The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined news of some “encouraging” advances in diagnostic and treatment methods for women who suffer from endometriosis — a condition caused when tissue that normally lines the uterus develops in other parts of the body. Endometriosis is diagnosed through laparoscopy, a surgical procedure that allows a scope to be inserted through an incision in the abdomen to see if there are endometriosis lesions or cysts. Birlington, Vt.-based Valeo Medical, a lifesciences company, is trying to find a less-expensive blood test that would be an easier and less-invasive alternative to laparoscopy for diagnosis, the Journal reports. However, due in part to a lack of government and private funding in the U.S. and United Kingdom, some researchers say that breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment are still years away, accourding to the Journal. Stephen Kennedy, a gynecologist at the University of Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, and colleagues from the U.K. and Australia in September published a study in the American Journal of Human Genetics that they called “the first substantial piece of evidence that endometriosis has a genetic basis,” the Journal reports. The researchers studied 1,176 families with at least two members with endometriosis in the United Kingdom and Australia. They analyzed the women’s DNA and identified a group of genes they believe is linked to a propensity to developing the condition. Kennedy said that the results “will have a profound effect on women” and could help researchers find better diagnostic tools and treatments for those with the condition (Whalen, Wall Street Journal, 11/29).
(Source: Kaiser Network)
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