and prevent the need for surgery or delay surgery." .
What are the disadvantages?
A risk of loss of bone density
Because this drug causes a significant decrease in estrogen levels, its effects on the condition of patients resemble those of menopause, namely: hot flushes and decreased bone density.
To minimize the risk of osteoporosis, the FDA recommends that the drug not be taken over a period of more than two years.
To conclude, this new drug, which certainly represents a major scientific breakthrough in the field of women's health, is not however a panacea, because as soon as you stop taking it, the endometrial lesions resume growth.
In addition to their medical treatment, an anti-inflammation diet is recommended to patients, because as we have seen above, inflammation is a factor related to endometriosis and because food has the power to guard against inflammation, and heal us.
