The most common form of ovarian cyst occurs during the normal menstrual cycle. When the egg is mature the sac holding an egg breaks releasing the egg and then dissolves, When the sac does not dissolve immediately and continues to grow it can become problematic and becomes what is referred to as an ovarian cyst.

Natural Treatment of Ovarian Cyst

Before embarking on any ovarian cyst natural treatment a firm diagnosis must first be obtained to determine what kind of cyst it is, either functional of abnormal. Most functional cysts arise from a hormonal imbalance of the body and herbs and nutrition can help restore the correct balance and provide a natural cure .

Abnormal cysts are due to abnormal cell growth and the immune system needs to be strengthened to that any abnormal cells are destroyed and this is best done by optimising the function of the liver.

One popular ovarian cyst natural treatment course, is the taking of natural progesterone. The body is fooled into thinking that it is pregnant and as no ovulation takes place and any ovarian cysts will not be stimulated and will most likely shrink and disappear over a two monthly cycle period. This cure is unfortunately limited to women who have functional ovarian cysts.

Castor oil packs help relieve symptoms related to ovarian cysts by the promotion of the stimulation of the liver and elimination of cyst related tissue beneath the skin. For further details on ovarian cyst natural treatment and cure regimes that are suitable click this link.

Some Other Alternative Treatment of Ovarian Cyst

Alternative remedies such as hydrotherapy applied to the abdomen also provide ovarian cyst natural treatment by promoting the re-absorption of ovarian cysts.

There are herbal remedies that have been widely used in China which are special selected to assist the body’s natural ability to deal with abnormal tissue and cellular growth which may form cysts. The herbs work in synergy to strengthen the body’s natural capability of self-cleaning functions, especially of the uterus and ovary.

Recap

To recap, if you want to embark on an ovarian cyst natural treatment program, you have to first seek medical advice to determine what kind of ovarian cyst you have. Functional ovarian cysts are most amenable to natural cures. The natural cures major around restoring hormone balance as well as supporting the body in the natural elimination of functional ovarian cysts. Abnormal ovarian cysts, on the other hand may require more evasive medical treatment.

You no longer have to dread the start or end of a period cyle ever again and have to deal with possible pain associated with the occurrence of an advanced ovarian cyst. Simply click on this link and embark on an ovarian cyst natural treatment program and start living a full normal life again, totally pain free.

Treatment for cysts depends on the size of the cyst and symptoms. For small, asymptomatic cysts, the wait and see approach with regular check-ups will most likely be recommended.

Pain caused by ovarian cysts may be treated with:

* pain relievers, including acetaminophen (Tylenol), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), or narcotic pain medicine (by prescription) may help reduce pelvic pain.  NSAIDs usually work best when taken at the first signs of the pain.

* a warm bath, or heating pad, or hot water bottle applied to the lower abdomen near the ovaries can relax tense muscles and relieve cramping, lessen discomfort, and stimulate circulation and healing in the ovaries.[28] Bags of ice covered with towels can be used alternately as cold treatments to increase local circulation.

* chamomile herbal tea (Matricaria recutita) can reduce ovarian cyst pain and soothe tense muscles.

* urinating as soon as the urge presents itself.

* avoiding constipation, which does not cause ovarian cysts but may further increase pelvic discomfort.

* in diet, eliminating caffeine and alcohol, reducing sugars, increasing foods rich in vitamin A and carotenoids (e.g., carrots, tomatoes, and salad greens) and B vitamins (e.g., whole grains).

* combined methods of hormonal contraception such as the combined oral contraceptive pill — the hormones in the pills may regulate the menstrual cycle, prevent the formation of follicles that can turn into cysts, and possibly shrink an existing cyst. (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1999c; Mayo Clinic, 2002e)

Also, limiting strenuous activity may reduce the risk of cyst rupture or torsion.

