THE month of March is being used to raise awareness for the often debilitating condition, endometriosis. The annual worldwide march was scheduled to happen on March 19. So now would be a fitting time to shed some light on this disease.

A little history: endometriosis is essentially where the cells found along the lining of the woman’s womb end up outside the womb. Women who have it often have a combination of long-standing lower belly and back pains, severe period pains, painful sex, and difficulty getting pregnant. The disease as we know it today was first noted in the late 19th century. However, women have been experiencing symptoms similar to that of endometriosis for at least 4000 years. The sad truth for women back then is that they were often told the pain they felt was imaginary, and they were even labelled as demon possessed or hysterical. Others were subject to a variety of strange treatments or punishments depending on how you look at it. Blood draining, leeches, and hanging upside down were just a few of the few things done to women who complained of the ‘mystery illness’.

What’s it like today?

With the advancement of medical care, one would think we would be way beyond all of that, but alas many women with endometriosis still go undiagnosed and suffer for many years. The stigma attached to chronic pain has not been erased. Many women walk around with symptoms of endometriosis and believe it’s part of normal life. They learn to cope with their symptoms rather than seek treatment. The average time for diagnosis is still seven years!

The truth is no one really knows what causes endometriosis. Many theories exist, the most popular one being that in those women, they have times when their periods go backways. So instead of all of it coming down through the vagina, some of it ends up back inside the belly. These cells land on the ovaries, tubes, and the inside walls of your belly, causing scarring and damage to these areas. Another theory is that the cells travel through the body via blood vessels. This may account for why we may find endometriosis in weird places like the belly button, nose and lungs. The symptoms of the disease depend on where the deposits are. Deposits inside the belly cause the long-standing pain, severe period pains and painful sex. The link with infertility is less clear. Initially we thought the disease had to affect the tube and block it to prevent pregnancy. But we now know that just the mere presence of the disease without tubal damage can cause infertility.

Fortunately, the treatment for endometriosis has come a long way. If you notice you’re having any of the symptoms, a visit to your gynaecologist is in order. Sometimes the diagnosis is made based on examination findings or results from ultrasound or MRI, but the only real way to know if you have the disease is laparoscopy, which involves the use of tiny cameras to look inside your body. Removal of the endometriosis is also possible using laparoscopy and it is the best way to treat the disease. This can be done at the same time the diagnosis is made. Medications can be used to help symptoms, but they are temporary, and symptoms usually return after stopping the medication.

So, 4000 years after the first suspect case, many women are still suffering in silence, therefore more awareness is still needed. But hope is on the horizon, with societies in Jamaica such as the BASE (Better Awareness and Support for Endometriosis) Foundation, we are moving in the right direction.

Dr Ryan Halsall is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Island Laparoscopy. To schedule a consultation send e-mails to islandlaparoscopy@gmail.com or call 876-509-0205. Facebook Page — www.Facebook.com/ilap.ja