#Endometriosis #affects #ten #women
This Thursday is World Day Against endometriosis, a hormone-dependent disease which is characterized by the abnormal presence of tissue similar to the endometrium (inner layer of the uterus Editor’s note) outside the uterine cavity. This tissue can come on the pelvic organs, notably the ovaries or even extra-pelvic like the colon or the diaphragm and mainly causes significant pain during periods and sexual intercourse.
In a number of cases, endometriosis is associated with infertility problems. It also happens that patients are asymptomatic.
It can significantly alter the quality of patients on a sexual, social, psychological and professional level.
For a long time, the disease was underdiagnosed. Today, it is better known and doctors have an arsenal of treatments to relieve their patients. Among them, surgery occupies a special place and offers convincing results, thanks to complex and increasingly sophisticated techniques.
“On average, patients wait eight years before being diagnosed. Some patients consult more than ten doctors. Doctors and patients are beginning to be more aware of this disease, which allows them to be referred more quickly to professionals who have the “habit of diagnosing this disease”, explains Professor Marie-Madeleine Dolmans, head of clinic in the gynecology and andrology department at the Saint-Luc university clinics.
A new test to detect endometriosis will soon arrive in Belgium
