If you’ve been diagnosed with endometriosis, the big question is: What type of lesions?

In this episode, Lara challenges long-held assumptions to explore:

• the three types of endometriosis lesions,
• emerging evidence that superficial lesions may not explain pain or other symptoms,
• alternative explanations for pelvic pain and infertility, including pelvic congestion, immune dysfunction, and gut microbiome imbalance, and
• an update on the bacterial contamination hypothesis.

Links:

• Could pelvic congestion syndrome explain your pelvic pain?
• Prevalence of endometriosis in asymptomatic women (1991 study)
• Surgical removal of superficial peritoneal endometriosis for managing women with chronic pelvic pain: time for a rethink? (2019 BJOG article)
• Bacterial contamination hypothesis (2018 paper)
• Fusobacterium infection facilitates the development of endometriosis (2023 paper)
• ANZCA 2024 Statement on pelvic pain and endometriosis

Is your low blood sugar a symptom of insulin resistance or mild dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system?

In this episode, Lara returns to the topic of hypoglycemia to discuss:

• the difference between insulin resistance and dysautonomia,
• why unstable blood sugar does not automatically mean insulin resistance, and
• her concerns about continuous glucose monitoring.

Links:

• Dr Andrew Maxwell's presentation about dysautonomia, hypermobility, and mast cell activation.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar include light-headedness, headaches, and anxiety. Hypoglycemia can even feel like panic attacks.

In this episode, Lara discusses:

• why young women are more prone to hypoglycemia,
• the importance of the autonomic nervous system and a "blunted glucagon response," and
• what you can do to feel better.

Links:

• Prevalence of self-reported symptoms attributed to hypoglycaemia within a general female population of the UK
• Hypoglycemic symptoms in the absence of diabetes: Pilot evidence of clinical hypoglycemia in young women