Endometriosis is a disorder that affects 10 percent of women of reproductive age, that is, around 190 million women worldwide suffer from this condition. Endometriosis is, in very simple terms, growth of tissue similar to the lining of the uterus outside of the uterus.
It is usually a very painful condition during menstruation and sexual intercourse and can have serious health consequences such as infertility and chronic pain. Currently, there is no treatment for this condition and, rather, doctors focus on treating the symptoms to improve the quality of life of patients, but one of the vital issues to start treatment is timely diagnosis.
Diagnosing endometriosis is not so simple
This is where we get into more trouble, since many people who present symptoms of endometriosis confuse them with the normal symptoms of the menstrual cycle, so they downplay it and do not go to any health professional. It’s important to pay attention to any unusual symptoms that may indicate that something is wrong with your uterus.
The good news is that, as in all areas of health, advances in reproductive health are advancing every day. For example, in France, a group of researchers developed a new method for the timely detection of endometriosis. This new option promises to reduce costs and time. In addition, it has a great advantage: a sample of the patients’ saliva is enough to carry out the test.
There are already kits for sale
Because of this, we can say goodbye to invasive or ineffective tests (such as ultrasounds, pelvic exams and laparoscopy) and starting a very complex treatment process can be made a little easier. According to preliminary results, it has almost perfect effectiveness.
The French biotech company Ziwig now markets kits called “Endotest” for the detection of endometriosis using this new method. At the moment, its availability is very limited, but we hope that over the months, the company will grow and more women will be able to access this technology that promises to revolutionize the diagnosis of this condition.