Regular physical exercise seems to have protective effects against diseases that

Regular physical exercise seems to have protective effects against diseases that involve inflammatory processes since it induces an increase in the systemic levels of cytokines with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and also acts by reducing estrogen levels. exercise and the prevalence of endometriosis. The data available are inconclusive regarding the benefits of physical exercise as a risk factor for the disease and no data exist GW4064 about the potential impact of exercise around the course of the endometriosis. In addition randomized studies are necessary. Keywords: Endometriosis Physical exercise Life style Background Endometriosis is usually a benign estrogen-dependent gynecological disease that affects 10 to 15% of women of reproductive age and is characterized by the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity [1]. The most common site of endometriotic implants is the pelvic cavity especially the pelvic and ovarian peritoneum but implants can also be found in the posterior cul-de-sac rectovaginal septum intestine and bladder. Lesions in the pericardium pleura liver kidney bladder brain lower limbs and nasal cavity have also been reported [2]. Some symptoms are characteristic of endometriosis such as dysmenorrhea dyspareunia non-cyclic pelvic pain and infertility [3]. The prevalence of endometriosis ranges from 2 to 22% in reproductive aged women and may reach 40 to 60% among women with dysmenorrhea [4]. In addition about 25 to 50% of infertile women have endometriosis [5]. Evidence suggested that these symptoms of the disease result from a local inflammatory peritoneal reaction caused by the ectopic endometrial implants GW4064 [6] which undergo cyclic bleeding [7]. Oxidative stress seems to be involved in the physiopathology of endometriosis since reactive oxygen species appear to be increased in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis [8]. These changes contribute to the development and maintenance of the inflammatory process associated with endometriosis. On the other hand regular physical exercise seems to have protective effects against diseases that involve inflammatory processes since it induces an increase in the systemic levels of cytokines with anti-inflammatory properties [9]. In addition regular physical exercise is associated with a cumulative effect of reduction of menstrual circulation of ovarian activation and of the action of estrogen [10]. On this basis it is possible that this practice of physical exercise has beneficial effects on endometriosis. Thus the objective of the present review was to survey the literature for data that may support the effects of physical exercise on women with endometriosis in terms of prevalence and possible therapeutic effects of GW4064 physical exercises. This review also tried clarify if the pelvic pain caused by the disease can somehow impair the practice of physical exercise in women with endometriosis. Methods This study is usually a systematic evaluate. It was based on the survey of data available in PubMed (1985 to September 2012). The terms investigated were “endometriosis and physical exercises” “endometriosis and life style and physical exercises” and Rabbit Polyclonal to ARX. “endometriosis and risk factor”. Three reviewers analyzed the data in an impartial manner GW4064 GW4064 and only studies having at least one of the following characteristics were considered: observational or experimental analytical or descriptive studies of the association between physical exercise and endometriosis diagnosed by laparoscopy. Review and opinion studies were excluded as well as non-English manuscripts. Results The survey of the chosen terms revealed GW4064 935 articles only 6 of which were considered for review (Table?1) by satisfying the inclusion criteria established i.e. direct link between the practice of physical exercise and the prevalence of endometriosis. Six studies were fully analyzed and the results are not comparable with each other as explained in Table?1. Table 1 Data extracted from your articles selected for a more detailed analysis The first epidemiological study relating physical exercise and endometriosis was published in 1986. Cramer et al. [11] compared the characteristics of the menstrual cycle and of constitutional factors in 268 white women with main infertility due to endometriosis with laparoscopic confirmation and in a control group without laparoscopic exclusion of the disease. The study exhibited that women who exercised regularly before the beginning of the study had a significantly lower risk for endometriosis compared to women who did.