The Nurse-Family Partnership pillow distribution is part of the Boppy Effect: Get One, Give One Program.

The Boppy Company donated 100 Boppy® slipcovered feeding and infant support pillows to the Lubbock Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) at the Combest Center through The Boppy Effect™: Get One, Give One program.

This Mother’s Day gift is part of a larger donation by The Boppy Company, which pledged to donate up to $250,000 worth of Boppy pillows (which retail for $39.99 each) to NFP programs throughout the U.S.

The NFP recently hosted a Mother’s Day brunch at the Combest Center for NFP moms, babies and their nurse home visitors to distribute the pillows and promote breastfeeding.

“With the support and trusted care of a nurse, Nurse-Family Partnership helps first-time moms give their babies a healthy start,” said Lisa Dillard, R.N., MSN, NFP supervisor at the Combest Center. “The Boppy Company’s generous gift to new moms will give them special support this Mother’s Day.”

For every Boppy pillow purchased at Babies“R”Us and Babiesrus.com in May, The Boppy Company will donate a Boppy pillow to NFP agencies, which will distribute them to NFP clients.

“We are proud to partner with a meaningful organization like Nurse-Family Partnership on The Boppy Effect: Get One, Give One program and provide Boppy slipcovered pillows to new moms who are in need of extra support,” said Nancy Bartley, CEO of The Boppy Company. “In honor of Mother’s Day, we are supporting moms who need it most.”

NFP is a cost-effective, evidence-based program that provides at-home education for low-income, first-time mothers through their child’s second birthday. Studies have shown that first-time mothers who receive assistance from knowledgeable health care professionals are less likely to abuse or neglect their children, resulting in fewer childhood injuries and improved school readiness.

Based on more than 35 years of proven research, NFP has produced significant outcomes including a 79 percent reduction in preterm delivery for women who smoke, 48 percent reduction in child abuse and neglect; and 56 percent reduction in emergency room visits for accidents and poisonings, among others. Since its inception, NFP has served 167,061 at-risk families and now serves close to 25,000 families in 42 states.

Merrill has been with the School of Nursing for 25 years.

The School of Nursing recently received a generous gift from The CH Foundation to establish The CH Foundation Endowed Professorship in Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Studies.

This gift will be combined with funds previously raised from various School of Nursing donors to create this permanent endowment.

The professorship will be held by Emily Merrill, Ph.D., R.N., FNP, professor and department chair for nurse practitioner and nurse midwifery studies.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to accept The CH Foundation Endowed Professorship in Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Studies,” Merrill said. “I am indebted to The CH Foundation for their support, and to the School of Nursing faculty and staff.”

In this role, Merrill will provide much-needed leadership for the enhancement of advanced practice registered nursing education and practice on the South Plains and the rest of the state.

“Dr. Merrill is an excellent choice for this esteemed endowed chair,” said School of Nursing Dean Michael L. Evans, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN. “She has done an outstanding job in her years leading our school’s nurse practitioner and nurse midwifery programs, and with this support, I am confident she will continue to help our students and faculty flourish in these emergent areas of health care.”

Merrill’s areas of expertise include graduate education for nurse practitioners, role development for advanced practice registered nurses, advisement of graduate students seeking advanced nursing education and nurse practitioner faculty development in academia. She also has clinical experience as a family nurse practitioner in primary care.

A growing body of evidence suggests a strong, high-quality primary care system is directly related to good health outcomes. Advanced practice registered nurses are registered nurses with master or doctoral degrees prepared to deliver high-quality, cost-effective primary and acute health care for adults and children in today’s overloaded health care system.

Currently 81 percent of all School of Nursing graduate students choose nurse practitioner or nurse midwifery tracks. From 1992 to 2011, 602 students graduated from the school’s advanced practice registered nursing programs. The majority of graduates remain in Texas, and a significant number continue to provide health care for Lubbock area residents.

Approximately 500 to 700 women will participate in the program each year.

TTUHSC is one of 27 institutions in the U.S. to receive a four-year $896,867 grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish the Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns program.

