Women have been struggling for years to get their endometriosis diagnosed but now there appears to a simple new non-invasive rapid test.
Endometriosis affects around 180 million women worldwide, that’s around ten percent of the population.
On average it takes up to 8-10 years – depending on where you live in the world, from the onset of symptoms to getting a diagnosis. The main reason for this is that the symptoms are very similar to those of other conditions, and varies considerably between women.
There is also a lack of education with GP’s on the condition which can cause excruciating agony for the sufferer.
It has a grading of stages 1-4, with four being the most severe, causing agony for the sufferer and in many cases issues with infertility.
When women find a good doctor to get diagnosis they have to go through an MRI and pelvic scan, and small incision surgery called a laparoscopy.
But now the Ziwig Endotest claims to be able to detect all types of endometriosis, mild and advanced without surgery.
It relies on Next Generation Sequencing of micro RNA present in saliva, and on the use of Artificial Intelligence to process the very large volume of data generated.
The Ziwig Endotest® claims to have a reliability close to 100%, and at £995.00 is expensive but much cheaper than laparoscopy surgery.
The catch is that the test is only available for women 18-43 years old who are not pregnant or HIV positive.
Let’s hope it really works. At least it’s a positive step forward in the help available for women in spite of the high cost of the kit.
For more information about this condition please read our column by stage 4 endometriosis warrior Emma Kemsley.
