November 2012 - Page 2 of 2

My Experience with Women’s Health, Endometriosis and Hormone Research

Published on November 10, 2012

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My journey into the fascinating world of hormone research officially commenced in 2007, when I joined together with group of psychology and anthropology students who decided to create the Hormones and Disease Group at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Our goal was to disseminate information about diseases and research via workshops, lectures and presentations to the UNLV community, as well as the greater Las Vegas community. We wanted to not only enlighten ourselves, but to help other students and community members who may suffer from health problems such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, diabetes and cancer (to name a few).

Hormone Research, Endometriosis and Misdiagnosis

I became further involved with hormonal research in the winter of 2008 after one of my professors from UNLV’s Anthropology Department introduced me to Dr. Chandler Marrs and the Maternal Health Lab. At the time, I was under the impression (thanks to a misdiagnosis) that I suffered from endometriosis, and with a desire to learn more about myself and other health issues specific to women, I became an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Marrs. I believed that women’s health research was severely under-funded (a position I maintain), so in my mind, Dr. Marrs and her students were a beacon of light in a confusing, dark world filled with many questions and not nearly enough answers. Personally, I assisted with human menstrual cycle research and the role hormone fluctuation plays in the lives of young women. I believe this type of research is incredibly necessary for understanding the connection between our bodies and minds.

As someone who lived approximately 6 years of her life believing she suffered from a disease she did not have, I understand the desire to self-educate as well as assist others in understanding their own bodies, pain management techniques and alternative treatments. Not only was I coping physically with pain, I had to psychologically deal with my diagnosis and what the possible implications of endometriosis are. I went through a number of gynecologists and it took many years for my diagnosis to be corrected (I had a hernia that was creating scar tissue around my uterus and intestines). The discovery of this was a shock; not only can a hernia be fixed rather easily, I had grown accustomed to the role of an endometriosis patient seeking answers for herself and others in the same situation. However, looking at this from a positive perspective, this misdiagnosis had opened me up to a realm of health I likely would have not been so interested in.

In tandem to my position with the Maternal Health Lab, I have also conducted independent, original research for diabetes and alternative medicine as a student of medical anthropology. For me, food is a large aspect of our lives that can either hurt or harm us; it can be poison or medicine. In my opinion, the link between diet and health is incontrovertible. The more this is part of the public discussion, the further we can raise awareness and help people make better lifestyle choices. Personally, I am curious about the connections that exist between our dietary choices and how they can interact with our hormonal pathways. I believe Lucine Biotechnology is a sorely needed resource for women who are tired of having unanswered concerns and questions and I look forward to contributing to the Lucine community.

My Surgery – Endometriosis

by Angela Wice

Published on November 8, 2012

3774 views

Part Two of My Story: Surgery for Endometriosis

I think before my surgery I felt I needed validation for my own mind as well as from my family that this pain was real. For some reason I knew I had Stage IV just by the symptoms I had.

As the surgery approached, I had a consult with my surgeon. I was given the rundown of what to expect and what he was going to do. He told me he would remove all of the endo scar tissue and do a presacral neurectomy (remove the nerves that send pain messages to the brain). However, he failed to mention to do a bowel prep. Because I was researching endometriosis and other disease all those years, I knew to do it anyways and thank God I did.

The surgery was 4-5 hours long, but I was told prior that it would only be 2-3 hours. So needless to say, my dad was up-in-arms and in a panic as to why it took so long. I came to find that out once I was in the recovery waiting room. I just told them to tell him that I was fine and not to let him in. It would cause me too much anxiety, as he gets too worked up.

Post Surgery Problems

While I was in the recovery room, I realized that I couldn’t pee. I was in so much pain that finally after an hour they put the catheter back in. I swear I felt like my bladder was going to explode. I was put on a Morphine IV drip, but the pain was so intense I swear I thought I was dying…literally. I wasn’t allowed to leave the hospital until my bladder emptied so I had to explain to them that my bladder never empties ever, so they let me leave the next day.

What the Surgeons Found: The Extent of my Endometriosis

The surgeon’s assistant came in after the surgery and told me that the doctor reviewed the surgery with me. I had to correct her by saying that if he had reviewed it with me, I was not coherent. I felt this was pretty odd – why would you talk to someone when they were not even awake?

She began to tell me I had stage IV Endometriosis and described to me that everything inside of me was wrapped behind my uterus and stuck to my bowels. She said they made 4 incisions due to the prior bowel surgery and they did excision for most of the surgery but used laser lysis for extensive bowel and pelvic adhesions.

The list of procedures was shocking. They did a bilateral salpingolysis, ovariolysis, right ureterolysis, restoration of the cul-de-sac, deep pelvic floor dissection of recto-vaginal septum, laparoscopic resection of colonic intestinal lesion, resection of sigmoid mesenteric endometriosis (which was benign), bilateral ovarian cystectomy, laparoscopic presacral neurectomy and intra-operative sigmoidoscopy. There was extensive scar tissue from my bowel surgery when I was 7 years old, so that took a lot of time to remove.

With all of this surgery, how was it that no one could figure out what was wrong with me for all those years? Wouldn’t it have been obvious if they had looked?

Recovery

Thanks to all my BBBC friends they told me what to bring to the hospital and what to expect for recovery. I was well prepared, however I was a single mother and it was hard for the first week as my daughter was 4 and needed a lot of attention. My mom took her for the week, so that helped out a lot. I made sure to bring mints for after the surgery when your mouth is pasty, a pillow for the ride home for the bumps on the road, lots of movies and magazines for the week as you don’t do anything but lie down for that whole time. One thing no one ever mentioned was passing a blood clot the size of a book!! I was completely freaked right out. It happened once, but never again.

Post-Surgery Hormones

I was put on Lupron right after the surgery as well, with add back therapy. It took about one week for the pain to leave my shoulder from the gas from the surgery, two weeks to go back to work and about a month or two to go back to normal. The Lupron did not sit well with me at all. I had immediate depression, joint and muscle pain, and chronic headaches. I stayed on it for three months because that is all I could tolerate from it. I went back on the Marvelon and have pretty much been on it up until recently. It took a very long time for the Lupron to get out of my system.

Back to Dating

I have been a single mother since my daughter was five weeks old and I didn’t really date. I didn’t know if it still hurt to have sex or not. Since I lost my virginity, there has always been pain with sex. It has never felt good at all and was almost like torture. In 2010, I met my future husband and we started having sexual intercourse. For the first time in my life, I had absolutely no pain whatsoever. That came to an abrupt end a month or two later, when I started to bleed during and after sex.

To be continued.

Low T – Evaluating the Risks of Testosterone Replacement

by Jaime Heidel

Published on November 6, 2012

2904 views

Low Testosterone or Low T

Men struggling with low testosterone levels may wonder if testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is right for them. Is it low T? In this article, we’ll explain the common symptoms of low T and the side effects associated with testosterone cream so you can make a more informed decision about your health.

Symptoms of Low T

Low testosterone levels can cause a wide variety of troubling symptoms in men, including:

Decreased Sex Drive – A man with low T will often feel his sex drive waning. His desire just isn’t there like it used to be.
Sexual Dysfunction – Men with declining testosterone levels will often notice a decrease in their sexual function and may experience impotence, loss of feeling, and lack of orgasm.
Increased Fatigue – Men experiencing low T often complain of fatigue not relieved by regular rest.
Loss of Initiative – Decreased testosterone levels can also lead to lack of initiative. A man who used to “get things done” now feels no real desire to get up off the couch.
Depressed Mood – Depression in men is a common sign of low testosterone levels.
Testicular Shrinkage – Testicular shrinkage is another typical sign of declining testosterone levels.
Irritability – Men with low T often find themselves less patient and more likely to snap on others than usual.
Decreased Muscle Mass – Low testosterone can also mean frustration at the gym as it gets harder and harder to build muscle mass.
“Man Boobs” – Gynecomastia or “man boobs” are another trouble symptom of decreased testosterone.

Causes of Low T

The most common cause of low T in men is aging. As a man reaches his 50^th year, his hormone levels begin to decline naturally. Other causes of low testosterone levels include obesity, medications (such as opiates), steroids, testicular injury, chronic inflammatory diseases, infection, and head trauma. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments can also cause low testosterone in men of any age.

What is Testosterone Cream?

Testosterone cream is a low-dose way to deliver small amounts of testosterone into your bloodstream. Some men prefer this method because it absorbs quickly into the skin and results are seen faster.

Health Dangers Associated with Testosterone Cream

Testosterone creams and gels have been taking the market by storm in the past couple of years as a convenient alternative to testosterone injections. Because it comes in an innocuous-looking gel packet and can be used in the privacy of a man’s home, it may look like the perfect solution. However, as with any medication, there are always side effects. Testosterone replacement should not be considered if you have ever had breast or prostate cancer. The side effects of testosterone cream include:

Acne – Rapid hormonal changes can make men in their 40s and 50s break out like teenagers.
Allergic Reaction – This could be hives, swelling, shortness of breath, wheezing, breathing difficulties, and itching.
Liver Damage – Signs of this include yellowing of the skin or eyes.
Nausea or Vomiting – Testosterone gel often causes gastrointestinal upset even though it bypasses the digestive tract.
Unexplained Hostility or Rage – A sudden increase in testosterone in the body can produce extreme mood swings. This is especially problematic for men with mental illness or addiction.
Congestive Heart Failure – Difficulty breathing, weight gain, and fluid retention are signs of congestive heart failure.
Increase Cholesterol Levels – Testosterone cream can cause your cholesterol levels to rise to dangerous levels.
Enlarged Prostate – Prostate enlargement, especially in older men, is a concern when using this type of testosterone replacement therapy.

