1 in 10 women in the UK suffer from Endometriosis. 10% of women  live with this chronic condition - a total of 176million women worldwide. Often associated with being a gynaecological condition, it is in fact a full body inflammatory disease, as Endometriosis has been found across every organ in the body. Currently there is no cure for Endometriosis and the only way of diagnosing is through laparoscopic surgery. Covid-19 has had a massive impact on Endometriosis patients, with surgeries cancelled, delayed and postponed. 

There are various ways to treat and manage the symptoms of Endometriosis, but these vary patient to patient and often involved a trial and error approach across various pain medications and hormonal drugs. The NHS lists Endometriosis amongst it's top twenty most painful conditions and the only way of effectively alleviating this severe pain is through surgical removal of the Endometriosis. Surgery still doesn't provide a cure, but it does greatly improve patients quality of life.

Diagnosis timelines take an average of 7.5yrs due to the lack of awareness and funding into this chronic health condition. Thankfully there is new research being carried out at The University of Edinburgh, which is trialling treatment for Endometriosis using a cancer drug. Thanks to the amazing work of the charity EndometriosisUK, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Endometriosis was launched in 2018 to raise awareness of Endometriosis in Parliament.

With more research trials, funding and awareness such as this, Endometriosis patients will achieve a better quality of life and hopefully a reduced number of surgeries. I know we live in extremely hard financial times, but even if you are able to donate £2 towards my participation in the 1in10 Challenge for Endometriosis Awareness Month, I would be very grateful to enable EndometriosisUK to continue with the amazing activism, support and work that they provide. Thank you!

#EndoTheStigma #EndometriosisAwarenessMonth #Endometriosis #Women'sHealth #Endo