Unfortunately, women's health is very, veryfragile – women have to deal with a variety of diseases of the genital area, both minor and quite serious. One of such serious diseases is adenomyosis. This disease is a very real and serious danger not only to the reproductive system, but also to the health of a woman in general. What kind of disease is this – adenomyosis of the uterus, the treatment of which is so necessary? The name of the disease itself is made up of two parts – “adeno” indicates that some glands are involved in the pathological process, and “miosis” indicates that these same glands are involved in some inflammatory process. Simply put, adenomyosis is an inflammatory process that somehow depends on the activity of the glands of the genital organs. Doctors believe that adenomyosis is nothing more than one of the varieties of endometriosis, but it involves the muscular layer of the uterus in the pathological process. It is because of this that adenomyosis has another simplified name – genital internal endometriosis. What is the disease itself? An inflammatory process develops in the tissues of the uterine mucosa - the endometrium, the tissues themselves begin to grow far beyond the inner layer, localizing in the uterine muscle layer. Naturally, such pathological processes cannot but ultimately lead to a disruption in the full functioning of the reproductive system. Disruption of the hormonal system and, as a consequence, disruption of the stability of the hormonal background, appears almost immediately after the onset of the disease. And as it develops, it progresses intensively. In addition, a woman's immune system is greatly weakened - in addition to the main disease, various other concomitant diseases join. And strong allergic reactions are not long in coming - the affected areas of the uterus can swell very strongly. According to the observations of gynecologists, as well as according to medical statistics, most often this disease affects women who have reached 35 - 40 years of age. What exactly provokes the development of the disease in this age category, doctors have not been able to establish exactly, but doctors assume that there is a certain direct relationship with the general condition of the woman's body. After all, the younger the body, the stronger it is - and therefore, the immune system and all the others are able to fight back and fight independently against various kinds of negative impacts, than at an older age. And as a woman ages, a number of age-related changes inevitably begin to occur in her body, which lead to the fact that the body's resistance is significantly reduced. And if a woman is careless about her health, she may develop a variety of diseases, including adenomyosis.
Symptoms of adenomyosis
Despite the fact that this disease isserious enough, it can proceed for quite a long time absolutely asymptomatically, but, nevertheless, progressing. However, sooner or later, the disease will still make itself known. Adenomyosis of the uterus has the following symptoms:
The most common signs are described above.of this disease, but they do not always manifest themselves all at once and simultaneously, or equally intensely. Sometimes the disease can occur with only one or two signs, and sometimes - with all at once, and even expressed in a very bright form. Everything depends on several external factors, for example, on the individual characteristics of the body, the state of the immune system, the degree of development of the disease.
Diagnosis of the disease
Adenomyosis is often characterized by its symptomsis similar to some other gynecological diseases. And therefore it is necessary to accurately diagnose it in order to prescribe the necessary treatment. For this, there are a number of ways to diagnose adenomyosis - a comprehensive examination of the sick woman:
- Visual examination of the female genital area, using gynecological mirrors. This method of research will allow to assess the appearance of the cervix, the state of the mucous membranes.
- Manual two-handed study of the sexual organs of a woman. It, in turn, allows you to objectively assess the condition, shape and size of the uterus, identify abnormalities and the degree of deformation.
- Colposcopy. With this diagnostic study, the state of the cervix is studied by a special device that magnifies the image approximately 40 times, and gives the doctor the most complete picture of what is happening.
- Smears. The study of gynecological smears is also very important - you can find out if a woman has any infections that aggravate the course of the disease.
- A general study of vital organs andsystems of the woman's body: respiratory organs, digestion, urinary system, and especially the immune system. Consultation of an immunologist with adenomyosis is a necessary part of the diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
In no case should you ignore the visitvarious specialists - including an allergist and immunologist. This is simply vitally important for the gynecologist to be able to correctly select medications for the treatment of adenomyosis. For example, gastric and duodenal ulcers, cardiovascular diseases exclude the possibility of using a number of pharmacological drugs. And if the doctor and the patient do not know about the presence of certain diseases, the treatment of adenomyosis can lead to the most dire consequences - an exacerbation of other diseases and the development of certain complications. And having detailed information about the health of the sick woman, the doctor will be able to select exactly the treatment regimen that will help the woman get rid of the disease, and will not bring any negative side effects. In addition to all this, for diagnosis, the woman will definitely undergo an ultrasound examination of the pelvic organs, to get a more detailed idea of the overall clinical picture of what is happening. This study is becoming increasingly popular and widespread. And this is not without reason - no particularly serious preparation is required to conduct an ultrasound examination, it is absolutely painless and gives an almost complete picture. In some, especially severe cases, a woman may be shown hysteroscopy and laparoscopy to diagnose adenomyosis. Of course, these procedures almost always scare a woman very much, but you should not rush and refuse it. Sometimes these research methods can allow you to establish a complete picture of the disease. In the same case, if the conservative treatment method turned out to be insufficiently effective, and doctors decided on the need for surgical intervention, the woman will have to undergo a number of additional studies, which include:
- A broad blood test - a general and biochemical blood test, an analysis for the level of sugar in the blood, the determination of the blood group and the Rh factor.
- Urine test.
- Secondary fence and examination of gynecological smears.
- X-ray examination of chest organs.
As a rule, in almost all cases, doctorsrequire that a woman undergo all these examinations in a strictly mandatory manner. Otherwise, the surgical intervention may result in some complications.
Treatment of uterine adenomyosis
So, it goes without saying that in that case,If a woman has adenomyosis, treatment should be started as soon as possible. Otherwise, the disease will actively progress, and the advanced form is much more difficult to treat than at the very beginning. Today, gynecologists prefer both the therapeutic method and surgical intervention. Both methods of treating adenomyosis will be discussed below. The therapeutic method of treatment implies drug and physiotherapeutic forms of influence on the female body. First of all, pharmacological drugs should stabilize and normalize the woman's immune system. And this is a very important stage of treatment - a healthy immune system will immediately begin to fight the disease. The second stage of treatment is the normalization and stabilization of the hormonal background of the body. For this, there are a number of special pharmacological drugs that contain certain doses of a particular hormone. The doctor selects these drugs strictly individually in each specific case, based on the results of a blood test. Such a treatment regimen is very often very effective - pain disappears, the menstrual cycle is normalized and restored after 5 - 6 weeks. In about two months, the woman regains the ability to conceive and bear a child. From this point on, doctors consider that a complete recovery has occurred. However, unfortunately, conservative therapy cannot always help get rid of adenomyosis. As a rule, in particularly advanced cases, or with constant relapses, a decision may be made on the need for surgical intervention. The purpose of the operation is to remove as many lesions as possible, as well as artificially restore the anatomical structure of the internal genital organs. The effectiveness of surgery largely depends not only on the skill and professionalism of the surgeon, but also on the degree of damage to the uterus. Therefore, once again I would like to repeat - the earlier the treatment is started, the higher the likelihood that the treatment will be effective. The recovery process after such an operation lasts no more than one week - during this entire time, the woman must be under round-the-clock medical supervision in the hospital. After the woman is discharged from the hospital, she must visit a gynecologist every week for the first three months. This measure will help to avoid the development of complications after surgery. After this, the woman should undergo preventive examinations every six months. Complete recovery occurs in cases where the woman does not experience any pain or any other symptoms of the disease. And, in addition, there should be no relapses for at least five years. We recommend reading:
