Endometriosis can elude diagnosis for years. What to know about the disease and new ways to find it
When Zoë Armstrong got an ultrasound report showing signs of endometriosis , she called her mom and cried. After years of suffering and seeking help from doctors, she…
Zoë Armstrong, a 31-year-old endometriosis patient, experienced years of debilitating pain and was finally diagnosed after an ultrasound report revealed signs of the condition. "To see it on paper, I was like, 'I'm not crazy'," she recalled. Armstrong's journey to diagnosis began at age 11, when she first experienced stabbing pains on her left side that sent her to the school nurse.
As an adult, her symptoms worsened, including severe pain during periods, intercourse, and bowel movements, nausea, heavy periods, acne, and rupturing ovarian cysts.
Endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory disease, affects 1 in 10 women globally and can cause debilitating pain. The exact cause is unknown, but genetics is believed to play a role. Symptoms vary depending on the extent of the disease and its location, often found on organs like the bladder, bowel, or ovaries, though it can sometimes appear outside the pelvis.
New tests being used in other countries aim to improve diagnosis rates, but they are not yet available in the U.S. While these tools offer hope for patients, experts suggest they are not a complete solution to the diagnostic challenges faced by those suffering from endometriosis.
Written by urgent.news from Associated Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
