Gynecologic history of women with inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Gynecologic conditions are common in women with inflammatory bowel disease, including menstrual abnormalities, vaginal discharge, infertility, and gynecologic surgery. All physicians providing care for women with inflammatory bowel disease should be familiar with the frequency and nature of concurrent gynecologic conditions.

Female gender and surgery impair relationships, body image, and sexuality in inflammatory bowel disease

“…This study differs from previously published literature 5,9,10 in that it is broadly representative of IBD patients in the region, included both male and female patients, and involved a large number (and high proportion) of invited patients. The high response rate compared to other studies on this subject may be related to the vigorous follow-up of nonresponders.…”

“…The reasons for this may lie in the increase in ''mechanical'' sexual difficulties in women with IBD secondary to dyspareunia, lubrication problems, and vaginal discharge, 9 but other issues, such as fear of incontinence, are universal to men and women. Another reason for females to report an impact of IBD on these areas at a greater rate than men is the psychosocial differences between men and women with regard to selfimage and sociological factors.…”

“…However, these previous studies were performed in very selected groups 5,9 and had low response rates, 5 making generalizability difficult. In addition, these studies did not seek the patients' perspective, but rather used objective measures of impairment 5 or sought specific categorical answers.…”

Regulation of the Estrous Cycle by Neutrophils via Opioid Peptides

“…Furthermore, it has been reported that the opioid concentration in peripheral mononuclear cells was reduced in the luteal phase in endometriosis patients compared with in controls (25), presumably because of opioid peptide release from neutrophils caused by IL-8 in peripheral blood. Our findings may also shed light on unexplained associations with ovarian dysfunctions and reduced fertility occurring mostly during the active stage of human inflammatory bowel disease (26)(27)(28), because in a rat model of severe colitis, a significant decrease in uterine neutrophils was reportedly associated with estrous cycle disturbance (26). Our findings therefore may provide a novel therapy for some forms of infertility involving normalization of the serum IL-8 level.…”

Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding in Adolescent Females Associated with Endocrine Causes and Medical Conditions

“…Weber et al examined 360 women with Crohn's disease (CD) and 251 women with ulcerative colitis (UC) who underwent surgery for their disease. 63,64 The reported menstrual abnormalities were oligomenorrhea, polymenorrhea, menorraghia, and metrorraghia. Compared with 53% of the women with UC, 60% of the women with CD reported an abnormality of the menstrual cycle.…”