Difference between revisions of "Team:MIT/Description"

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<h1 style="color:#ffffff; background-color:#F20253;; -moz-border-radius: 15px; -webkit-border-radius: 15px; padding:15px; text-align: center; font-family: Trebuchet MS">Who gets endometriosis?</h1>   
 
<h1 style="color:#ffffff; background-color:#F20253;; -moz-border-radius: 15px; -webkit-border-radius: 15px; padding:15px; text-align: center; font-family: Trebuchet MS">Who gets endometriosis?</h1>   
  
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, including well-known figures like Daisy Ridley of <i>Star Wars: Episode VIII</i> and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Endometriosis can appear when a person reaches puberty, as it is a very hormone-dependent disease. It's unknown exactly what causes endometriosis, though there are a number of theories, including retrograde menstruation, where tissue that is normally expelled during menses instead flows backwards and then cells embed in the surrounding tissue, or fetal development, which is supported by the fact that a number of infant autopsies have shown the signs of endometriosis. In the latter case, the misplaced tissue's disease characteristics would be activated by puberty, while the former may happen by chance at any point after puberty. There may also be a genetic component to endometriosis, as studies have found that girls with a close relative affected by endometriosis are 5-7X more likely to have it themselves. Although endometriosis can affect any uterus-owning person after puberty, it's often thought to be more prevalent in older women, but this may have more to do with the immense delay between the onset of symptoms and an accurate diagnosis. Affected women can wait, on average, between 7 and 10 years for an accurate diagnosis for their chronic pain.
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Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, including well-known figures like <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/09/daisy-ridley-endometriosis">Daisy Ridley of <i>Star Wars: Episode VIII</i></a> and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Endometriosis can appear when a person reaches puberty, as it is a very hormone-dependent disease. It's unknown exactly what causes endometriosis, though there are a number of theories, including retrograde menstruation, where tissue that is normally expelled during menses instead flows backwards and then cells embed in the surrounding tissue, or fetal development, which is supported by the fact that a number of infant autopsies have shown the signs of endometriosis. In the latter case, the misplaced tissue's disease characteristics would be activated by puberty, while the former may happen by chance at any point after puberty. There may also be a genetic component to endometriosis, as studies have found that girls with a close relative affected by endometriosis are 5-7X more likely to have it themselves. Although endometriosis can affect any uterus-owning person after puberty, it's often thought to be more prevalent in older women, but this may have more to do with the immense delay between the onset of symptoms and an accurate diagnosis. Affected women can wait, on average, between 7 and 10 years for an accurate diagnosis for their chronic pain.
  
 
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Revision as of 23:00, 18 October 2016

Background

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is generally characterized as the growth of tissue very similar to that of the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, growing elsewhere in the body. While it is similar in appearance, having the same glands as the correctly placed (eutopic) endometrium, the tissue behaves differently in response to hormones, as it cannot be shed at the end of the menstrual cycle. These poorly placed growths, called lesions, cause extreme pain, especially during an affected woman's period. The experience even has a name: "killer cramps." The pain may be related to the heightened inflammation around the lesions, as well as the scar tissue that the body creates to cover them. This scar tissue can have a devastating effect on the body, as it causes adhesions between abdominal organs, distorting their shape and affecting their function.
Symptoms of endometriosis include killer cramps, long periods (7+ days), heavy periods, gastrointestinal disorders, pain during sexual activities, and infertility.

In summary, endometriosis is an incredibly painful, chronic disease that too often goes untreated. For a more detailed look at endometriosis, below is a video from the Endometriosis Foundation of America



Who gets endometriosis?

Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, including well-known figures like Daisy Ridley of Star Wars: Episode VIII and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Endometriosis can appear when a person reaches puberty, as it is a very hormone-dependent disease. It's unknown exactly what causes endometriosis, though there are a number of theories, including retrograde menstruation, where tissue that is normally expelled during menses instead flows backwards and then cells embed in the surrounding tissue, or fetal development, which is supported by the fact that a number of infant autopsies have shown the signs of endometriosis. In the latter case, the misplaced tissue's disease characteristics would be activated by puberty, while the former may happen by chance at any point after puberty. There may also be a genetic component to endometriosis, as studies have found that girls with a close relative affected by endometriosis are 5-7X more likely to have it themselves. Although endometriosis can affect any uterus-owning person after puberty, it's often thought to be more prevalent in older women, but this may have more to do with the immense delay between the onset of symptoms and an accurate diagnosis. Affected women can wait, on average, between 7 and 10 years for an accurate diagnosis for their chronic pain.

How is endometriosis diagnosed and treated?

Something something generally not;;;; which is to say 7 years avg (AF), generally go down many paths before considering endo, need surgery to diagnose, and then more surgery to treat. bad all around

How can we help with synthetic biology?

Heyo what about molecular markers?
Link to those things experiments