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What Do I Need to Know About Endometriosis
Featured Speaker:
He is an expert in obstetrics as well as minimally invasive gynecological surgery and urogynecology. During his tenure at the Henry Ford Hosptial, he also served as an assistant clinical professor at Wayne State University.
As a physician, Dr. Mangat believes in open communication to foster the development of strong interpersonal relationships with his patients. With his experience and skills he is committed to providing excellent and compassionate care with empathy.
Charnpal Mangat, MD
Dr. Charnpal Mangat is a board-certified and a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Upon completion of his medical school, he completed his post-graduate training in general surgery at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Punjab India. In 2009, Dr. Mangat completed his Obstetrics & Gynecology residency training at the Henery Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. After completing his residency, he accepted a position as a faculty attending physician at the Henry Ford Hospital.He is an expert in obstetrics as well as minimally invasive gynecological surgery and urogynecology. During his tenure at the Henry Ford Hosptial, he also served as an assistant clinical professor at Wayne State University.
As a physician, Dr. Mangat believes in open communication to foster the development of strong interpersonal relationships with his patients. With his experience and skills he is committed to providing excellent and compassionate care with empathy.
Transcription:
What Do I Need to Know About Endometriosis
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: Endometriosis is an often painful disorder, sometimes severe, especially during a woman's period. And fertility problems also may develop. Fortunately, effective treatments are available. So let's find out more at Dr. Charnpal Mangat, an OB GYN at Dignity Health. Dr. Mangat, thank you so much for your time. So can you explain exactly what is endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Endometriosis is when the cells of the lining of the womb are present outside of the womb in the lining of the pelvis or the belly. That's what we call endometriosis.
Host: And then at what ages are women generally affected by this?
Dr. Mangat: It affects women of reproductive age, but some post menopausal woman can also be affected if they're on hormone replacement therapy.
Host: So this can start early in a female's life then. So what are the symptoms?
Dr. Mangat: Most of the women have pain in the lower part of the belly that can occur before or during monthly periods between monthly periods, during or after sex, when urinating or having a bowel movement. Other symptoms of endometriosis can include trouble getting pregnant. Growths on the ovaries that a doctor can feel during an examination.
Host: So since this kind of covers a wide age range, what percentage of women are affected by endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Generally speaking, 10 to 12% of the reproductive age women are affected by it.
Host: Okay. And then are there certain risk factors that are associated with endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: There are multiple risk factors, which could be someone has no children. Onset of menstrual cycles at early age, late menopause, shorter menstrual cycles, heavy menstrual cycles, tall and thin woman, high consumption of trans nonsaturated fatty acids, ethnic factors like hire in Caucasian and Asian woman.
Host: So are there things that protect women from endometriosis? Are there protecting factors?
Dr. Mangat: Which are exactly opposite of the risk factors, which could be multiple childbirths later onset of periods, longer duration between periods, increased consumption of long chain Omega fatty acids.
Host: And do we know how endometriosis develops?
Dr. Mangat: Exactly. Not known, but there's a hypothesis. One is that there's a backward flow of menstrual blood during menstrual cycles. And the other hypothesis is that there's a change in the lining of the pelvis which can lead to formation of cells similar to lining of the uterus.
Host: So then how does a woman get tested to see if she has endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Exactly. There is no test which picks up endometriosis, but your doctor might suspect you have it by learning about your symptoms and doing an examination.
Host: So then how do you grade the severity of symptoms when a woman presents with signs of endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It is staged by finding a laparoscopy. We stage it from stage one to four. Stage one is when there is a minimal disease on laparoscopy, like Brown spots or dark chocolate spots. Stage two is superficial implants less than five millimeter, but there are no additions. Stage three, there are additions and implants and more than five millimeter. Stage four when it forms a variances, what we call endometrioses.
Host: So we do know that one of the side effects of endometriosis can be difficulty in getting pregnant. What should a woman do in that case?
Dr. Mangat: If a woman is having trouble getting pregnant, she should talk to her OB GYN. There are different medicines and treatments that can be offered to the woman to help her get pregnant.
Host: And do we know how this impairs fertility?
Dr. Mangat: The disease process can damage the fallopian tubes, which are not able to capture the eggs leaked from the ovaries. And it can also affect the ovaries. So they are not ovulating.
Host: Okay. And then what happens to endometriosis when women do become pregnant?
Dr. Mangat: Actually the disease process doesn't go away, but it gets suppressed.
Host: Okay. So the severity lessons, is that what you're saying?
Dr. Mangat: Yeah, the symptoms kind of subside when, so when the disease is suppressed.
Host: And then what are the treatment options for endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It can be treated in different ways depending on the age of the patient and desire for future childbearing. So your doctor can use medication to treat endometriosis, which could be pain medicine with just to control pain symptoms. But these medicines do not make the endometriosis to go away. Secondly, birth control medicines purposes to suppress ovaries. These are not ideal if someone is trying to get pregnant and there are medicines to stop monthly cycles, which are, could be hormonal like, to suppress the menstrual cycles for long time.
Host: So Dr. Mangat in severe cases, are there surgery options?
Dr. Mangat: Yes, absolutely. The surgery could be either laparoscopy or open surgery. In laparoscopy, the doctor makes a small cut in the belly and put a tube with a camera inside the belly, then can see and remove the visible endometriosis spots. And hysterectomy, if nothing else works and woman is done with the childbearing, this is an option.
Host: Okay, got it. And then lastly as we wrap up, Dr. Mangat and thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else women should know about endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It is very common disease among the reproductive age women and like we said, 10 to 12% of the women are affected and there is always a delay of seven to 12 years between the diagnosis and onset of disease process. So if any woman has those kinds of symptoms, she should talk to her doctor and those symptoms could be presented with other problems too.
