Chronic pelvic pain, quality of life and sexual health of women treated with palmitoylethanolamide and α-lipoic acid.

Caruso S, Salvatore Caruso, S Caruso, M Iraci Sareri, Iraci Sareri M, E. Casella, Casella E, B Ventura, Ventura B, V Fava, Valentina Fava, A Cianci, Antonio Cianci, Cianci A
Minerva ginecologica · 2015 · vol. 67(5) , pp. 413–9 · PMID:26491823 · W2237053976
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 6 in-corpus citations
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Palmitoylethanolamide and α-lipoic acid supplementation improved pain, quality of life, and sexual function in women with endometriosis-associated pelvic pain by six months of treatment.

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Abstract

AIM: The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effects of the association between palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and α-lipoic acid (LA) on quality of life (QoL) and sexual function in women affected by endometriosis-associated pelvic pain. METHODS: Fifty-six women constituted the study group and were given PEA 300 mg and LA 300mg twice daily To define the endometriosis-associated pelvic pain, the visual analogic scale (VAS) was used. The Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS) were used to assess the QoL, the sexual function and the sexual distress, respectively. The study included three follow-ups at 3, 6 and 9 months. RESULTS: No changes were observed in pain, QoL and sexual function at the 3rd month follow-up (P=NS). By the 6th and 9th month, pain symptoms (P<0.001) and all categories of the QoL (P<0.001) improved. The FSFI and the FSDS scores did not change at the 3rd month follow-up (P=ns). On the contrary, at the 3rd and 9th months follow-ups they improved with respect to the baseline (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The progressive reduction of the pain syndrome reported by women over the treatment period could contribute to improve the QoL and sexual life of women on PEA and LA.

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Outcome instruments

VAS-pain

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Ethanolamines Palmitic Acids Pelvic Pain Thioctic Acid Adolescent Adult Amides Chronic Pain Chronic Pain Chronic Pain Drug Therapy, Combination Endometriosis Endometriosis Ethanolamines Ethanolamines Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Pain Measurement

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