Cysts that persist beyond two or three menstrual cycles, or occur in post-menopausal women, may indicate more serious disease and should be investigated through ultrasonography and laparoscopy, especially in cases where family members have had ovarian cancer. Such cysts may require surgical biopsy. Additionally, a blood test may be taken before surgery to check for elevated CA-125, a tumor marker, which is often found in increased levels in ovarian cancer, although it can also be elevated by other conditions resulting in a large number of false positives.

For more serious cases where cysts are large and persisting, doctors may suggest surgery. Some surgeries can be performed to successfully remove the cyst(s) without hurting the ovaries, while others may require removal of one or both ovaries.

* Dull aching, or severe, sudden, and sharp pain or discomfort in the lower abdomen (one or both sides), pelvis, vagina, lower back, or thighs; pain may be constant or intermittent — this is the most common symptom
* Fullness, heaviness, pressure, swelling, or bloating in the abdomen
* Breast tenderness
* Pain during or shortly after beginning or end of menstrual period.
* Irregular periods, or abnormal uterine bleeding or spotting
* Change in frequency or ease of urination (such as inability to fully empty the bladder), or difficulty with bowel movements due to pressure on adjacent pelvic anatomy
* Weight gain
* Nausea or vomiting
* Fatigue
* Infertility
* Increased level of hair growth
* Increased facial hair or body hair
* Headaches in some cases
* Strange ribs pains, which feel muscular
* Bloating
* Occasionally, strange nodules that feel like bruises under the layer of skin
* Feeling of lumps on the lower abdomen

A dermoid cyst is a cystic teratoma that contains developmentally mature skin complete with hair follicles and sweat glands, sometimes luxuriant clumps of long hair, and often pockets of sebum, blood, fat, bone, nails, teeth, eyes, cartilage, and thyroid tissue. Because it contains mature tissue, a dermoid cyst is almost always benign. The rare malignant dermoid cyst usually develops squamous cell carcinoma in adults; in babies and children it usually develops endodermal sinus tumor.

Some authors use the term dermoid cyst as a frank synonym for teratoma, meaning any teratoma, regardless of its histology or location. Others use it to mean any mature, cystic teratoma. These uses appear to be most common in gynecology and dermatology.

Endometrioid cyst

An endometrioma, endometrioid cyst, endometrial cyst, or chocolate cyst is caused by endometriosis, and formed when a tiny patch of endometrial tissue (the mucous membrane that makes up the inner layer of the uterine wall) bleeds, sloughs off, becomes transplanted, and grows and enlarges inside the ovaries. As the blood builds up over months and years, it turns brown.

When it ruptures, the material spills over into the pelvis and onto the surface of the uterus, bladder, bowel, and the corresponding spaces between. Treatment for endometriosis can be medical or surgical. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently used first in patients with pelvic pain, particularly if the diagnosis of endometriosis has not been definitively established.

The goal of directed medical treatment is to achieve an anovulatory state. Typically, this is achieved initially using hormonal contraception. This can also be accomplished with progestational agents (i.e., medroxyprogesterone), danazol, gestrinone, or gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH), as well as other less well-known agents. These agents are generally used if oral contraceptives and NSAIDs are ineffective.

GnRH can be combined with estrogen and progestogen (add-back therapy) without loss of efficacy but with fewer hypoestrogenic symptoms. Laparoscopic surgical approaches include ablation of implants, lysis of adhesions, removal of endometriomas, uterosacral nerve ablation, and presacral neurectomy. They frequently require surgical removal.

Conservative surgery can be performed to preserve fertility in young patients. Laparoscopic surgery provides pain relief and improved fertility over diagnostic laparoscopy without surgery. Definitive surgery is a hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy.

Pathological cysts

The incidence of ovarian carcinoma (malignant cancer) is approximately 15 cases per 100,000 women per year.

Other cysts are pathological, such as those found in polycystic ovary syndrome, or those associated with tumors.

A polycystic-appearing ovary is diagnosed based on its enlarged size — usually twice normal —with small cysts present around the outside of the ovary. It can be found in “normal” women, and in women with endocrine disorders. An ultrasound is used to view the ovary in diagnosing the condition.

