What do you know about endometriosis?
This condition is a chronic inflammatory disease caused, among other things, by severe pain in the lower abdomen.
According to the charity, 10 percent of women worldwide suffer from endometriosis. Endometriosis in the UK. This represents 176 million in total.
And in the UK About 1.5 million women And those born to girl age have endometriosis, which affects one in ten women with the condition.
But why do we know so little about it? Why does it take so long to diagnose?
The tide is beginning to turn in the battle to better inform the general public about the disease. For example, a short film called “The Wait”, which features children talking about the pain of affected women, was released to raise awareness of the condition, it is part of a group of recent campaigns to draw attention to the effects of pain. condition.
The stories in the film are told by eight-year-olds, which is the number of years it takes to be diagnosed with endometriosis.
“It’s eight long years of enduring terrible pain and feeling like you haven’t been listened to,” according to the Swedish intimate products company Initimina, which released the film.
What is endometriosis?
To understand endometriosis, it is important to first know what the endometrium is. It is the mucous membrane that lines the inner wall of the uterus.
During the menstrual cycle and due to estrogen, the lining of the uterus thickens to accommodate a possible pregnancy. If there is no fertilization, the endometrium is removed and extracted through the vagina; this is known as the period.
In women with endometriosis, tissues that have the same characteristics as the endometrium develop outside the uterus in abnormal places, such as the ovaries, vagina, fallopian tubes, rectum, bladder, or intestines.
These tissues can cause lesions, nodules or abscesses in the areas where they are located, or simply severe pain.
Common symptoms can be periodic pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, or pain before and during a woman’s menstrual cycle.
“At the age of 15, I started to have terrible pain during my period, pain that got worse over the years,” described Aisha Balisaria, one of the voices heard in Intimina’s See + Heard campaign.
“It was very difficult to get up in pain and go to bed in pain and do the same thing again the next day. The pain was so severe that it locked me in my bed. At times, I felt like I couldn’t go on living with the intense pain.
It took doctors 15 years to diagnose Balesaria, one of the active voices of the See + Heard campaign, with endometriosis.
Endometriosis can affect women of any age. It is a long-term condition that can have a significant impact on their lives.
Why does it take so long to receive a diagnosis and take it seriously?
“The pain I was experiencing was dismissed as ‘bad periods.’ I felt completely helpless and hopeless, “added Balisaria.
“Waiting for someone to believe me was very difficult, and over time my symptoms got worse. Many years passed before he received the correct diagnosis. I felt there was little sympathy for my suffering during the years that I tried to get help, and the importance of my symptoms was downplayed at all times. Times are approx.
On average, it takes eight years for endometriosis to be diagnosed.
According to the expert gynecologist Doctor. Share data“The reasons behind the delay are extensive, but nevertheless, all possible measures must be taken to reduce the waiting time for people with endometriosis.”
“It can take a long time to report symptoms to your doctor, when you are unaware of your menstrual cramps after your period starts,” she added.
“It can also be uncomfortable to talk to a doctor about things like pain during sex or having trouble describing symptoms clearly.”
The doctor noted that there is also a common belief that your period is painful, so it may take longer to realize that your pain is “unusually exhausting.”
Finally, Datta noted, health professionals “can assume that periods of pain are normal, even when they are severe and need pain relief.”
Women may be referred to a urologist or gastroenterologist first because the way endometriosis appears varies from person to person and does not necessarily show symptoms.
The wait must end
Katie Beals waited nine years before discovering the diagnosis.
“Waiting for years for a diagnosis made me question my sanity,” he recalls.
“Sometimes I started to think that this was all in my head. I had so much ambition and this condition took so much from me. The pain was so severe that I couldn’t get out of bed, I was vomiting, and I couldn’t eat. It became a shell of myself. Endometriosis is alone. I changed my identity.
according to Query He directed UK All Party Parliamentary Group And endometriosis UK, the eight year statistic has not changed in over a decade.
“As a global community, we need to be more aware of endometriosis, be more empathetic with those who suffer from it, speak out and do everything possible to close the gender gap in health and break taboos and prejudices that are not only related to endometriosis, ”said Marcella Zanchi, Intimina spokesperson. Endometriosis, but for the health of the menstrual cycle in general.
There is no cure for endometriosis.
The first step, of course, is to visit a gynecologist. The common treatment options available to women with endometriosis are surgery, hormone therapy, and other types of pain relief. But the condition can come back even after surgery.
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