Host: So it sounds like what you're saying is if a woman is experiencing the symptoms, she shouldn't delay care, she should go have them checked out.
Dr. Mangat: Yeah, depending on the age of the woman, the progression of the disease can be stopped.
Host: Okay. Very good. Dr. Mangat. This has really been informative. Thank you so much for your time today.
Dr. Mangat: Thank you.
Host: That's Dr. Charnpal Mangat and to learn more, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
What Do I Need to Know About Endometriosis
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: Endometriosis is an often painful disorder, sometimes severe, especially during a woman's period. And fertility problems also may develop. Fortunately, effective treatments are available. So let's find out more at Dr. Charnpal Mangat, an OB GYN at Dignity Health. Dr. Mangat, thank you so much for your time. So can you explain exactly what is endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Endometriosis is when the cells of the lining of the womb are present outside of the womb in the lining of the pelvis or the belly. That's what we call endometriosis.
Host: And then at what ages are women generally affected by this?
Dr. Mangat: It affects women of reproductive age, but some post menopausal woman can also be affected if they're on hormone replacement therapy.
Host: So this can start early in a female's life then. So what are the symptoms?
Dr. Mangat: Most of the women have pain in the lower part of the belly that can occur before or during monthly periods between monthly periods, during or after sex, when urinating or having a bowel movement. Other symptoms of endometriosis can include trouble getting pregnant. Growths on the ovaries that a doctor can feel during an examination.
Host: So since this kind of covers a wide age range, what percentage of women are affected by endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Generally speaking, 10 to 12% of the reproductive age women are affected by it.
Host: Okay. And then are there certain risk factors that are associated with endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: There are multiple risk factors, which could be someone has no children. Onset of menstrual cycles at early age, late menopause, shorter menstrual cycles, heavy menstrual cycles, tall and thin woman, high consumption of trans nonsaturated fatty acids, ethnic factors like hire in Caucasian and Asian woman.
Host: So are there things that protect women from endometriosis? Are there protecting factors?
Dr. Mangat: Which are exactly opposite of the risk factors, which could be multiple childbirths later onset of periods, longer duration between periods, increased consumption of long chain Omega fatty acids.
Host: And do we know how endometriosis develops?
Dr. Mangat: Exactly. Not known, but there's a hypothesis. One is that there's a backward flow of menstrual blood during menstrual cycles. And the other hypothesis is that there's a change in the lining of the pelvis which can lead to formation of cells similar to lining of the uterus.
Host: So then how does a woman get tested to see if she has endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: Exactly. There is no test which picks up endometriosis, but your doctor might suspect you have it by learning about your symptoms and doing an examination.
Host: So then how do you grade the severity of symptoms when a woman presents with signs of endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It is staged by finding a laparoscopy. We stage it from stage one to four. Stage one is when there is a minimal disease on laparoscopy, like Brown spots or dark chocolate spots. Stage two is superficial implants less than five millimeter, but there are no additions. Stage three, there are additions and implants and more than five millimeter. Stage four when it forms a variances, what we call endometrioses.
Host: So we do know that one of the side effects of endometriosis can be difficulty in getting pregnant. What should a woman do in that case?
Dr. Mangat: If a woman is having trouble getting pregnant, she should talk to her OB GYN. There are different medicines and treatments that can be offered to the woman to help her get pregnant.
Host: And do we know how this impairs fertility?
Dr. Mangat: The disease process can damage the fallopian tubes, which are not able to capture the eggs leaked from the ovaries. And it can also affect the ovaries. So they are not ovulating.
Host: Okay. And then what happens to endometriosis when women do become pregnant?
Dr. Mangat: Actually the disease process doesn't go away, but it gets suppressed.
Host: Okay. So the severity lessons, is that what you're saying?
Dr. Mangat: Yeah, the symptoms kind of subside when, so when the disease is suppressed.
Host: And then what are the treatment options for endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It can be treated in different ways depending on the age of the patient and desire for future childbearing. So your doctor can use medication to treat endometriosis, which could be pain medicine with just to control pain symptoms. But these medicines do not make the endometriosis to go away. Secondly, birth control medicines purposes to suppress ovaries. These are not ideal if someone is trying to get pregnant and there are medicines to stop monthly cycles, which are, could be hormonal like, to suppress the menstrual cycles for long time.
Host: So Dr. Mangat in severe cases, are there surgery options?
Dr. Mangat: Yes, absolutely. The surgery could be either laparoscopy or open surgery. In laparoscopy, the doctor makes a small cut in the belly and put a tube with a camera inside the belly, then can see and remove the visible endometriosis spots. And hysterectomy, if nothing else works and woman is done with the childbearing, this is an option.
Host: Okay, got it. And then lastly as we wrap up, Dr. Mangat and thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else women should know about endometriosis?
Dr. Mangat: It is very common disease among the reproductive age women and like we said, 10 to 12% of the women are affected and there is always a delay of seven to 12 years between the diagnosis and onset of disease process. So if any woman has those kinds of symptoms, she should talk to her doctor and those symptoms could be presented with other problems too.
Host: So it sounds like what you're saying is if a woman is experiencing the symptoms, she shouldn't delay care, she should go have them checked out.
Dr. Mangat: Yeah, depending on the age of the woman, the progression of the disease can be stopped.
Host: Okay. Very good. Dr. Mangat. This has really been informative. Thank you so much for your time today.
Dr. Mangat: Thank you.
Host: That's Dr. Charnpal Mangat and to learn more, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.