Men using testosterone creams and gel may also notice more minor, everyday side effects such as abnormal dreams, insomnia, watery eyes, and taste changes.

Men looking to do something about their low testosterone levels should first turn to natural methods of boosting testosterone. These tried-and-true techniques have worked for men for millennia before testosterone replacement therapy was ever invented.

Before you choose any type of testosterone replacement therapy, it is important to consult your healthcare provider and understand the risks. Just because it is easy to apply and you can do it from your own home, doesn’t mean is necessarily the right option for you.

Lucine Medical Disclaimer: All material on this website is provided for your information only and may not be construed as, nor should it be a substitute for, professional medical advice. To read more about our health policy, see our Terms of Use.

Endometriosis and Neuropathy

by Chandler Marrs, PhD

Published on November 5, 2012

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Every now and again, I stumble upon research that I believe will absolutely shift a paradigm in a particular field. That happened this morning. Sprouted Innervation into Uterine Transplants Contributes to the Development of Hyperalgesia in a Rat Model of Endometriosis, published in PLOS One earlier this year, is groundbreaking. Results from this study suggest that endometriosis is a neuropathic pain disorder or in layman’s terms, a nerve disease. This finding will open entirely new directions for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis, if it is heeded.

A Rodent Model of Endometriosis

Researchers from Florida State University, transplanted small pieces of uterine or fat tissue next to the abdominal arteries of female rodents. The uterine tissue became vascularized and formed cysts, the fat did not. More importantly, the transplanted uterine tissue sprouted nerve connections (innervation), which led to vaginal hyperalgesia or increased sensitivity to pain. Over time, as the density of nerve fibers increased, researchers speculate that signals to central nervous system become hyperactive or sensitized to pain.

Interestingly, the density of nerve fiber innervation was not regulated by the size of the cyst, some large cysts located near the ovaries or peritoneum didn’t innervate at all or only minimally. Rather, nerve innervation developed according to the cyst’s proximity to densely innervated anatomical areas such as the rectovaginal septum and the uterosacral ligaments. This may explain why pain does not always correlate with the size of cysts or stage of endometrial disease. It appears that it is the degree innervation that determines the level pain.

Squelching the Pain of Endometriosis Before It Begins

If the innervation is associated with endometrial pain, it is possible that curtailing the nerve growth could eliminate, even prevent the pain, but only if this disease process is identified early enough.

In the rat model, innervation developed in phases. Within the first two weeks of the tissue implant, a cyst developed and initial sensory and sympathetic nerves sprouted. Over the next weeks, the nerve sprouts became functional and neurogenic inflammation developed. Finally, over weeks four and five, the cysts became wholly populated by functional sympathetic and sensory nerve fibers. Pain ensued. Researchers found that removing the cysts before they reached the functional stage prevented the development of neuropathic pain- the vaginal hyperalgesia.

Although it is not clear what the time course of cyst innervation would be in human women -for rats the entire estrous cycle is 4-5 days, significantly shorter than the female menstrual cycle- it is clear that efforts should be made to identify and diagnose endometriosis significantly sooner than is currently the average.

That would require investigating the causes of dysmenorrhea and not automatically attributing the pain with menstruation to normal premenstrual or menstrual cramping, as is so often the case. Currently, the average time to diagnose endometriosis is nine years. Research suggests that 90% of adolescent girls have dysmenorrhea and 25-38% of adolescent girls with chronic pelvic pain have endometriosis.

If cyst development stages could be identified in women and if endometriosis diagnosed earlier, then removing or treating cysts before fully innervated could prevent a lifetime of what we now know to be neuropathic pain.

Endometriosis, Hormones, Nerves and Neurons

Better yet, let’s determine what is causing the extra-uterine tissue growth and subsequent innervation in the first place. Though many are loathe to admit it, hormones are likely involved. In many regions of the brain hormones elicit and modulate neurogenesis. Research also demonstrates a role for hormones in spinal and peripheral nerve functioning. As results from this study suggest, hormones may also influence somatosensory nerve growth in the uterine and extra-uterine endometrial tissue. Understanding the role of hormones in the innervation of endometrial tissue could open up entirely new therapeutic options.

Hormones Matter

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