Hopes new non-invasive tests are first step in transforming endometriosis care in West Midlands
It took Zainab Kaleemullah 14 years to get a diagnosis of endometriosis
Women across the West Midlands are hopeful that two new non-invasive diagnostic tests will be the first step in transforming endometriosis care.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended two new tests for NHS use - EndoTest, which analyses saliva, and EndoSure, which detects endometriosis by measuring electrical signals in the gut.
Currently, the only way to definitively confirm an endometriosis diagnosis is by using a diagnostic laparoscopy, but it is invasive, costly, and carries surgical risks.
It's hoped that the new technologies will help cut the current years-long wait for endometriosis diagnosis.
Endometriosis affects around 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth of reproductive age in the UK, yet the average time to diagnosis is more than nine years and is even higher for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
For Zainab Kaleemullah, that painful wait for answers was 14 years.
"Looking back, if I has a diagnosis earlier, I think it would have given me reassurances in the first instances that I wasn't dealing with just a bad period, which if often what we're told by medical practitioners," she said.
Zainab works with the charity Endometriosis UK and runs a support group in the Black Country and Birmingham to support people who have endometriosis or are waiting for a diagnosis.
Women from as far as Coventry and Worcestershire also attend her sessions, which are ran in person and online.
She said delays in her diagnosis led to her condition worsening and becoming more complicated.
Zainab believes these new tests need to go hand in hand with better education around endometriosis and a continued push to research the causes of the disease, treatment options and potential cures.
Current treatment options are very limited and there is no cure for the disease.
"This is really a genuinely really exciting development for those of us with endometriosis and those who suspect that they have endometriosis," she said.
She added: "As a community, we really welcome the availability of new technologies to speed up diagnosis times to reduce the disease impact.
"And, it's a great first step to explore and access treatment and therapies to help manage the disease."