“CMS Strong Start grants focus on providing enhanced prenatal care to reduce preterm births, improve the health outcomes of pregnant women and newborns, and decrease the cost of medical care for infants born to mothers in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),” said Yondell Masten, Ph.D., WHNP-BC, RNC-OB, The Florence Thelma Hall Endowed Chair for Nursing Excellence in Women’s Health, professor and associate dean of outcomes management and evaluation in the School of Nursing, and the principal investigator and director for the Strong Start grant.

Strong Start is a collaborative interprofessional intervention provided to approximately 500 to 700 participants a year by the School of Nursing’s Larry Combest Community Health & Wellness Center and the School of Medicine’s family medicine and OB-GYN departments.

The Lubbock initiative will test two evidence-based maternity care service approaches – CenteringPregnancy for Combest Center patients, and a Maternity Care Home with certified community health workers for qualifying Medicaid and CHIP mothers receiving care at New Dimensions. These approaches are designed to enhance prenatal and maternity care delivery and address the medical, behavioral and psychosocial factors that may be present during pregnancy and contribute to preterm-related poor birth outcomes.

CenteringPregnancy is a unique model of group care that integrates health assessment, education and support into a unified program within a group setting, according to the Centering Healthcare website. Eight to 12 women with similar gestational ages meet to learn care skills, participate in facilitated discussions and develop a support network. Each group meets for 10 sessions throughout pregnancy and early postpartum. A practitioner, within the group space, completes standard physical health assessments.

Maternity Care Homes provide enhanced prenatal care including psychosocial support, education and health promotion in addition to traditional prenatal care, according to the CMS website. Services provided will expand access to care, improve care coordination and provide a broader array of health services.

Additionally, care coordination, birth plan development and assistance with Texas Women, Infants and Children enrollment will be provided by community health workers for Maternity Care Home participants and by a CenteringPregnancy certified registered nurse at the Combest Center.

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White will lead her first National Advisory Board meeting April 11.

The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH) has named Lee Ann White as chairwoman of its National Advisory Board. White, a longtime board member, succeeds outgoing chair Debbie Francis.

“Lee Ann White is a longtime friend of mine and of Texas Tech University,” said former first lady Laura W. Bush. “She will be a terrific chair of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health Advisory Board. I am grateful that she has agreed to serve as chairwoman and I look forward to working with her to improve women’s health.”

The LWBIWH National Advisory Board supports Executive Director Laura Street, as she manages the institute’s research, education and community outreach. Board members are leaders invited by Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance and President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D.

“Lee Ann White has been an active member of National Advisory Board and has a strong passion for the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health,” Hance said. “Her experience will advance our institute to a new level of excellence and build upon the success accomplished under the leadership of Debbie Francis. We thank Debbie for her dedicated service and look forward to our future progress with Chairwoman White.”

White is a senior vice president and director of public relations for PlainsCapital Corporation. She is active in the Dallas community and chaired fundraising events for groups like the Phoenix House of Dallas, Chemical Awareness Resources and Education and the Texas Tech College of Visual and Performing Arts. She also serves on the board of several organizations, including North Texas Youth Education Town, Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and Baylor Health Care Foundation.

White will lead her first board meeting on April 11 in San Angelo.

“I have enjoyed being a member of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health National Advisory Board for several years, and I look forward to the honor of serving as its chair to continue the forward momentum started by Debbie Francis,” White said.

Ordering alcohol at a bar or restaurant can be tricky, because serving sizes are often more than one standard drink.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted binge drinking in high school girls and women as an under recognized problem.

Long known as dangerous, binge drinking had predominantly been classified as problematic mostly in boys and men. Although the problem remains greater in men than women, the new CDC data shows that 20 percent of high school girls and 25 percent of college age women now report binge drinking.

This is a concern because adolescents who drink increase their risk for alcoholism later in life four fold. About 18 million Americans have an alcohol use disorder, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Although not all binge drinkers are alcoholics, the study also shows about 50 percent of all the alcohol consumed by U.S. adults is consumed during a binge drinking session.

Experts from the South Plains Alcohol and Addiction Research Center (SPAARC) agree that most people don’t actually know what binge drinking is, much less understand what constitutes a standard drink, what alcohol levels are considered unhealthy, or that men and women respond differently to alcohol.

