In March, I introduced you to Danielle Langlois. She lives with endometriosis, which is an inflammatory condition caused when tissue grows outside of a woman’s uterus.
At the time, she told me, “It was all throughout my bowels, my intestines, it was on my diaphragm. Unfortunately, it has taken me away from my job [and] my life.”
The chronic pain caused by endometriosis is a way of life for one in 10 women.
There’s currently no cure – only some treatments to manage the pain. But is it enough? Some who live with the disease say the options are limited for women suffering.
I am following through to see what new research is being done locally.
Watch: What is endometriosis and how can we treat it?
As I was exploring options, I met Suffolk resident Cassie Rein. She was diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 17 years old.
“I have really bad pain, like, I would get to the point where I was throwing up when I was having my period,” she says.
Rein had to have surgery to clear the excess tissue on her organs. She expects it will likely have to happen again in the future as the endometriosis spreads.
Laparoscopic surgery is one of the ways women manage the disease, along with taking pain medication or hormone therapy.
Rein says those options don’t always work, and in her opinion, there are a lot physicians still learning about endometriosis.
“I want more people to know about it and I want doctors to be more educated about it,” she says.
So, she signed up for an endometriosis clinical trial. Local doctors are looking at whether the study's medication, when taken with an FDA-approved birth control pill, can reduce pain.
It’s one of three endometriosis studies happening at Tidewater Clinical Research, where Dr. Frank Morgan is an obstetrician-gynecologist and principal investigator.
“I think that women have always been neglected in a lot of medicine research,” he says. “We wanted to offer our patients something that would help them that’s not available yet – and also help women in the future.”
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Dr. Morgan says trials have a few phases, but generally, they last between three and six months. Patients are asked to keep a diary of their symptoms and get regular workups from physicians for free.
Dr. Morgan says it takes about five years for a medication to get FDA approval.
“A lot of times with endometriosis, they come in with having pain or they may come in with infertility,” he says.
However, after going through trials or trying new treatments, he says, “[patients will come back] and say that their pain is much improved, or they come back pregnant and that’s very gratifying.”
While clinical trials may not be the right move for everyone with endometriosis, the fact that research is being done for women’s health is encouraging for people like Rein.
“I want to do the studies because I want them to know as much as they can about it for everybody that comes after me,” he says.
Again, clinical trials are not the right decision for everyone so it’s important to talk with your physician before making any decisions.
Click here to learn more about Tidewater Clinical Research.