Polycystic-appearing ovary is different from the polycystic ovarian syndrome, which includes other symptoms in addition to the presence of ovarian cysts, and involves metabolic and cardiovascular risks linked to insulin resistance. These risks include increased glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is associated with infertility, abnormal bleeding, increased incidences of pregnancy loss, and pregnancy-related complications.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is extremely common, is thought to occur in 4-7% of women of reproductive age, and is associated with an increased risk for endometrial cancer. More tests than an ultrasound alone are required to diagnose polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Some, called functional cysts, or simple cysts, are part of the normal process of menstruation. They have nothing to do with disease, and can be treated. There are 3 types, Graafian, Luteal, and Hemorrhagic. These types of cysts occur during ovulation. If the egg is not released, the ovary can fill up with fluid. Usually these types of cysts will go away after a few period cycles.

Graafian follicle cyst

One type of simple cyst, which is the most common type of ovarian cyst, is the graafian follicle cyst, follicular cyst, or dentigerous cyst. This type can form when ovulation doesn’t occur, and a follicle doesn’t rupture or release its egg but instead grows until it becomes a cyst, or when a mature follicle involutes (collapses on itself).

It usually forms during ovulation, and can grow to about 6cm (2.3 inches) in diameter. It is thin-walled, lined by one or more layers of granulosa cell, and filled with clear fluid. Its rupture can create sharp, severe pain on the side of the ovary on which the cyst appears.

This sharp pain (sometimes called mittelschmerz) occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle, during ovulation. About a fourth of women with this type of cyst experience pain. Usually, these cysts produce no symptoms and disappear by themselves within a few months.

Ultrasound is the primary tool used to document the follicular cyst. A pelvic exam will also aid in the diagnosis if the cyst is large enough to be seen. A doctor monitors these to make sure they disappear, and looks at treatment options if they do not.

Corpus luteum cyst

Another is a corpus luteum cyst (which may rupture about the time of menstruation, and take up to three months to disappear entirely). This type of functional cyst occurs after an egg has been released from a follicle. The follicle then becomes a secretory gland that is known as the corpus luteum. The ruptured follicle begins producing large quantities of estrogen and progesterone in preparation for conception.

If a pregnancy doesn’t occur, the corpus luteum usually breaks down and disappears. It may, however, fill with fluid or blood, causing the corpus luteum to expand into a cyst, and stay on the ovary. Usually, this cyst is on only one side, and does not produce any symptoms.

It can however grow to almost 10cm (4 inches) in diameter and has the potential to bleed into itself or twist the ovary, causing pelvic or abdominal pain. If it fills with blood, the cyst may rupture, causing internal bleeding and sudden, sharp pain.

The fertility drug clomiphene citrate (Clomid, Serophene), used to induce ovulation, increases the risk of a corpus luteum cyst developing after ovulation. These cysts don’t prevent or threaten a resulting pregnancy.  Women on birth control pills usually do not form these cysts; in fact, preventing these cysts is one way the combined pill works. In contrast, the progesterone-only pill can cause increased frequency of these cysts.

Hemorrhagic cyst

A third type of functional cyst, which is common, is a Hemorrhagic cyst, which is also called a blood cyst, hematocele, and hematocyst.  It occurs when a very small blood vessel in the wall of the cyst breaks, and the blood enters the cyst. Abdominal pain on one side of the body, often the right side, may be present. The bleeding may occur quickly, and rapidly stretch the covering of the ovary, causing pain. As the blood collects within the ovary, clots form which can be seen on a sonogram.  Occasionally hemorrhagic cysts can rupture, with blood entering the abdominal cavity. No blood is seen out of the vagina. If a cyst ruptures, it is usually very painful. Hemorrhagic cysts that rupture are less common.

Most hemorrhagic cysts are self-limiting; some need surgical intervention. Even if a hemorrhagic cyst ruptures, in many cases it resolves without surgery. Patients who don’t require surgery will experience pain for 4 – 10 days after, and may require several days rest.

