New Endometriosis Treatments Promise to Offer Relief

Doctors are rethinking ways to treat the chronic condition by using less-invasive diagnostic tools and surgeries

- Tanisha Saxena

For decades, endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory condition that affects over 190 million women worldwide, got dismissed as "bad periods".

"Despite being as common as diabetes, it lacks a single definitive test and often takes more than seven years to diagnose," says Dr Anshumala Shukla Kulkarni, head of minimally invasive gynecology and robotic surgery at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. "Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent inflammatory condition where endometrial-like tissue grows outside the uterus, most commonly on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, peritoneum, and, in severe cases, the bowel and bladder," explains Dr Sapna Raina, senior consultant at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru. "Yet despite its prevalence, the average diagnostic delay remains 7-10 years."

That delay, she adds, is not just a medical failure but a cultural one: "The hallmark symptom—chronic pelvic pain—is often dismissed as normal period pain, especially in adolescents and young women." The consequences? Women are frequently misdiagnosed with conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or urinary tract infections, while the root cause—endometriosis—goes untreated.

Now, thanks to a growing body of research, cutting-edge diagnostics, and a systemic push for recognition, endometriosis is no longer being relegated to the margins of women's health.

New research is challenging the necessity of invasive laparoscopies for diagnosis. Among the most promising innovations are mRNA-based blood and saliva tests, which can detect molecular changes invisible to conventional imaging.