Endometriosis and loss of work productivity are, hold on, connected

In endometriosis, tissue that's supposed to grow inside the uterus instead begins to grow outside the uterus -- on the fallopian tubes, ovaries or elsewhere in the body, usually in the pelvic region but not always. And that tissue reacts as it ordinarily would to the body's hormonal changes -- thickening, then breaking down and bleeding, often worsening and causing scarring over time. You don't have to be familiar with the condition to see how this might cause pain.

Now researchers have found that, yes, such pain can lead to a loss of productivity at work.
 
"Duh," you might well, and justifiably, think if you're one of the estimated 5 million women in the U.S. who have the condition. (That number and other endometriosis facts can be found at womenshealth.gov.) But bear with us -- because the researchers also quantified that dent in productivity.

In what's touted as the first worldwide study of the condition's impact on society, researchers at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom found that, among employed women, those with pelvic pain related to endometriosis reported 10 hours of lost work productivity per week, compared to seven hours for those with pelvic pain not traceable to endometriosis.

The endometriosis-and-productivity findings were announced Monday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Here are other details on the endometriosis study, funded by the World Endometriosis Foundation.

Considering that the condition is still something of a mystery, that it's a leading cause of infertility and that women in the study, after reporting their first symptoms, went an average of seven years before being diagnosed ... well, beginning to quantify the effects -- obvious though they may seem at first glance -- can only be for the good.

Here's more basic endometriosis information, in the form of a pamphlet, from the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

And in other recent news from the meeting:

-- If you could put your biological clock on hold, would you?

-- A blood test may be an accurate way to predict menopause

Plus, more fertility research reported there.

-- Tami Dennis

Photo: Aleve and other over-the-counter pain medications are on often recommended to relieve the pain of endometriosis.  For many women, they don't help.

Credit: Getty Images

Comments

[Jennifer Freeman]

I suffered endometriosis for so many years and still do. I've had so much time off work due to the pain, the physical and emotional impact, that I started up my own business consultancy in 2005 in Australia, so that I can work from home when needing to. A study in Europe in 2007 identifies definite links between women with an endometriosis diagnosis and an increase of 8-10% risk of going on to have breast or ovarian cancer. I had breast cancer in 2006 aged 34 yrs and met several women with the same 2 diagnoses. (Dr Anna-Sofia Melin: www.endometriosis.org/research_endometriosis_ovarian_cancer.html)
It is time that the medical professions across the world and its teams of gynecologists speak up for sufferers of endometriosis and their families and treated this debilitating disease with the seriousness that it requires. I have lost an estimated 15-20k$ Aus PER YEAR in income for the last 7 yrs and have no subsidy on medication, holistic treatments and complimentary therapies. if I want to go out one evening to Bible Study home group I currently pay $70 for a remedial massage so that I can manage the pain for the evening. My husband and I have spent nearly $10k on fertility treatment, made worse by having chemotherapy for the breast cancer during 2007. We are stigmatised and left to work out how to live with this awful disease with little support and acknowledgement.