SPAARC is a research group that uses a translational, multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to investigate the connection between the genetics of predisposition and the molecular neurobiological consequences of drug and alcohol use to the related cognition, behavior and physiology. They also focus on finding interventions for fetal alcohol syndrome disorders (FASD).

What is Binge Drinking?

The NIAAA defines high-risk binge drinking as reaching a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08, the legal driving limit in most states. For the average-sized woman or man, this usually occurs after consuming about four or five drinks, respectively, in one sitting.

Consequences of binge drinking can include impaired judgment as well as tissue damage to the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, an increased risk of certain cancers, and a weakened immune system.

The consequences of binge drinking, like liver and brain damage, are often more severe in women than in men.

SPAARC Director Peter Syapin, Ph.D., explained that for women, the consequences are often more severe.

“Even if you consider that a boy and a girl or a man and a woman drank exactly the same amount or have exactly the same blood alcohol content, the damage is worse to the brain, liver and other organs for women than it is for men,” Syapin said.

That’s because women process alcohol differently than men and it takes less for females to become intoxicated as they tend to be smaller, according to the CDC study. In addition, aside from the possibility of developing a dependency on alcohol, alcohol abuse can cause fertility issues and other reproductive problems.

“Alcohol can be damaging even when you’re not addicted,” said Susan Bergeson, Ph.D., SPAARC member. “There’s binge drinking or alcohol abuse, FASD and alcoholism.”

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

George Henderson, Ph.D., and Anna-Kate Fowler, Ph.D., FASD researchers at SPAARC, stressed that FASD is the most common preventable birth defect. FASD can cause brain damage leading to a range of developmental, cognitive and behavioral problems, which can appear any time during childhood.

Because no amount of alcohol is known to be safe for the unborn, Henderson said any woman who could possibly become pregnant should abstain from alcohol.

“The fetus can be smaller than the size of a zero on a penny, and serious damage can result even before the woman knows she is pregnant,” Henderson said.

Emerging research also suggests that men who are trying to help their partners conceive should also curb their drinking, Fowler said.

For people who are not trying to have children but would like to drink on occasion, the key may be moderation. Many studies have shown that the most healthy, long-living populations in the world tend to be social, not abstinent drinkers.

In fact, there is also direct evidence to support benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, Syapin said. For example, one standard glass of red wine a day may contribute to heart health, and low levels of alcohol consumption have shown cognitive improvements in older women.

“The caveat is that many people don’t accurately measure four or five ounces of wine or stop at a single drink,” Syapin said. “In addition, women who drink for heart health still increase their risk for breast cancer.”

Drinking Responsibly is Complicated

According to the NIAAA, one standard drink in the U.S. contains roughly 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in 12 ounces of regular beer, 4 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of liquor. Unfortunately, a standard drink varies by alcohol content and is sometimes difficult to know.

For example, although it is widely understood that one bottle or can of beer is one serving, ordering a cocktail at a restaurant or bar can be tricky. A single mixed drink made with hard liquor can contain one to three or more standard drinks.

In addition, a recent National Public Radio article highlighted a study that suggests the size and shape of a glass may encourage drinkers to overindulge. The study reports that visual cues, like the height of liquid left in a curved glass, can be deceiving.

Pacing oneself while drinking also comes down to timing, Syapin said. How fast you drink and how much you eat while drinking matters; so does a person’s body fat content and previous drinking history. The faster you drink, the higher your blood level will be, but alcohol absorption and elimination are different between individuals.

In general, drinking slowly while eating will allow your body to keep your blood alcohol concentration at a safer level than if you binge in short bouts.

Evidence has shown an association between green tea consumption and the prevention of bone loss in the elderly.

Osteoporosis is a major health issue in postmenopausal women. The National Institutes of Health awarded a $1,585,149 grant to Leslie Shen, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Medicine Department of Pathology, for her study, “Preparation for GTP Long-Term Clinical Study on Bone Health.”

The long-term goal of the study is to develop complementary and alternative medicine intervention including dietary supplements such as green tea polyphenols for bone health.

