MONDAY,OCTOBER7,2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Disease difficult to detect; affects 25 percent of women
By Lindsay Hanson
lhanson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Lori Bell hadn't experienced pelvic pain nearly this powerful since enduring child labor four years ago.
But even when a doctor at Watkins Memorial Health Center prescribed in September birth control pills to alleviate the pain, it kept getting worse for Bell, a 24-year-old Pittsburgh freshman.
It was the first week of September when the painful sensation in her abdomen became impossible to ignore. Bell had no idea she had been suffering for the past few months from endometriosis, the presence of uteral lining outside the uterus. Endometriosis occurs in an estimated 25 percent of women, many of them collegeage, said Henry Buck Jr., Watkins director of gynecology.
Image courtesy of American Family Physician
He said the figure, compiled several years ago from autopsy findings of female crash victims, suggested that endometriosis went undiagnosed in many women and they might not show symptoms. He said the disease brought what patients call unbearable pain and, in some cases, resulted in infertility.
Bell said Watkins professionals
did not detect her condition when she sought their help.
Endometriosis explained
What Bell didn't know is that endometriosis is impossible to diagnose without a procedure called laparoscopy, in which the surgeon inserts a camera through the belly button to examine the uterus. The cystic-like deposits of endometriosis do not appear in CT scans or ultrasound.
"It's a very enigmatic disease," he said.
Laparoscopy is not the first line of treatment used. Doctors are hesitant to have a surgical procedure without first prescribing birth control pills, Buck said.
Buck said he prescribed birth control pills to partially inhibit the production of uteral lining. In more extreme cases, he said he prescribed Lupron, which is a drug that stops virtually all ovarian activity. The only permanent cure for the disease is extracting the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries completely, but that is only done in the most extreme cases.
In February, Bell miscarried a child, but she said she had not experienced bouts of endometriosis before the miscarriage. She said the emergency room doctor at the hospital alluded to the miscarriage as a possible cause of Bell's case of
Endometriosis is the presence of uteral lining outside the uterus. Samson's Theory of Endometriosis Pathogenesis says it occurs inexplicably when the lining sheds in a backward flow outside the fallopian tubes and forms deposits — called implants — outside the uterus. When the woman's body begins its next menstrual cycle, the living cells in the endometrial implants grow normally. At the end of the cycle, the endometriosis deposits attempt to shed themselves like normal uteral lining. Instead of functioning properly, the endometriosis deposits bleed internally and cause the woman pain.
endometriosis, but any woman who menstruates could develop endometriosis.
Buck said no concrete explanation for the disease existed, but
according to one theory about its development, it is not genetic and occurs inexplicably.
Samson's Theory of Endometriosis pathogenesis
defines endometriosis as the shedding of uteral lining in a backward flow, or a retrograde menstruation outside the fallopian tubes that forms deposits outside the uterus.
Most of the misdirected cells are dead, but the few live cells can cause problems. At the beginning of the woman's next menstrual cycle, when the body boosts estrogen flow, the remaining live cells will grow like normal uteral lining tissue, he said.
"It's kind of like planting seeds," Buck said. "If Samson's Theory is right, probably all women are going to spill a little bit out during the time of the period."
At the same time, as the woman's menstrual flow begins, the strayed lining attempts to shed itself as well. This results in internal bleeding and severe pain, Buck said.
Unlike Buck, Susan McDaneld, nurse practitioner for the family planning sexually transmitted disease program at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said she checked potential endometriosis patients for family history of the disease.
"Endometriosis sometimes does seem to be something you see in a number of family members,"she said.
McDaneld said the health department provides family planning services such as Pap tests and birth control. She said she referred potential endometriosis patients to a specialized gynecologist.
"You can't make the diagnosis by the history of the pain or by how it feels," he said.
Symptoms of endometriosis can be confused with normal menstrual cramping and pelvic inflammatory disease, a condition in the fallopian tubes and the ovaries. Buck said.
Bell said she was in so much pain that her husband urged her to seek emergency treatment at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
"They had to wheelchair me in," she said. "I couldn't hardly walk anymore."
She underwent the laparoscopy procedure. She said the pain diminished greatly after the doctor burnt away the detectable spots of endometriosis with a laser.
Edited by Matt Gehrke and Chris Wintering
But the treatment doesn't guarantee that the pain will never return, Buck said. He said that if it had occurred once, it would likely show up again.
Flanigan's fills void left by Tremors
By Louise Stauffer
lstauffer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Wednesday nights at Jack Flanigan's Bar and Grill are changing to better serve the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered population in Lawrence.
The restaurant and nightclub is now hosting "Out on Wednesdays," a dance night that replaces a similarly-themed night at Tremors Nightclub, which closed in August.
250 people attended "Out on Wednesdays" at Flanigan's, 806 W. 24th St., Wednesday, owner Dannie Thompson said.
Brian North, Overland Park senior and University Daily Kansan advertising staff member, proposed the idea of "Out on Wednesdays" to Thompson
about four weeks ago and said that Thompson was receptive to the idea.
North said he saw a market for an alternative lifestyle dance night after Tremors closed. He said he came out at Tremors and wanted to make sure others had a place where they were comfortable with their sexuality.
"I saw a way to leave a legacy for gay generations," North said. "This creates awareness, it shows people we like to have fun like everyone else."
Thompson said he was glad to give a service to the community.
Students had mixed reactions to the themed dance. Sarah Colteryahn, Stilwell senior, said Flanigan's was better than Tremors for an alternative lifestyle night.
"It's bigger and there's lots of different activities like food and tables to sit at," she said.
Ailecia Ruscin, Auburn, Ala. graduate student, said she didn't like the club because it was far from downtown.
"I don't like that you can't drink and walk home," she said.
"It says something when an owner of a stereotypically greek bar is willing to do this, it's encouraging." Richards said.
Chase Richards, McPherson junior, said he was glad to see Flanigan's take the initiative to fill the void Tremors left behind.
Teller's, 746 Massachusetts St., hosts "Family Night" every Tuesday, the only other alternative lifestyle night in Lawrence.
Edited by Christina Neff and Lauren Beatty
University loses bid to Baylor
Two weekends ago, nine members of the KU Student Senate executive committee attended the annual conference at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. All Big 12 schools except Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma universities attended the conference.
The University of Kansas lost a close vote to Baylor University to host next year's Big 12 Student Government Conference.
Representatives from each university in attendance voted for the university they thought should host the 2003 conference. Only KU and Baylor made bids, and Baylor won in a 5-4 vote.
Jonathan Ng, student body president, said he was disappointed with losing the vote to Baylor.
Ng said KU offered specialized workshops and gave a more substantive presentation than Baylor.
"I was proud with what our executive staff presented," Ng, Leawood senior, said. "I thought our ideas were better."
Mike Donnelly, one of three student government presidents at the University of Colorado, said he voted for KU and was impressed by its presentation.
"I think it was very astute of Kansas to try to improve the conference for next year," he said.
Both Donnelly and Ng said Lawrence would have been a better site for the conference because of its centralized location relative to other Big 12 schools.
"The Big 12 is a diverse conference and some of our mid-state schools should trade back and
forth." Donnelly said.
Jeremy Brown, internal vice president of Texas Tech University's student government, said delegates from his university liked both presentations but voted for Baylor.
"They seemed like they were more prepared," he said. "Baylor just seemed like they were targeting more for the conference coming together and getting business done."
Catherine Bell, executive committee chair, said KU particularly benefited from the diversity discussions at this year's conference.
"Ithinkwe got a lot more out of working and brainstorming together than working with the rest of the conference," she said.
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