Doctors do not consider endometriosis an autoimmune disease. However, it may have links to autoimmune conditions. Endometriosis is a chronic, progressive condition. It affects approximately 1 in 10 women living in the United States.
Stacey Missmer, ScD, a member of SWHR's Endometriosis and Fibroids Network Member, scientific director at the Boston Center for Endometriosis, and professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Michigan State University, “women with endometriosis do have an altered immune system marked by a chronic ...
Endometriosis as an immune disease
In endometriosis, the immune system fails to recognize and target endometrial tissue growing elsewhere in the body. This failure may indicate that endometriosis is an immune disease.
Over recent decades, endometriosis has been associated with the risk of several chronic diseases, such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, asthma or allergic manifestations, and cardiovascular diseases.
The endometrium is populated by a range of immune cells, such as mast cells, Macrophages (MΦ), Neutrophils (Neu), Dendritic cells (DC), T and B cells. The presence of lymphoid aggregates in the endometrial tissue suggests that this is an active site for cell-mediated immunity.
Cortisol: A steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland with broad metabolic effects, including suppression of some facets of the immune system.
These are: the POMC hormones (ACTH, endorphin), the thyroid system hormones (TRH, TSH, T3), growth hormone (GH), prolactin, melatonin, histamine, serotonin, catecholamines, GnRH, LHRH, hCG, renin, VIP, ANG II.
The pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in endometriosis patients was 7.5%. Pooled estimates for the health impacts were 47.2% for decreased access to medical care, 49.3% increase in dysmenorrhea, 75% increase in anxiety, 59.4% increase in depression, and 68.9% increase in fatigue.
The main cause of endometriosis-related fatigue is the body's effort to eliminate diseased tissue. While the immune system attempts to combat endometriosis, cytokines, also known as inflammatory toxins, are secreted by the tissue. What patients feel to be fatigue is the result of these internal chemicals.
Infections could be a co factor causing endometriosis
Although not yet identified in the peritoneal cavity or in endometriosis lesions, it cannot be excluded that occasionally other viruses as retroviruses with a strong oncologic potential might find their way to the peritoneal cavity (Kassiotis, 2014).
Our findings suggest that a higher intake of fruits, particularly citrus fruits, is associated with a lower risk of endometriosis, and beta-cryptoxanthin in these foods may partially explain this association.
Endometriosis has significant social, public health and economic implications. It can decrease quality of life due to severe pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety and infertility. Some individuals with endometriosis experience debilitating pain that prevents them from going to work or school.
Endometriosis can damage the reproductive organs and affect fertility. For example, adhesions and endometriosis tissue can damage the uterus, making it more difficult for a fertilized egg to implant. It may also damage the ovaries, affecting egg quality and making it harder for a person to become pregnant.
Excess estrogen, genes and the immune system may all play a role in the development of this condition (14,18-21). There is evidence that endometriosis can be passed down through families (21-23). This means a person may be more likely to have it if someone in their biological family does, too.
Gynecological disorders such as endometriosis, menorrhagia, fibroids, PCOS, and adenomyosis predisposed participants to increase in post-vaccination menstrual in 1 study. 17 However, other studies found such disorders to not affect the post-vaccination menstrual cycle flow and timing.
Endometriosis is classified into one of four stages (I-minimal, II-mild, III-moderate, and IV-severe) depending on location, extent, and depth of endometriosis implants; presence and severity of adhesions; and presence and size of ovarian endometriomas (Figure 2).
Even in severe cases of endometriosis, most can be treated with laparoscopic surgery. In laparoscopic surgery, your surgeon inserts a slender viewing instrument (laparoscope) through a small incision near your navel and inserts instruments to remove endometrial tissue through another small incision.
Women account for 80–95% of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune thyroid disease and systemic sclerosis, and about 60% of arthritis and multiple sclerosis patients are women.
Also, studies have found that immune cell function are also reduced after menopause. Low estrogen levels are also associated with fewer B and T cells. However, estrogen replacement therapy may help reverse some of these effects on the immune system. One reason may be because of hormone receptors in immune cells.