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Friday 6 October 2017

Cause of the Month; Endometriosis UK

In September I started a new section called Cause of the Month with the aim to raise awareness of smaller charities, or ones that are important to me.

This month is a charity called Endometriosis UK, a little different from the Wave Project but important none the less.



A few years ago I spoke about my own experience with endometriosis but it's been a while and sadly, I feel like there is still so many people unaware of the disease and how many people it affects.

So what is endometriosis? Well, put simply it is when the endometrial cells which are normally located in the womb are found else where in the body. Sadly this means that the cells react each month the same as those in your womb, building up and then breaking down and bleeding. However, unlike the cells in the womb which are able to leave the body when you have a period, these cells have no where to go to which leads to chronic pain, discomfort and heavy periods.

In extreme cases endometriosis can also cause infertility, bowel and bladder problems with endometrial cells most commonly found in the pelvic region such as on the bowel, ovaries, Fallopian tubes or cervix. However, on rare occasions the cells have been found further afield including the lungs (CRAZY!). For me, my endometriosis was located in my cervix and my bowel.

One of the main issues that faces endometriosis is that it's very difficult to diagnose, with the average time for a women to be diagnosed being 7.5 years, yes YEARS! Yet the condition isn't rare, the likelihood is, you probably know a few people with the condition even if they don't know they have it because 1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis. That's around 10% of the women in the world.

In the UK alone 1,5 million women are affected, that's similar to the amount of women who suffer from diabetes and yet do you hear much about endometriosis?

Sadly there is no cure for the condition either and with a cost of £8.2 billion to the economy per year with treatments, loss of work and healthcare you would think we would have the disease on our radar a little more.


So that's why Endometriosis UK is the cause of the month, they provide an educational service. The facts and figures helped me massively when I was coming to terms with what I have and they also raise a lot of money for research and support for those affected. Additionally they are trying to raise awareness of a problem which is still not understood.

From my own personal experience, I found out more information from the Endometriosis UK website than I did from my own doctor (who is meant to be a specialist).

Endometriosis is a big deal and it needs to be considered. It affects peoples lives, can ruin relationships, trigger depression and prevent people from conceiving along with all of the pain, sickness, discomfort and the feeling like your body has imploding each month.

Click here to learn more about endometriosis and see what they do

I hope you've found this cause of the month interesting! Let me know if there are any causes you think need more attention.

Love
Erin

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