Women’s health issues are widely covered in magazines, in blogs and on the TV today. Breast cancer and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) are heavily covered illnesses but there is one women’s health issue that very few people talk about – ARD (Adhesions Related Disorder). Adhesions is a common ailment as 93% of all people that have had pelvic or abdominal surgery have adhesions, and yet very little is actually said about it.
Women’s health professionals and doctors everywhere know about ARD and how adhesions can affect the lives of sufferers, and yet there is nowhere near enough information about it readily available.
ARD affects men and women alike and is actually the formation of abnormal scar tissue in the pelvic and abdominal region. This scar tissue then actually sticks to the internal organs and causes them to bind together, which is why sufferers are often in excruciating pain. Surgery itself is the major cause of ARD but severe infections and inflammation following surgery can also cause adhesions.
Although adhesions affect men and women, it can cause more ongoing problems in women because of the anatomical differences. As female reproductive organs are inside the body, adhesions can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis and even infertility in around 15% of cases. It can also cause intestinal and bowel obstructions as well.
In 1998 alone, 300,000 people in the US were admitted to hospital for ARD corrective surgery and this cost $2.2 billion. In many cases, the sufferers had been in considerable pain for some time before the adhesions were diagnosed. As such, it is important for women’s health that more people become aware of adhesions and what they can do to the body. The more people that know about it the better we will be equipped to deal with it.
Source:
http://www.womenshealthsolutions.co.uk/content/backgrounders/
www.womenhealth.info/
www.gynecare.co.uk/Adhesions_Pelvic_Pain_Fact_Sheet.pdf
