A group of Australian scientists have announced that if all goes well, they will make the first blood test kit available to the public this year. diagnosis of endometriosis. Reading this, someone may have thought, “That’s not true, I got tested.” And yes, it is true that one of the tests currently used to diagnose this disease is a blood test, but this needs to be complemented by many other procedures, some of which are quite invasive, since the markers used so far They didn’t have much precision.
It was vital to find something like this. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 190 million women of reproductive age Everyone has endometriosis. This assumes 10% of this population. Despite being such a common condition, in many cases the diagnosis of endometriosis can be delayed for up to 7 years. In other cases, it does not even occur, either because the symptoms are confused with other conditions, or because we have been told so many times that menstruation is painful, and patients do not seek medical help so as not to be called “sick”, this is normal . “complainers”.
There is still a long way to go with this disease. Therefore, such a simple method for diagnosing endometriosis, as proposed by Australian scientists, is an excellent starting point.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a disease characterized by the development cysts of endometrial tissue in places other than the uterus. The endometrium is a mucous layer that covers the uterus and prepares it to accommodate an embryo if fertilization occurs with an egg released during this menstrual cycle. If fertilization does not occur, the endometrium is shed, causing menstruation and the start of a new cycle.
This should not happen in other parts of the reproductive system or the body as a whole. If patches of endometrium appear on the skin ovaries or intestinesFor example, we are dealing with endometriosis, which is characterized by symptoms such as severe pain in the pelvic areaespecially during menstruation, as well as imbalance in bleeding, which usually becomes very intense. In addition, there may be fertility problems and if pregnancy does occur, the risk of ectopic implantation with the implantation of the embryo outside the uterus is even greater.
Why is the diagnosis of endometriosis so late?
One of the reasons why diagnosis of endometriosis is so often delayed is that patients do not consult a gynecologist. Not because they don’t want to. Symptoms can be very debilitating. The problem is that it is more than culturally accepted that menstrual pain is an evil that women must live with. There is no other option. One tablet and flight. There were even people who were upset that Spain was offering sick leave for menstruation.
Many people still believe that women should not complain about pain and try to lead a normal life because that is what they are supposed to do. But no, that’s not what this is about. Discomfort during menstruation is normal. There is no severe debilitating pain. Therefore, you should not grit your teeth and continue the day, but go to the gynecologist look for the source of this pain.
Unfortunately, even if you see a specialist, the diagnosis of endometriosis may still be delayed. Fortunately, today more and more gynecologists are concerned about finding the cause of this pain. But there are still specialists old school who shrug off these discomforts because, again, they are considered “normal.”
Even so, if the gynecologist in question is up to date and gives the discomfort the importance it deserves, the diagnosis of endometriosis may continue to be delayed as the methods currently used They are not particularly accurate.
From ultrasound to laparoscopy
If endometriosis is suspected, the usual protocol begins with full examination of the pelvic organs and ultrasound. The diagnosis of endometriosis cannot be made by examination. However, some signs, such as pain when palpating the vaginal fundus or a shifting of the cervix, may warn that something is wrong.
On an ultrasound, which may be transvaginal or transbdominal (from the inside or outside) you can find some of the areas of the endometrium that form in endometriosis, but not all. Suspicions may increase or decrease, but an accurate diagnosis of the disease is usually not possible to obtain.
To confirm, you can move on to the third step, which is a blood test. In this case, a search is usually carried out using two markers: Ka-125 and Ka-19
The first is a tumor marker, the level of which can increase in endometriosis, especially when the ovaries are affected. However, there are many cases of endometriosis in which it does not increase, and other diseases or situations in which it may increase, for example: ovarian cancer, fibroids, peritonitis, pregnancy or even menstruation.
For its part, Sa-19 has very low sensitivitytherefore, there may be many false negative results. People who have endometriosis but have not been properly diagnosed.
Considering all this, if you want to make an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis, laparoscopy is necessary. In this case, a small incision is made, usually in the navel, and camera introduced with the help of which the pelvic area is examined. This method allows you to find misplaced areas of the endometrium and, if possible, even remove them. The problem is that because it is an invasive and more expensive test, it is not done the first time. First, you need to go through all of the above, which can greatly delay the diagnosis of endometriosis. As we have already seen, up to 7 years.
Blood for rapid diagnosis of endometriosis
Australian company scientists Proteomics International developed this test using artificial intelligence algorithm who analyzed the protein profiles 749 blood samples coming from people with or without endometriosis. Both positive and negative results were confirmed by laparoscopy, so the results were much more reliable.
By analyzing protein profiles, they discovered 10 proteins which appeared to be present in the blood of patients with endometriosis, but not in others. From two fairly limited markers, one could move to a panel of 10 molecules that together could provide a much more accurate diagnosis of endometriosis.
This allowed us to create a kit that gave very good results in the clinical trials that just ended. In fact, the accuracy was 99.7%much more than any blood test that has been used to date.
They are currently making some adjustments, but hope that the test will be available to second quarter of 2025. It will be used in clinical settings and will facilitate much faster diagnosis of endometriosis, relieving people suffering from the disease from severe pain. I hope this is true and this year it is already underway.
Source: Hiper Textual
