The Facts

Endometriosis is a complex, systematic, and often debilitating inflammatory disease that occurs when endometrium-like tissue begins to grow outside of the uterus. It afflicts 1 in 10 women of reproductive age with varying severity and a varying range of symptoms. The NCS lists it in the top 13 most excruciating diseases in the world, and as more painful than labour, but ongoing. It currently has no cure and no fixed treatment pathway, but can be managed with specialist help and surgery. It is a full body disease that is too commonly dismissed as 'just' period pain.

Aspects of endometriosis are similar to those of malignant disease; it can be both locally and distantly metastatic; attaching to other organs and tissues, invading, and damaging them. It can alter the gene expression in the brain, and cause immune and endocrine dysfunction. If not treated early, it can cause sepsis fatality due to chronic inflammation, other co-morbidities, irreversible infertility and permanent damage to organs and nerves.

Yet on average, it takes 7-10 years before proper diagnosis due to lack of recognition, serious investigation.

Compared to people without endometriosis, a study of 100,770 women provides evidence that patients with endometriosis are at a 2.131-fold higher risk of developing mental disorders, including anxiety and depression. In a study of 13,500 women, %50 disclosed suicidal thoughts as a result of the condition and their lack of support.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing that your *sisterhood throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

— Peter 5:8