Oldham women first to sample news of tissue research
Recent visitors to a Town Hall gathering became among the first to hear about a new project to prevent pain for 190 million women worldwide.
Pelvic condition endometriosis cripples 82% of its victims so badly that they cannot carry out even mundane simple tasks. Despite affecting one it ten women of childbearing age, most sufferers don’t get diagnosed until they are twenty-seven.
Which is why Professor Kay Marshall, Professor of Reproductive Endocrine Pharmacology and Head of the School of Health Sciences, Manchester University, told a public meeting of Oldham charity Endometriosis Awareness North of a new research programme looking to:
• Diagnose the condition with more haste
• Reduce its side-effects
• Restore a patient’s fertility
• Prevent the disease’s return and crucially,
• Lessen mental health problems associated with endometriosis
The study is utilising tissue samples from hundreds of women volunteers in the Northwest who are suffering from the condition. Amongst its aims are establishing better symptom control and improved wellbeing for all those with endometriosis.
Several guests at the event – including for the first time, police officers with endometriosis – knew only too well that the condition has no satisfactory diagnosis, prevention or treatment.
“Curbing endometriosis is one of the world’s biggest unmet medical challenges” explained Dr Anita Sharma, creator of Endometriosis Awareness North, “and some of my fellow clinicians do not know how to spot it and/or deal with it. Ignorance and lack of awareness fuels this, but health prejudice towards women also plays a part. If this were a condition that rendered ten per cent of men incapacitated, I wonder how long it would take to find a cure?”
Also speaking at the event was Chadderton parent Paul Ormrod, whose daughter Courtney has used her experience of losing a teaching career to endometriosis, to become an ambassador for Endometriosis Awareness North.
Themes broadened to disparities between men’s and women’s healthcare with Dr Sharma using the platform to call for more to be invested into breast and ovarian cancer screening and more empathy shown to women going through the menopause.
Dr Sharma concluded: “Over three quarters of women feel that the health service has not listened to their needs and so I am glad that like Scotland before them, our Government now has a women’s health strategy. The battle we face is illustrated best by endometriosis. Just a fifth of the population has even heard the word, let alone has an understanding of it. Our small Oldham based charity has made amazingly swift in-roads, but the first challenge is to raise awareness of the physical, economic and mental health consequences of endometriosis. Join us and start the battle against this blight here, in the borough of Oldham.”
Blog on Lisa, great testimonial
Sharing your emotional pain around debilitating endometriosis can be difficult – so we salute HR Consultant Lisa for penning a piece that is sure to touch hearts and raise awareness - https://cubehr.co.uk/blog/endometriosis-my-story/
Sadly, her experiences of not being believed and having her symptoms dismissed are all too familiar.
As is Lisa’s stout-hearted response, which is also typical of so many endo warriors.
Take a minute to read, and if you would like to share your story, contact us.
Find out what we're really about, on film
Click onto our brand new movie, detailing what Endometriosis Awareness North is all about Endometriosis Awareness North - YouTube
Featuring our treasured case study Courtney, it also gives medics a platform to call for quicker diagnosis of endometriosis.
With thanks to filmmakers Andrea Bertozzi and Pete Gibson Media.