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 | | Wednesday, 1 July, 1998, 12:54 GMT 13:54 UK Excruciating condition goes years without treatment _elvis.jpg) Doctors have been told to take a more serious attitude Women often go for years before a painful and relatively common gynaecological complaint is properly diagnosed, a survey has found. Diagnosis of endometriosis, in which fragments of the lining of the uterus are located in other parts of the body, takes on average nine years. Women wait on average 4.67 years to seek medical help, and then it takes doctors on average 4.61 years to diagnose the condition correctly. Almost half of the 4,000 women questioned said they had to see a doctor five times or more before they were referred for specialist care. More than half thought their symptoms were not taken seriously and almost two-thirds were wrongly told there was nothing wrong with them. Unable to work Results of the study by the Endometriosis Association, carried out in the US and Canada and presented at a conference in Canada, revealed that pain at the time of menstruation was the most common symptom (95% of respondents) followed by fatigue (87%).
Almost 80% of respondents said they were unable to carry on normal work and of those, a quarter were incapacitated for up to six days every month. Indescribable pain Association president Mary Lou Ballweg said: "Many physicians believe that infertility is the main symptom of endometriosis; while it is very important, the pain that women endure is indescribable. "Endometriosis is a serious condition which should be taken seriously by society, doctors and scientists. "Everyone in society needs to change their thinking on these so called `women's problems'." Dr Ray Garry, from St James' University Hospital, Leeds, an endometriosis expert, said: "Endometriosis is a serious condition which should be treated as such. These latest figures show that there is still a lot that we can do to improve things for sufferers." | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Health stories now:  Links to more Health stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||
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