Are you getting nowhere taking your gynecological health into your own hands? Are you being told to put up with your womanly menstrual pain or that you are over exaggerating your symptoms? One of the biggest gynaecological conditions out there is endometriosis, an excruciatingly painful and chronic condition that affects various systems of the whole body—not just something that gives painful periods once a month. Although some women have no symptoms at all, others will also experience bloating, gut or urinary tract issues, painful intercourse or abdominal pain. Over the years, I have seen many women who struggle with infertility, but endometriosis was never considered as part of the underlying problem. If they only knew earlier, the disease may never have progressed to the point where it would interfere with their ability to conceive.
At least one in ten women suffers from endometriosis, and the worst part is that diagnosis can take up to ten years. In Canada, it takes on average 5.3 years to diagnose. This is far too long. Imagine if a cancer patient was told to wait that long for a diagnosis. Like cancer, endometriosis is a spreadable or metastatic disease that invades tissue all over the body. Like cancer, if left untreated, it can lead to long term effects including infertility and ovarian cancer. Like cancer, the earlier the diagnosis, the better the prognosis, treatment response, and quality of life. The mindset of the medical community must change with how we validate a woman’s symptoms, diagnose and treat this disease, starting with adolescents.
If women could only be diagnosed early, imagine how much suffering could be alleviated. That suffering and psychological distress impacts the adolescent or woman, her parents, family, and marriage, as well as her ability to go to school, work, attend sports or socialize. Many of these women withdraw from activities or avoid careers, such as the trades, where they need access to a washroom at a moment’s notice. Thankfully, there are now options for early tier one diagnosis available in Canada without the need of a physician referral or resorting to surgery. The health gap of 5.3 years can now be dropped to a mere 30 minutes with high accuracy and a non-invasively.
In 2024, I found out about what I think is a gynecologists dream, the ENDOSURE tier one diagnostic test for endometriosis. As a mother to a daughter with endometriosis, and an aunt to many more women with endometriosis, I immediately saw the value of having a rapid and non-invasive test. This test simply detects an electrical signal from the gut that is a fingerprint for endometriosis. Let’s face it, no parent wants their teen daughter to be subject to an invasive intravaginal ultrasound or MRI only to be told it was negative because they do not detect early stage/superficial endometriosis in the first place. Negative imaging studies do not rule out endometriosis. In fact, 85% of women with endometriosis will have superficial disease, not the deep infiltrating type that imaging studies like MRI or ultrasound will find. What’s worse, is that a negative result leads to misdiagnosis and fuels the fire that their symptoms were all in their head. These young girls deserve validation and support. They are vilified as attention or drug seeking teens by far too many healthcare professionals. Mothers and parents unnecessarily and helplessly witness their daughters writhe in pain each month.
To make matters worse, non prescription pain medications are often inadequate in managing pain associated with endometriosis. Moreover, most teen girls find it embarrassing to talk about their period pain, heavy flow and fear of leakage, so they withdraw and often suffer in silence. If they do speak to their doctors, band aid solutions like the birth control pill are often recommended. While these artificial hormones can improve the painful symptoms each month, they do not prevent the spread or progression of this benign metastatic disease. Left on birth control for too many years, eventually these young ladies may end up struggling with infertility as a result of the endometriosis silently growing over time. They were never told that the immune system and hormonal dysfunction would cause a plethora of other issues over time.
For all those daughters, mothers, sisters, wives, and aunts out there who might be suffering from endometriosis, there is finally new hope that begins with an early diagnosis. ENDOSURE can and should be the first step of many that can help us put an end to endometriosis.
To learn more about ENDOSURE technology and where to find a clinic, visit www.endosure.com or www.endodiagnosis.com
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