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According to endometriosis surgeon and professor, Horace Roman, endometriosis is a heterogeneous disease with "various symptoms, various lesions, involving different organs" in the body, so the symptoms aren't always very specific.
Professor Roman also indicates that symptoms of endometriosis are usually attributed to other painful conditions, which is why it could take longer for doctors to diagnose. Once the diagnosis is reached, finding proper treatment may also take a while, he adds.
"Usually, when the doctors focus on painful symptoms [they] look at various diseases, that's why the time of the diagnosis may be very long. Once the diagnosis is made, the time until good treatment is received may be just as long," he tells France24.
In France, the average time it takes to get diagnosed with endometriosis is seven and a half years.
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"In Europe and in America, the time until there's a diagnosis is the average of seven years, but usually the patients are not managed correctly immediately after the diagnoses. So, it may be seven or eight years until the right treatment. Usually, when patients come into my office for treatment, they had already had one or two previous surgeries in 50% [of] cases,” he adds.
READ MORE | Started her period at 7, diagnosed with endometriosis at 12 - woman reveals her health battle
As the French government works towards raising more awareness around this chronic illness, Professor Roman says he is confident that it will produce positive results in managing endometriosis.
"The mass national plan with endometriosis is to try correct this delay. Money is very important in order to support the research, in order to support the work and interconnect the physicians and the researchers. Now, I'm waiting for more information on this national plan. I am very confident that it is a very big step ahead in the management of endometriosis," he adds.
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