6 Healthcare Innovations Innovative healthcare, alternative remedies & beauty Waiting game


To mark Endometriosis Awareness Month, we look at why it takes so long for many women to get a diagnosis and what improvements need to be made. Words: Mattie Lacey-Davidson


E


Promotional Content • Saturday 6th March 2021


ndometriosis has made headlines in recent years, with female celebrities speaking openly about


their experiences. Tey included US writer and actor Lena Dunham, who revealed to Vogue in 2018 that she’d had surgery to remove her uterus and cervix due to endometriosis. More recently, US model and entrepreneur Chrissy Teigen posted on social media about having undergone surgery to remove endometrial tissue. Te condition, which affects some


1.5 million women in the UK, arises when cells similar to the ones in the lining of the uterus are found elsewhere in the body and shed away each month, just like during a period — but with no way to escape the body. It’s a chronic, often debilitatingly


painful condition that can lead to infertility, fatigue and bowel and bladder problems. It currently takes women in the UK an average of eight years to get a diagnosis. At the end of 2020, an All-Party Parliamentary Group called on the government to take urgent action after an inquiry revealed the situation hadn’t improved in a decade, with most women visiting their GP more than 10 times in a bid to find out what was causing their symptoms. Mohamed Mabrouk, a consultant


gynaecologist at Spire Cambridge Lea and Cambridge University Hospitals, believes that more research is


It currently takes women in the UK an


average of eight years to get a diagnosis


ILLUSTRATION: GETTY


needed, but also more education. He says: “In-depth education about endometriosis across the entire medical community is a crucial way of working to reduce diagnosis times. It will equip GPs to better understand the symptoms and the process for referring patients to specialists in the field. Tere continues to be significant misunderstanding related to the pain women with endometriosis suffer. “Often women go through several


misdiagnoses, and when they do secure a diagnosis of endometriosis the information and options for treatment they’re provided with is often lacking. Women need to feel empowered to understand the impact certain treatments could have on long-term fertility, for example.” As well as more education


within the medical industry, better education surrounding menstrual health is needed in schools, as Mohamed explains: “Most women with endometriosis say their extreme period pain started in their teens, therefore we need to be working with schools across the UK to educate young girls about the signs to look out for and how to raise concerns with their parents and GP.” Change is afoot: as of last year,


schools in England were instructed to teach menstrual wellbeing to all pupils; campaigns in Scotland and Wales are calling for the same. Last month, the EU gave a €6m


(£5.2m) grant to a global research project working to improve the treatment and quality of life of women with endometriosis. FEMale uses machine learning and AI intelligence to build tools to support the medical community, enabling a swifter diagnosis.


Endometriosis – how to avoid delay in diagnosis and prevent recurrence?


Endometriosis is a common condition, affecting one in 10 women worldwide — including 1.5 million in the UK. The Oxford Women’s Clinic offers care to those suffering from the condition


affecting the ovaries (endometrioma), the fallopian tubes, the walls of the womb (adenomyosis), the tissue lining of


I the pelvis and, occasionally, the


bladder and bowels. Te symptoms of endometriosis


vary in intensity and frequency, and are often related to periods. Tey include: 1. Significantly painful, heavy periods 2. Pain on opening bowels


t’s a disorder where endometrial tissue starts to grow outside the cavity of the womb, commonly


3. Bladder pain 4. Non-cyclical pelvic pain 5. Painful sexual intercourse 6. Infertility 7. Cyclical change of bowel habits


Contrary to popular beliefs, endo- metriosis can affect any woman at reproductive age; no woman should have to simply ‘put up with the pain’; and endometriosis cannot be cured by pregnancy. If you’re suffering from painful periods, it can be helpful to keep a


‘pain diary’ to record your symp- toms on a scale of 0-10. Make sure to see your doctor if any of the afore- mentioned symptoms impact your work:life balance.


Symptoms If endometriosis is located in the upper abdominal organs such as liver, diaphragm, intestines and appendix, you may have shoulder pain and right upper abdominal pain during periods. It can also be found close to the


abdominal wall and episiotomy surgical scars (which may cause cyclical, localised tenderness); chest and thorax (which may cause cyclical chest pain and coughing up blood during periods); and close to the nerve routes of the pelvis (which may cause cyclical pain radiating to legs). Te diagnosis depends on your


symptoms. A gynaecologist can do a physical examination, tests like ultra- sounds and MRI scans and procedures like a diagnostic laparoscopy (a mini- mally invasive surgical procedure, although it may be more appropriate to try to manage your symptoms initially without surgery). Tere are many treatments for


managing multiple pelvic pain symp- toms. At a primary care level, there are various types of pain relief and hormonal treatments, depending on your circumstances and potential side effects. At a more severe stage,


you might benefit from a referral to a gynecologist or a BSGE-accredited specialist endometriosis centre. Depending on symptom severity, age


and whether you have had children or not, treatments may involve surgery, pelvic pain physiotherapy, being seen by a chronic pelvic pain (CPP) team and psychotherapy.


bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/4/e018924 oxfordwomensclinic.co.uk topdoctors.co.uk/doctor/kirana-arambage iwantgreatcare.org/doctors/mr-kirana-arambage


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48