Osteoporosis, or porous bone, means bones have lost density or mass. As your bones become less dense, they become weaker, Shen said. Throughout life, a person is constantly breaking down old bone and replacing it with new bone.

“Menopause can cause damage to your bones,” Shen said. “During menopause, estrogen levels in your body drop and estrogen plays an important role in bone health. Estrogen keeps the osteoclasts in check, allowing the osteoblasts to build more bone. Unless the estrogen you lose is being replaced, your bones can become thin and brittle.”

Evidence has shown an association between green tea consumption and the prevention of bone loss in the elderly. Ingestion of green tea and green tea bioactive compounds may be beneficial in reducing bone loss of this population and decreasing the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Shen said her previous studies and pilot human study have confirmed the bone protection of green tea. This study will see if long-term green tea intake can benefit musculoskeletal health.

The goal of the preparation study is to find the optimal dose for short-term green tea intake that shows benefit in postmenopausal women with low bone mass.

“We assume that green tea at an optimal dose would favor bone formation and slow down bone resorption or destruction of the bone,” Shen said. “Then we will use this dose of green tea intake in our next long-term study to show the potential musculoskeletal benefit in the same population.”

Co-investigators for the study are Jia-Sheng Wang, Ph.D., University of Georgia, Xiao Song, Ph.D., University of Georgia. Collaborators from TTUHSC inclulde Marjorie Jenkins, M.D., Gordon Brackee, DVM, and Carol Felton, M.D. Consultants from TTUHSC include Kelly Mitchell, M.D., Dale Dunn, M.D., and Barbara Pence, Ph.D., and E. Michael Lewiecki, M.D., from the New Mexico Clinical Research and Osteoporosis Center.

Masten’s research focuses on prenatal education, adolescent pregnancy and women’s health.

The School of Nursing has named Yondell Masten, Ph.D., associate dean for outcomes management and evaluation, The Florence Thelma Hall Endowed Chair for Nursing Excellence in Women’s Health.

Longtime Texas Tech supporter Marie Hall established the chair in memory of her mother, who had a lifetime dream of becoming a nurse. This chair, previously held by Chandice Covington, Ph.D., R.N., is a catalyst for the development of women’s health programs in the School of Nursing and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH).

“Dr. Masten has had a specialization in women’s health since the beginning of her career,” said School of Nursing Dean Michael L. Evans, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN. “She is exactly what this endowed chair is all about: a nurse whose work demonstrates tireless advocacy for educating women and nursing students to make a difference in the lives of women and girls through educating individual clients and reaching out to connect with them to promote improved health.”

The Florence Thelma Hall Chair for Nursing Excellence in Women’s Health reports to the School of Nursing and works in collaboration with LWBIWH Executive Director Laura Street.

“We are honored to welcome Dr. Masten as The Florence Thelma Hall Endowed Chair for Excellence in Women’s Health,” Street said. “She not only embodies the excellence in nursing education and practice that this appointment implies but she also brings her vast experience and creativity in interdisciplinary professional initiatives and what that means to the future of medical and nursing education.”

Masten’s research focuses on prenatal education, adolescent pregnancy and women’s health. Recent projects include co-directing the Nurse-Family Partnership and the Patient Navigator Program at the Larry Combest Community Health & Wellness Center. She is currently working with the School of Medicine to establish a Centering Pregnancy faculty practice for certified advanced practice registered nurses at the Combest Center.

She has served on local, state and national women’s health boards, presented childbirth education to teens for local pregnant teens, led adolescent pregnancy panel discussions, and provided women’s health-focused continuing education. In addition, Masten has published a variety of women’s health articles and books.

Masten received her Ph.D. in engineering from Texas Tech. She also holds a Master of Science in Nursing in maternal/child nursing from the University of Texas at Austin and a post-master’s certificate as a women’s health nurse practitioner from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She is a member of several professional nursing organizations, including the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses and the National Association for Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners. In 2011, Masten received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the Chancellor’s Council.

Proceeds from the event benefit women’s health research in Lubbock.

