a woman's age, reproductive and infertility history, and endo severity to predict her chances of conceiving.
7. TREATMENTS AIM TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE LESIONS.
If a woman with endo doesn't want to get pregnant, her doctor might prescribe hormonal treatments to reduce the amount of estrogen in her body. Extended cycle and continuous cycle birth control methods reduce or eliminate the number of periods a woman has, blocking the cyclical effects of estrogen. If pregnancy is the goal, however, a woman's doctor might briefly prescribe gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists—hormone-blocking drugs that induce a sort of temporary menopause that stops a woman's production of estrogen and can often decrease the size of endo lesions. The treatment period typically lasts several weeks to a few months. When the treatment ends, the woman's body will begin to produce estrogen again, providing her a brief window of time in which she has a chance of getting pregnant before the lesions return.
Surgery to remove endo lesions is also an option, but only in severe cases or in situations when a woman can't take hormonal therapies or hormones haven't been successful in the past.
8. ENDO IS COSTLY, AND NOT JUST IN DOLLARS.
Quality-of-life assessments don't accurately capture the toll endo takes on women: Findings from a 2011 study of more than 1400 women with endo found that women lost more than 11 hours of work each week chiefly due to reduced productivity (not absence). A second study, conducted in 2012, estimated that endo costs an affected woman more than $10,000 per year, comparable to diabetes, Crohn's disease, or rheumatoid arthritis. Endo also interferes with sexual pleasure and satisfaction.
9. AN ENDO DIAGNOSIS DOESN'T HAVE TO FEEL LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.
Many women with endo lead full lives. Northern Irish politician Naomi Long and Australian swimmer Emily Seebohm, an Olympic gold medalist, have shared their personal trials with the condition. Women with endo get pregnant, too, and often have successful pregnancies. "Endo does not equal infertility," Patzkowsky says. Women with endo often find that support groups are helpful, and there's even an app (or two) to help. One advocacy group has organized a worldwide endo march to raise awareness of the disease and promote research.
10. NEW ENDO RESEARCH IS FOCUSED ON IDENTIFYING BIOMARKERS.
Future endo research is focused on not only furthering understanding of the causes and other aspects of the disease, but also on developing non-hormonal therapies to aid in treatment and identifying biomarkers—indicators in blood or easily accessible tissue samples—that can speed diagnosis. Some scientists liken endo to cancer because it has different subtypes that may have different causes, requiring an integrated approach to understanding the genetic, hormonal, metabolic, and molecular factors that influence endo development and progression.