Studies have found that women on tetracycline antibiotics recover 25% earlier than the majority of patients, a surprising correlation found in 2004. Sometimes surgery is necessary, such as a laparoscopy (”belly-button surgery” that uses small tools inserted through one or more tiny slits in the abdomen).

Surgery is the preferred treatment and is frequently necessary for diagnosis. Studies have shown that surgery performed by a specialist in gynecologic oncology results in a higher rate of cure. Chemotherapy is used as after surgery to treat any residual disease. Chemotherapy can also be used to treat women who have a recurrence. Radiation therapy is rarely used in ovarian cancer in the United States.
Expectations (prognosis)

Ovarian cancer is disproportionately deadly for a number of reasons. First, symptoms are vague and non-specific, so women and their physicians frequently attribute them to more common conditions. By the time the cancer is diagnosed, the tumor has often spread beyond the ovaries.

Also, ovarian cancers shed malignant cells that frequently implant on the uterus, bladder, bowel, and lining of the bowel wall (omentum). These cells can begin forming new tumor growths before cancer is even suspected.

Second, because no cost-effective screening test for ovarian cancer exists, more than 50 percent of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the advanced stages of the disease.

Ovarian cancer is rarely diagnosed in its early stages; it is usually quite advanced by the time diagnosis is made. The outcome is often poor. The five-year survival rate for all stages is only 35 percent to 38 percent. If, however, diagnosis is made early in the disease, five-year survival rates can reach 90 percent to 98 percent. Germ Cell Ovarian Cancer has a much better prognosis, but is rarer.

Despite this poor prognosis, patients should keep in mind that all such studies are retrospective in nature: ie, they can only look into past results. Therefore they cannot take into account the benefits on survival that newer therapies may provide.
Complications

* spread of the cancer to other organs
* progressive function loss of various organs
* ascites (fluid in the abdomen)
* blockage of the intestines

Classification

Ovarian cancer is classified according to the histology of the tumor. Lesions differ significantly in clinical features, management, and prognosis:

* Epithelial ovarian tumors are the most common and prototypic ovarian cancers. They are thought to originate from the ovarian surface lining, including the serous cystadenocarcinoma, and the mucinous cystadenocarcinoma.
* Stromal ovarian cancer includes lesions that are hormonally active such as the estrogen-producing granulosa cell tumor and the virilizing arrhenoblastoma.
* Germ cell cancer originates from dysplastic germ material and tends to occur in young women and girls. Lesions include the dysgerminoma, a form of the choriocarcinoma, and the malignant form of the teratoma.
* Other lesions include metastasis to the ovary, for instance from breast cancer. Krukenberg cancer is ovarian cancer originating from gastrointestinal cancer.

Staging

Ovarian cancer staging is by the FIGO staging system and uses information obtained after surgery, which should include a total abdominal hysterectomy, removal of (usually) both ovaries and fallopian tubes, (usually) the omentum, and pelvic (peritoneal) washings for cytology. The AJCC stage is the same as the FIGO stage.

* Stage I – limited to one or both ovaries
o IA – involves one ovary; capsule intact; no tumor on ovarian surface; no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings
o IB – involves both ovaries; capsule intact; no tumor on ovarian surface; negative washings
o IC – tumor limited to ovaries with any of the following: capsule ruptured, tumor on ovarian surface, positive washings
* Stage II – pelvic extension or implants
o IIA – extension or implants onto uterus or fallopian tube; negative washings
o IIB – extension or implants onto other pelvic structures; negative washings
o IIC – pelvic extension or implants with positive peritoneal washings
* Stage III – microscopic peritoneal implants outside of the pelvis; or limited to the pelvis with extension to the small bowel or omen tum
o IIIA – microscopic peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis
o IIIB – macroscopic peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis less than 2cm in size
o IIIC – peritoneal metastases beyond pelvis > 2 cm or lymph node metastases
* Stage IV – distant metastases

Para-aortic lymph node metastases are considered regional lymph nodes (Stage IIIC).

