Endometriosis
What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that lines your uterus grows outside your uterus. The tissue thickens, breaks down, and bleeds, similar to tissue during periods, but the blood has no way to leave the body and becomes trapped.
What are the symptoms?
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Severe pain in the pelvic region, lower stomach and lower back
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Pain can be constant, and may be worse during sexual intercourse, bowel movements and/or urination
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Abdominal bloating
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Nausea
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Fatigue
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Depression and anxiety
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Infertility
How is it diagnosed?
Endometriosis can be difficult to diagnose, so in most cases, diagnosis is based on symptoms. Endometriosis tissue is usually too small to show up on ultrasounds, so the only way to confirm it is through a laparoscopy – a simple operation that involves inserting a tiny camera through a small incision in the abdomen or pelvis.
How is it treated?
There is no cure for Endometriosis, but there are several ways to manage it. Treatment depends on each woman's situation.
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Pain medication is commonly used, and many women find heat to the area helpful too.
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Hormone therapy, which can be as simple as taking the contraceptive pill, can help reduce masses. However, after stopping treatment, the tissue may return again.
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Surgery to remove the cysts has helped with both pain and infertility in women.
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Women can also undergo surgery to remove the uterus (a hysterectomy) and ovaries. This surgery is becoming less popular, as it causes menopause and permanent infertility, and it has been found that some patients are still left with pain. Focusing on removing only the endometrial tissue is more effective.
Data, statistics, and research
A 2020 national survey found that Endometriosis affects 10% of women and girls at the reproductive age. The report also found that diagnostic delay was, on average, 8.6 years, 75.2% of patients reported being misdiagnosed with another physical health (95.1%) and/or mental health problem (49.5%), and most frequently by gynecologists (53.2%) followed by general practitioners (34.4%).
The missed disease? Endometriosis as an example of ‘undone science’
Nicky Hudson, Reprod Biomed Soc Online. 2022 Mar; 14: 20–27.
Published online 2021 Aug 13. doi: 10.1016/j.rbms.2021.07.003
This 2022 study investigates Endometriosis as a chronically ‘missed disease’ due to its unclear etiology and inconsistencies in its diagnosis and management. This paper suggests that the association of endometriosis with historically specific constructions of menstruation and women’s pain has informed contemporary imaginaries around the condition, including ideas about women being somehow accountable for their own illnesses. Applying an ignorance lens demonstrates how the legacy of invisibility of endometriosis shapes its place in the present political and social arena, and is reflective of a process of undone science. The paper concludes by arguing that the social and political significance of endometriosis as a chronic, life-limiting condition which affects millions of women globally continues to need attention, illumination and critique.
