An Overview of Endometriosis

This video is episode 4, "The Power of Periods," of the documentary, "A Question of Sex". It provides a general overview of endometriosis and the menstrual cycle, focusing closely on the personal story of Noémie Elhadad. Elhadad is a data scientist and professor at Columbia University who lives with endometriosis, a painful menstrual disease that affects one in ten women.

Menstrual stigma and the normalization of women's pain has resulted in little research on endometriosis. It can take seven years to get a diagnosis, and the diagnosis requires surgery. For some people, diagnosis can be delayed due to doctors dismissing pain. Possible treatments include hormone therapy in the form of birth control, surgery to remove the lesions, and a hysterectomy. Pain may continue to persist for some people after each of these treatments.

Elhadad's experience inspired her to found Citizen Endo in 2016. Citizen Endo is an endometriosis research project with an app that traces endometriosis symptoms and self-management techniques. Elhadad is also working with Clue to compare her data with that of healthy menstrual cycles. For Citizen Endo, one goal is to move toward a non-invasive test for endometriosis.

Science knows shockingly little about menstrual health. But now, endometriosis patients are changing that.It’s estimated that about one in 10 people who menstruate suffer from endometriosis, which occurs when tissue that grows in the uterus migrates to other parts of the body, becomes inflamed in response to cyclical hormonal changes and forms painful lesions.

SOURCE: Scientific American • LAST UPDATED: December 1, 2022