Endometriosis affects around 70,000 Puerto Rican women.
Dr. Idhaliz Flores, patient and main researcher of endometriosis. Photo: Medicine and Public Health Magazine
The endometriosis is a disease in which, on the outside of the uterusa tissue similar to the mucosa grows inside the uteruscausing inflammation and the appearance of scar tissue in the pelvis and, rarely, in other parts of the body.
In an exclusive interview for the Journal of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Idhaliz Flores, patient and principal investigator of the endometriosisreveals what is needed to understand the endometriosis and stop normalizing it.
According to Dr. Flores, the prevalence in Puerto Rico is 1 in 20 women of reproductive age, data that contrasts with data worldwide where 1 in 10 women suffer from this disease.
Symptoms
Dr. Flores explains that the most common symptoms and that can generate alert of possible endometriosis They are: dysmenorrhea (pain with the menstrual period in the first two days), chronic pelvic pain, pain with sexual intercourse and infertility or difficulty in having children.
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“The difficulty of staying pregnantwe see it in 30 or 50% in patients with endometriosis. Important to clarify what to have endometriosis it does not mean that 100% of the time we are going to have infertility” revealed Dr. Flores.
Risk factor’s
Some studies indicate that white, Caucasian or European women have a higher prevalence of suffering from endometriosis.
Dr. Flores explains that those women who have a genetic history in their family are more likely to have endometriosis since it affects specific genes of
“We did a genetic study in Puerto Rico, where we found an association of the endometriosis on chromosome 10 and on chromosome 19,” said Dr. Flores.
In turn, Dr. Flores clarifies that what is happening is not well known and that it generates the endometriosisemphasizing that there is a lot of research that still needs to be done.
Influence of treatment on the life of women
As explained by Dr. Flores, treatment with hormones used to treat and control the pain caused by the disease greatly influence a woman’s chances of being pregnantbecause they reduce estrogen levels and prevent ovulation.
These treatments often create a dilemma where “the patient often has to make a decision. What is more important to me at this time: quality of life, managing pain and being able to function, being able to work, being able to have healthy relationships or I want to be a mom?
Investigation in Puerto Rico
As the main investigator of this disease, Dr. Flores comments that as a result of the investigations carried out on the island, it has been possible to determine: the genetic factors, high inflammatory molecules, high antibodies that at some point might become a treatment and the model rat that would result in a new drug tied to what is the stress response.
Dr. Flores highlights the need to educate at all levels, including women at any stage of their lives, the medical class from pediatricians, emergency physicians and primary care physicians, in order “to be able to recognize the symptoms, make an early diagnosis and treat punctual”, concluded the specialist.