* Oral contraceptives (ovarian suppression) – since these cause regular menstruation, they reduce the risk of endometrial carcinoma
* Spironolactone or finasteride (anti-androgen therapy) – reduce the excessive hair growth by blocking the effects of male hormones
* Clomiphene citrate and/or human chorionic gonadotropin or dexamethasone (inducing ovulation)

Recent research suggests that the insulin resistance and over-release of insulin may be at the root of PCOS. Many women find insulin-sensitising medications such as metformin hydrochloride (Glucophage®), pioglitazone hydrochloride (Actos®), and rosiglitazone maleate (Avandia®) helpful to them, and indeed ovulation may resume when using these agents.

Low-carbohydrate diets and sustained regular exercise are also beneficial. As well, initial research suggests that the risk of miscarriage is significantly reduced when Metformin is taken throughout pregnancy (9% as opposed to as much as 45%); however, further research needs to be done in this area.

For patients who do not respond to these and related medications/procedures, the polycystic ovaries can be treated with surgical procedures such as:

* laparoscopy electrocauterization or laser cauterization
* ovarian wedge resection (rarely done now, because it is more invasive and has a 30% risk of adhesions, sometimes very severe, which can obstruct fertility)
* ovarian drilling

* gynecologic ultrasonography
* testosterone: free more sensitive than total
* Fasting biochemical screen and lipid profile
* 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (GTT) in patients with risk factors (obesity, family history, history of gestational diabetes)
* For exclusion purpose:
o Prolactin
o TSH
o 17-OH-progesterone

The role of other tests is more controversial, including:

* fasting insulin level or GTT with insulin levels (also called IGTT)
* LH:FSH ratio
* DHEAS
* SHBG
* Androstenedione

Differential diagnosis

As well, other causes of irregular/absent menstruation and hirsutism such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Cushing’s syndrome, hyperprolactinemia and other pituitary and/or adrenal disorders, should be investigated.
Pathogenesis

PCOS develops when the ovaries are stimulated to produce excessive amounts of male hormones (androgens), particularly testosterone – either through the release of excessive luteinizing hormone (LH) by the pituitary gland, or due to high levels of insulin in the blood (hyperinsulinaemia) in women whose ovaries are sensitive to this stimulus.

This syndrome acquired its most widely-used name because a common symptom is multiple (poly) ovarian cysts. These form where egg follicles matured, but were never released from the ovary due to abnormal hormone levels. These generally take on a ’string of pearls’ appearance. The condition was first described in 1935 by Dr. Stein and Dr. Leventhal, hence its original name of Stein-Leventhal syndrome.

Although the cause of PCOS is not known, research to date suggests that it may be a genetically-linked condition, and further research into this possibility is currently taking place. No specific gene has been identified, and it is thought that there are many genes that could contribute to the development of PCOS.

A majority of patients with PCOS -some investigators may say all – have insulin resistance. Their increased insulin levels contribute to or cause the abnormalities seen in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis that lead to PCOS. Specifically hyperinsulinemia increases GnRH pulse frequency, LH over FSH dominance, increased ovarian androgen production, decreased follicular maturation, and decreased SHBG binding: all these steps leading to the development of PCOS.

Women with PCOS are at risk for the following:

* Endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial adenocarcinoma (cancer of the uterine lining) are possible, due to overaccumulation of uterine lining, and also lack of progesterone resulting in prolonged stimulation of uterine cells by estrogen
* Insulin resistance/Type II diabetes, generally thought to be caused by hyperinsulinaemia
* High blood pressure
* Dyslipidaemia (disorders of lipid metabolism – cholesterol and triglycerides)
* Cardiovascular disease

Some data suggest that women with PCOS have an increased risk of miscarriages. As well, many women with PCOS have a difficult time conceiving, due to the irregular cycles and lack of ovulation. However, it is possible for these women to have normal pregnancies with the aid of medication and diet.