Watch tonight: “Endometriosis, towards new therapies” on Arte.tv

ARTE.TV – ON DEMAND – DOCUMENTARY

This is not a women's issue, not even a couple's issue. It's a social issue. Endometriosis, a term unknown to the general public and those most affected just ten years ago , has become a household name in the media and in the offices of our doctors, who were long ignorant of this disease, which affects one in ten menstruating women worldwide. In France, it has only been on the medical curriculum since 2020.

Endometriosis is characterized by the growth of tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) outside the uterus: on the ovaries, bladder, rectum, intestines, kidneys, and even the lungs. Menstruation inflames these tissues, causing pain of varying severity, which can lead to incapacity for labor.

But before reaching this extreme situation, endometriosis undermines women's lives, exhausting them until menopause, and sometimes beyond: debilitating menstrual pain, disrupted sex life, compromised fertility and weakened professional situation. The entire social life of a country and its economy are impacted by this chronic disease, which has just been freed from the taboo affecting women's health. The long fight of patient associations and social networks has finally made it possible to put a spotlight on it and provide resources, although still insufficient, to accelerate research and screening efforts. A national fight plan was decreed in 2022 in France . In a handful of years, promising advances have emerged.

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