Centre for Reproductive Health

Hidden suffering

An Edinburgh team is conducting vital research into how to improve the lives of more than 170 million women globally affected by endometriosis, a debilitating condition that often goes undiagnosed.

While 80 percent of adults are familiar with diabetes, fewer than 20 percent have heard of endometriosis.

That startling figure, provided by Endometriosis. org, emphasises one of the reasons why it is such a difficult condition to research, and why developing better management and treatment remains a challenge.

At least 176 million women of child-bearing age across the world are affected. In the UK, the figure is about 1.5 million, with an estimated 125,000 of them in Scotland, many of them undiagnosed.

In the PDF below, Professor Andrew Horne, co-director of EXPPECT (Excellence in Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Care and Treatment) at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh campus, explains how a £100,000 donation from the Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust will support their vital research into the condition, in partnership with NHS Lothian.