ENDOMETRIOSIS: A LEADING CAUSE OF FEMALE INFERTILITY

Infertility varies across the regions of the world and it has been estimated to affect 8 to 12% couples worldwide. It tends to be the highest in countries with high fertility rates. The WHO has estimated the overall prevalence of primary infertility in India to be between 3.9 and 16.8%. Endometriosis, a cause of female infertility, is a condition in which endometrial tissue, the tissue that lines the inside of the uterus, grows outside the uterus and attaches to other organs in the abdominal cavity such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. Endometriosis is a progressive disease that tends to get worse over time and can reoccur after treatment. Symptoms include painful menstrual periods, abnormal menstrual bleeding and pain during or after sexual intercourse. Endometriosis causes infertility in different ways. If the endometriosis damages the tubes and the ovaries then this will significantly reduce the woman’s ability to conceive. This will significantly alter the movement of the egg and sperm. There is no single cause of infertility in endometriosis but rather several factors that decrease the chances for conception. In advanced endometriosis (Stage III-IV), endometriomas (chocolate cysts) or pelvic adhesions interfere mechanically with ovulation and ovum/embryo transport. In early endometriosis (Stage I-II), the mechanism of infertility is less clear and more complex. Vandhyatva has been described by the Acharyas in a very wide sense including nidana and chikitsa. In curative aspect, so many treatments have been mentioned, but in which type of infertility or on which factor like Ritu, Kshetra, Ambu, Beeja, it will act, is not clearly mentioned. Now-a-days, it is the need of time to evaluate all the things separately. The anatomical description in Ayurvedic literature is different from modern medical science. The manner in which bodily organs are defined is based more upon the principles than the structures.