Just as Chanel’s timeless little black dress is essential to any woman’s wardrobe, research and outreach conducted by the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health (LWBIWH) is fundamental to the well-being of women and their families.

Lubbock’s Little Black Dress, the signature LWBIWH Lubbock fundraising event, will debut at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center, 2322 Mac Davis Lane, with dresses, drinks and desserts, as well as a presentation by Neiman Marcus President and CEO Karen W. Katz titled, “Neiman Marcus: Past, Present and Future.”

Katz will be accompanied by distinguished former Red Raider James E. Skinner, executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. Skinner earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas Tech in 1974.

The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is recognized as the premier retailer of luxury and fashion merchandise in the U.S. Founded in 1907 in Dallas, the company is known for its commitment to merchandising excellence and customer service.

“Health is not only about feeling good; it’s also about looking good,” Katz said. “Fashion may change with the seasons; yet, to look good, you also have to feel good. Looking after your health is always in style.”

The LWBIWH focuses on emerging trends in gender medicine to improve women’s health, said Regional LWBIWH Director Betsy Goebel Jones, Ed.D.

More than 90 percent of national medical recommendations are based on a majority of research performed on men. For example, although aspirin is effective at preventing heart attacks in men, studies show the medication is more effective at preventing strokes in women.

“We support research and educational initiatives that will improve methods for delivering care in the coming years,” Goebel Jones said. “However, we also celebrate the past and sustain the present, building on Mrs. Bush’s legacy of support for women’s health around the world. Therefore, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to feature the past, present and future of Neiman Marcus at the Little Black Dress event — a company that has a legacy of support for women, wellness and personal development.”

Little Black Dress tickets are $75 per person and $150 per couple. To purchase tickets or for more information, call Heather Johnson at (806) 743-6000 ext. 243 or email heather.l.johnson@ttuhsc.edu.

Because differences matter, the LWBIWH improves the lives of women and girls through research supporting scientific discoveries unique to women’s health and gender differences, education advancing the knowledge of health care professionals through evidence-based resources and outreach connecting with communities for healthier lives. For more information about the LWBIWH, call (806) 356-4617.

Through the initiative, women will be given the latest information on research, procedures, wellness and prevention so they may make informed health decisions.

Texas Health Resources and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health have launched a collaboration that will leverage community involvement, education and research to empower women in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to take control of their health.

Women utilize more health care than men and make approximately 80 percent of the health care decisions for themselves and their families.

This new collaboration will not only enable women to make better health care decisions about their own health and the health of their families, but it will also enable physicians to attain special continuing medical education training in gender-specific medicine.

“We’re privileged to team up with the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health as another way to help families stay healthy,” said Douglas D. Hawthorne, FACHE, Texas Health Resources CEO. “A key to our transforming health care in North Texas for the 21st century will be identifying the needs of defined groups of people, and connecting each individual with the right service, at the right time, in the right place. Our collaboration with the Laura W. Bush Institute speaks directly to this important goal.”

The institute, headquartered in Amarillo, already has a presence in Lubbock, El Paso, Midland and San Angelo. Dallas/Fort Worth is home to 6.3 million residents, half of which are female, and is the current residence of former first lady Laura Bush and her family.

“The collaboration between Texas Health Resources and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health is a testimonial to those who care about leading the way for healthy families,” said Laura Street, LWBIWH executive director. “We are thrilled to share the message that differences matter in research, education and community outreach so that providers are able to give individualized care.”

Arlene Betancourt, M.D., will serve as the physician champion of the Texas Health Resources-LWBIWH collaboration. An internal medicine specialist based in Dallas, Betancourt has a deep interest in gender-specific aspects of practicing medicine.

“Gender differences influence the decisions that I, as a primary care physician make with my patients every day,” Betancourt said. “As a result of the collaboration between Texas Health Resources and the LWBIWH, we would like to increase physician awareness of these gender differences as well as empower every patient to make better health decisions.”

