5 Lesser Known Facts about Endometriosis

This Women's Week special turns the spotlight back on the patient

Women’s day just whooshed by, and most of the world seems to have forgotten about it even before you could finish redeeming all these women’s day coupon codes. So this week, we thought it would be a good idea to make a quick list of 5 lesser known facts about endometriosis.

Why? You may ask. Because empathy is a powerful innovation tool. That’s how archimedes gave his principle and Einstein explained relativity to journalists, by empathising. Empathy is what led to the first IVF baby, and the cure to bedside fever. The more you know what your patients feel like, the more are your chances of coming up with the next pathbreaking innovation.

Let’s begin.

Fact 1: 10% of all women have endometriosis, but it gets worse

Not only is the world wide occurrence of endometriosis a staggering 10%, it jumps to 70% in women who suffer from chronic pelvic pain. Often women complaining about pelvic pain are expected to rough it up, take a pill, and get on with their day because that’s what being a woman is all about. But this collective social ignorance of their health is bearing a cost on their lives and demands the cognisance of not just their families but also the doctors who treat them. Source

Fact 2: 6 to 67% no one has a grip on recurrence

Source: endometriosis.net

Honestly speaking no one in the scientific or medical community seems to have figured out what the recurrence rate might be. It ranges so broadly that the determination is insignificant. Even when you filter subjects by symptoms like dysperunia, dysmenorrhea, or chronic pelvic pain, it isn’t easy to tell because the treatments they go through and nature of surgery varies greatly from one doctor to the next. Source

Fact 3: Ovarian Cancer: Free with your package of Endometriosis

Source: Wikipedia

Endometriosis Increases the Risk of Ovarian Cancer by Approximately 30% which is incredible considering the chances of ovarian cancer in a broad population is drastically lower. Combine that with the other dilapidating effects of the disease, a patient can end up spending months in the hospital if not treated properly.

Ovarian cancer further leads to tremendous morbidity, the kind that can only be described as life altering. A 30% incremental chance of such a disease could definitely push both patients and doctors for an early diagnosis. Source

Fact 4: 7 Years, and 7 Doctors, whichever comes later

It takes a woman nearly 7 years and about 7 different doctors before they are conclusively diagnosed with endometriosis. A statistic that first originated in the US, this could be a result of minimum conditions for a recorded diagnosis being laparoscopy followed by diagnosis, which continues to be the gold standard. However, with advancements in MRI and USG probes, it has become increasingly easier to map the disease, or at least the possibility of it, early on.

While the number in India might be lower than 7 years, it is reminder to keep our guard up and eyes peered. Source

Fact 5: Endometriosis = Endometriomas??

Source: Cambridge.org

Not literally but anywhere between 17 and 44% of patients with endometriosis were also found to have endometriomas or ovarian cysts. Bursting of these cysts can lead to serious complications and in cases of lack of timely treatment, can even prove to be lethal. Source

This list can go on. But what’s important to remember is that endometriosis makes the lives of people hard in ways that we might not fully understand. Not until we give them the empathy they deserve.

Here’s wishing you a good week. See you in the next one!