Endometriosis: The painful condition affecting one in ten women
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Transcript
00:00 I had my period at 11 years old with terrible stomach pain.
00:03 At 16, my mother took me to a gynecologist.
00:06 It's normal to have stomach pain during your period.
00:09 We're going to give you some antalgics.
00:11 It's one of the organisation's latest videos,
00:13 co-headed by French actor Julie Gayet.
00:16 The surgeon explains to me that you have an endometriosis.
00:20 An what? An endometriosis.
00:24 She's speaking for all the women affected by endometriosis,
00:28 a condition that can cause tissue to grow outside of the uterus,
00:31 causing pain, especially during menstrual periods.
00:35 People thought I was hysterical.
00:37 I couldn't talk about my period pain.
00:39 I didn't even know what I actually had,
00:42 so I had to face the problem and the pain alone.
00:45 One out of ten women are affected by endometriosis,
00:49 the organisation's targeting the younger generation.
00:53 The younger people today want change.
00:55 They want to lift taboos.
00:57 They initiate conversations.
00:59 They get involved.
01:01 Many say that endometriosis has been purposefully pushed aside.
01:06 Many within the medical sector were men.
01:08 It's about periods, you know.
01:10 Women must suffer in silence.
01:12 I think that if men were affected by endometriosis,
01:15 then research would already be more advanced.
01:18 We'd know much more about the condition.
01:20 France's health and medical research body
01:23 teamed up with the organisation in an attempt to get things moving.
01:27 How's it going? Not too tired after yesterday?
01:30 A bit.
01:32 They're trying to identify the genes that carry the condition within a family.
01:36 It's very difficult to live with, but it isn't deadly.
01:39 And then there's the fact that it only concerns women,
01:41 meaning that it hasn't been taken as seriously as it should be.
01:44 We just need to put the means into it.
01:46 If the only existing illness was endometriosis
01:48 and not cancer or Alzheimer's,
01:50 then the problem would be solved within two years.
01:53 But there's still no treatment for endometriosis.
01:57 And it's the first reason for infertility among women.