There are three main components of the collaboration:

• Community involvement: Events will be organized to educate women to be advocates for their own health by providing the latest information on research, procedures, wellness and prevention. These events will begin in May with “Advances in Medicine” seminars, which will feature leading Texas Health Resources-affiliated specialists discussing gender-specific topics based on LWBIWH research. The initial seminars will center on two topics where gender differences have a significant impact on health: vitamins and herbal supplements, and osteoporosis. Physicians at several Texas Health facilities will give presentations on these topics in cities across the metroplex – including Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and Denton. The talks are free to the public, but attendees must register in advance.
• Education: The LWBIWH is developing an online gender-specific continuing medical education course for current and future health care providers that will help them better understand how their decisions and recommendations will affect patients. Physicians who undergo this training can earn a certificate of completion from the Office of Continuing Medical Education.
• Research: Texas Health Resources and the LWBIWH will collaborate on research around female-related health issues and the impact of gender differences on health care. Visit www.TexasHealth.org/ForWomen for more information.

Endometriosis can lead to infertility or difficulty conceiving, but treatment is available.

Many family traits are great to have, but one that can run in the family needs to be treated. Endometriosis is a condition that occurs when cells from the lining of the uterus grow in other areas of the body – mainly in the pelvis. This can lead to pain during menstruation, intercourse and problems getting pregnant. Although endometriosis is typically diagnosed between ages 25 to 35, the condition probably begins about the time regular menstruation commences.

Naghma Farooqi, M.D., Texas Tech Physicians – OB-GYN, said endometriosis occurs in 6 to 10 percent of women of reproductive age; 25 to 35 percent of infertile women are diagnosed with it, and 80 percent of women with chronic pelvic pain have endometriosis.

Are You at Risk?

If you are a woman who has a mother or sister with endometriosis, then it is much more likely you will develop endometriosis than the general population.

Farooqi said the main symptoms of endometriosis are:

• Painful periods
• Pain in the lower abdomen before and during menstruation
• Cramps for a week or two before menstruation and during menstruation
• Pain during or following sexual intercourse
• Pain with bowel movements
• Pelvic or low back pain that may occur at any time during the menstrual cycle or daily

“Some women may not have any symptoms,” Farooqi said. “Some women with a large number of endometrial implants in their pelvis have no pain at all, while some women with milder disease have severe pain.”

The cause of endometriosis is unknown. One theory is that the endometrial cells shed during menstruation and travel retrograde through the fallopian tubes into the pelvis where they implant and grow. This is called retrograde menstruation. This backward menstrual flow occurs in many women, but researchers think immune systems may be different in women with endometriosis. Another proposed theory is called coelomic metaplasia where the peritoneal cells in the pelvic peritoneum, under the influence of female hormones, become endometrial cells and function as such.

Estrogen feeds endometriosis. Each month there is an estrogen surge, which causes the uterine lining to thicken to prepare for pregnancy. Then the estrogen levels drop and if there is no fertilization of the egg, the lining of the uterus sheds and a woman has her period, which causes retrograde flow to the pelvis causing new implants to form and stimulate the existing implants. These respond to estrogen and grow causing pain, scarring and disruption of tubal anatomy. The inflammatory response to these growths, via the immune system, makes this a monthly occurrence.

With Treatment, There is Hope

Farooqi said some treatments control the hormonal cycle in a woman’s body, to prevent monthly menstruation and break the circle of growing endometriosis.

“This is achieved by hormone drug therapy through birth control pills, high dose progesterone or central suppressants like GnRH agonists. This type of treatment is temporary and only successful for milder cases of endometriosis where the growths are relatively small,” Farooqi said. “In more severe cases, surgery is usually needed to cauterize the implants, remove scar tissue and the endometriomas.”

Farooqi said the definitive diagnosis of endometriosis can only be made by histopathology of lesions removed at surgery – usually laparoscopic surgery.

Endometriosis can lead to problems getting pregnant. Not all women, especially those with mild endometriosis, will have infertility. Laparoscopy to remove scarring related to the condition may help improve your chances of becoming pregnant and reduce pain.

Farooqi said it’s important to see your health care provider if you’re experiencing pain and talk about your symptoms.

“Women tend to down play the symptoms,” Farooqi said. “My message to all pelvic pain patients is that it is okay to tell your family and gynecologists. With treatment there is hope – just ask.”