Finding A Cause For Endometriosis!
Researchers think they have found " four new genes linked to the disease" this really is a breakthrough since not long ago noone was doing anything about this disease.
MARK COLVIN: Queensland researchers say they've made a significant discovery about the causes of the gynaecological disorder endometriosis. A study of thousands of women by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research has uncovered genes which are more common in endometriosis sufferers than in the general population.
The painful disease causes 50 per cent of all infertility in women and affects one Australian woman in 10.
Stephanie Smail reports.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Amanda Jepson has been battling endometriosis for 25 years.
AMANDA JEPSON: Over the years I've had roughly about nine or 10 surgeries but unfortunately my disease has just been aggressive and has always come back. Last year I had a hysterectomy which also resulted in a bowel resection.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: In endometriosis cases the tissue that lines the uterus is also found outside the uterus. The condition affects about 10 per cent of Australian woman and causes half of all female infertility.
Amanda Jepson says many women are misdiagnosed for years because so little is known about the painful disease.
AMANDA JEPSON: It's a debilitating condition, it's extremely painful. And I think that it's misunderstood and underestimated by society as a whole. I think that a lot of people just kind of categorise it as bad period pain, but it's actually a lot more than that.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Queensland researchers say they're now one step closer to finding out what causes endometriosis. The Queensland Institute of Medical Research study looked at the genes of 5,500 women with the condition in Europe, Australia and Japan.
Lead author, Dr Dale Nyholt, says the study identified four new genes linked to the disease, a major breakthrough for a condition with so many unknowns.
DALE NYHOLT: It means that we are getting there. And in fact in the last few years, as far as genetic discoveries are concerned we've found out more in the last few years than what we have done in the decades before.
And so once we identify these genes we're going to get a better understanding of the underlying biology that's causing these pathways to actually turn aberrant and people to express these diseases.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Women who suffer endometriosis have limited treatment options. They can either have surgery to remove the lesions the condition causes or have hormone treatments to reduce pain during their period.
Dr Nyholt says the study is a big step towards developing new treatments for the disease.
DALE NYHOLT: What we do know is that it's not just one gene or two genes or even dozens of genes. There could be many, many, many dozens of genes that are contributing towards the disease. And so it takes a lot of work to sort of complete the picture to see how all these things are interacting.
Then that can help us identify what the actual biological pathways are that underlie it. And then we start looking at, well how could we intervene in what's going wrong in these biological pathways and start tailoring medication.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Amanda Jepson says she hopes research into the painful condition will continue.
AMANDA JEPSON: You just want to know that there's progress happening. What a lot of people don't realise is that there's actually estimated to be over 176 million women worldwide suffering with endometriosis.
So I mean it's pretty much an epidemic that goes unnoticed. And a lot of the, you know, statistics say that endometriosis is actually more prevalent that breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and AIDS, and yet hardly no one knows about it.
The painful disease causes 50 per cent of all infertility in women and affects one Australian woman in 10.
Stephanie Smail reports.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Amanda Jepson has been battling endometriosis for 25 years.
AMANDA JEPSON: Over the years I've had roughly about nine or 10 surgeries but unfortunately my disease has just been aggressive and has always come back. Last year I had a hysterectomy which also resulted in a bowel resection.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: In endometriosis cases the tissue that lines the uterus is also found outside the uterus. The condition affects about 10 per cent of Australian woman and causes half of all female infertility.
Amanda Jepson says many women are misdiagnosed for years because so little is known about the painful disease.
AMANDA JEPSON: It's a debilitating condition, it's extremely painful. And I think that it's misunderstood and underestimated by society as a whole. I think that a lot of people just kind of categorise it as bad period pain, but it's actually a lot more than that.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Queensland researchers say they're now one step closer to finding out what causes endometriosis. The Queensland Institute of Medical Research study looked at the genes of 5,500 women with the condition in Europe, Australia and Japan.
Lead author, Dr Dale Nyholt, says the study identified four new genes linked to the disease, a major breakthrough for a condition with so many unknowns.
DALE NYHOLT: It means that we are getting there. And in fact in the last few years, as far as genetic discoveries are concerned we've found out more in the last few years than what we have done in the decades before.
And so once we identify these genes we're going to get a better understanding of the underlying biology that's causing these pathways to actually turn aberrant and people to express these diseases.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Women who suffer endometriosis have limited treatment options. They can either have surgery to remove the lesions the condition causes or have hormone treatments to reduce pain during their period.
Dr Nyholt says the study is a big step towards developing new treatments for the disease.
DALE NYHOLT: What we do know is that it's not just one gene or two genes or even dozens of genes. There could be many, many, many dozens of genes that are contributing towards the disease. And so it takes a lot of work to sort of complete the picture to see how all these things are interacting.
Then that can help us identify what the actual biological pathways are that underlie it. And then we start looking at, well how could we intervene in what's going wrong in these biological pathways and start tailoring medication.
STEPHANIE SMAIL: Amanda Jepson says she hopes research into the painful condition will continue.
AMANDA JEPSON: You just want to know that there's progress happening. What a lot of people don't realise is that there's actually estimated to be over 176 million women worldwide suffering with endometriosis.
So I mean it's pretty much an epidemic that goes unnoticed. And a lot of the, you know, statistics say that endometriosis is actually more prevalent that breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and AIDS, and yet hardly no one knows about it.
MARK COLVIN: Amanda Jepson ending Stephanie Smail's report.
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