GnRH-a Therapy: An Effectual Endometriosis Treatment – Part I

GnRH-a , also known as the booster of the Gonadotrophin releasing hormone, is a therapy extensively employed to stunt endometriosis that are embedded in the uterus, that immensely aids in alleviating associated pain. GnRH-a treatment is widely followed as a next line of treatment subsequent to unproductive outcome of many months of birth-control pill treatment.

GnRH-a therapy is occasionally engaged prior to surgical intervention to assist in easier elimination of endometrial engrafts and also aids in decreasing the scar tissue formation caused due to surgery. Though, GnRH-a therapy is not employed for treatment of sterility, it could be employed prior to in-vitro fertilization or IVF.

Quite similar to other hormone treatments and surgery done for treating endometriosis, GnRH-a treatment doesn’t cure it. Though, nearly 90% of ladies cited complete or partial respite subsequent to six months of undergoing GnRH-a treatment with significant reduction of the endometrial engrafts.

Various researches undertaken on women with chronic endometriosis have uncovered that six months of Gn-RH-a therapy prior to IVF or in-vitro fertilization enhanced the probability of a successful and optimal pregnancy. If Gn-RH-a treatment was undertaken as a post-operative procedure, it was known to extend the span of pain reprieve by averting the recurrence or re-growth of new endometriosis engrafts.

The medicines used in the treatment include:

• The once a month, intramuscular injection of leuprolide acetate or Lupron Depot for a period of three months.
• The Nafarelin acetate or Synarel nasal spray taken two times a day.
• The 3.6mg strength Goserelin tablets inserted subcutaneously beneath the abdominal skin once during a 28 days interval that eventually gets taken up by the body.

GnRH-a treatment lowers the estrogen production to an extent found in menopausal women, thus leading to halting of menses or periods and impedes the proliferation and decreases the amount of endometrial engrafts. The comprehensive time span of the GnRH-a therapy lasts between three to six months. Subsequent to the treatment, some women found temporary respite enduring for number of months while for some other women the reprieve from endometriosis was long-term.

The chances of reappearance of endometriosis pain are as likely in GnRH-a therapy as it would be with several other hormone therapy treatments. Annually, close to 20% of those entire women who underwent treatment would experience a re-emergence of the pain following hormone treatment. Following a hormone therapy, nearly 37% women with mild endometriosis pain and close to 74% women with severe endometriosis pain would have a recurrence of the pain after five years.

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