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Staff and students in the EndoCare Centre regularly do outreach and engagement work to improve the public's understanding of endometriosis and related issues and offer support to those affected by the disease.

Image of newspapers showing endometriosis and EndoCaRe related articles.

EndoCare in the press

Guardian: The Hidden Suffering of Millions of Women Revealed

We need very large numbers of cases and controls, larger than we or any other centre could collect alone, says Krina Zondervan, professor of reproductive and genomic epidemiology

The hidden toll and extraordinary neglect of a disease that affects an estimated 176 million women around the globe, causing many to suffer a life of pain and debilitation and sometimes infertility, is revealed by the Guardian.

One woman in 10 of reproductive age has endometriosis, it is estimated, and yet often their primary care doctors do not know what it is and the specialists to whom they are sent are ill-informed.

Vast numbers of women are under-treated or badly treated. It can take years to get a diagnosis and during that time women may suffer severe pain and are unable to work, socialise or maintain a sexual relationship. Read more...

The symptoms of Endometriosis include painful periods, painful ovulation, pain during or after sex, abnormal bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, fatigue, and infertility, and it can also impact on general physical, mental and social well being.© Shutterstock

BBC  Future:  What is Endometriosis?

We have good evidence that having serious pain alters your central nervous system, alters how you respond to pain in the future and makes you potentially more susceptible to other chronic pain conditions, says Katy Vincent, a senior pain fellow at the University of Oxford

For women who are symptomatic, and many are not, the primary symptom is usually acute pelvic pain with no obvious physical cause. That may make it enigmatic. But that it was a health condition experienced only by women – and is linked to menstruation, in particular – has made it more of an enigma than it perhaps could be. Read more...

Statue of 3 women with abdomen of one highlighted

Nature Genetics: New Genes Linked to Endometriosis

 

"We've known for some time that endometriosis is heritable, but until now we have been unable to find any robust genetic variants that influence a woman's risk of developing the disease," says Krina Zondervan, professor of reproductive and genomic epidemiology

Women with one of two genetic variants may be more likely to develop endometriosis, according to a new study that may offer new clues about the cause of the mysterious condition.

Researchers say it's the first study to show a genetic link to the disorder that affects between 6% and 10% of women of childbearing age.

Endometriosis is the abnormal growth of cells similar to those found inside the uterus on other areas of the body, such as the ovaries and bowel. The growths can lead to inflammation, pelvic pain, painful menstrual periods, and infertility in some women. Read  more... 

Digital illustration of Mitochondria

Dr Katy Vincent on BBC Women's Hour

Dr Katy Vincent joins Jane Garvey on BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour to discuss the new University of Oxford study, the first of its kind, looking at the link between chronic pain and hormones that control the menstrual cycle and reproductive function.

Translational Research in Pelvic Pain

Support Groups 

Support groups can offer valuable information, guidance and friendship for anyone affected by endometriosis. Local support groups can give those whose lives are affected by endometriosis the chance to meet and talk with others who share and understand their situation. Women can get help through challenging times, improving the quality  of  their  lives and empowering each other to make informed choices about their health. They may also gain techniques to help them manage the condition through pain management and coping techniques.

Endometriosis UK offers a number of support groups through the UK and online. Support groups offer valuable support and information. Find out more about support groups and see upcoming support group meetings by clicking here.

In addition to support groups, Endometriosis UK runs a helpline to provide support and advice: 0808 808 2227. Find out more about the helpline and the opening hours by clicking here. Because it may be difficult to talk to someone in person or over the phone, an online community is available with thousands of members sharing their experience of endometriosis on forums. Find out more about the online community by clicking here.

If you're in distress and need someone to talk to, you can call the Samaritans' 24 hour emotional support line in full confidence: 116 123.

Women’s health is frequently considered in terms of birthing and childcare, yet non-communicable diseases and injury impose an enormous burden on women. Although there is considerable evidence of women being undertreated or presenting disease in a different way to men, sex-specific analyses of clinical trials and epidemiological studies are by no means universal.

Student Outreach

Our students in the EndoCaRe Centre regularly visit schools and community groups and hold events to explain the work being done and science more generally.

Oxford Hands-On Science (OxHOS) Summer Roadshow

Oxford Hands-On Science (OxHOS) is a student-run society based in Oxford that believes science is fun and relevant to everyone. OxHOS spreads Oxford's enthusiasm for science to children and their families by taking a range of hands-on experiments into schools and public venues, with helpful undergraduate and post-graduate student volunteers explaining the science behind them.

The 2019 OxHOS Summer Roadshow (24th June - 5th July) started with a week in Oxfordshire before heading to Essex and Manchester. The roadshow features interactive experiments where student volunteers deliver fun experiments and demonstrations to children and members of the public at schools and community centres far and wide. EndoCaRe's own Magda Marečková took part in the 2019 OxHOS Summer Roadshow... more to follow...

Photo of EndoCaRe Centre student Magda Mareckova at the 2019 OxHOS Summer Roadshow.Photo of EndoCaRe Centre student Magda Mareckova at the 2019 OxHOS Summer Roadshow. 

Danielle Perro – FameLab 2019 Finalist

FameLab UK, a science communication competition where contestants have just three minutes to talk about their area of science - no PowerPoint presentations allowed! - saw its biggest ever Oxford cohort this year, with 27 performers. Three heats were held in February before the 27 entrants were whittled down to 12 finalists to perform at the Wig and Pen in Oxford.

First year DPhil student in the Centre, Danielle Perro, used dramatic imagery to bring to life the finely orchestrated mechanism that is menstruation, initiated by “Queen GnRH” (or gonadotropin-releasing-hormone to you and me), and made it to the final. More to follow...

Photo of FameLab 2019 finalist Danielle Perro and other finalists.Photo of FameLab 2019 finalist Danielle Perro and other finalists.

Pupil Engagement at Cheney School

Students from the EndoCaRe Centre visited Cheney School in Headington, Oxford to teach the pupils all about the world of DNA, RNA, and endometriosis and single cells. Magda Marečková, Danielle Perro, Hannah Nazri and Lydia Coxon... more to follow...

Photo of EndoCaRe Centre students teaching pupils at Cheney School.Photo of EndoCaRe Centre students teaching pupils at Cheney School.  Photo of Magda Marečková teaching pupils at Cheney School about endometriosis and single cells.Photo of Magda Marečková teaching pupils at Cheney School about endometriosis and single cells. 

Awards and Acknowledgments 

Nilufer Rahmioglu awarded the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics' Early Career Public Engagement Award

Dr Nilufer Rahmioglu, Senior Research Scientist at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, was awarded an Early Career Public Engagement Award in recognition of all the work she has done in northern Cyprus under the COHERE study. The award acknowledged Nilufer's work in holding public seminars, as well as giving short presentations in work place where masses of women work to inform them about women’s health conditions and the COHERE  study. She organised two 5K city runs inviting people to come together to be active for awareness raising for women’s health and fundraise for the COHERE  study in Northern Cyprus each of which attracted ~500 people. She visited the Turkish Cypriot parliament, Ministry of Health and the Prime minister to tell them about women’s health conditions and the importance of research in this field. She has been on local TV and radio programs and newspaper interviews talking about women’s health issues and the COHERE study in Cyprus and Turkey. She maintains the COHERE  study's Facebook and Instagram pages and on top of all that Nilufer also received 500 Euros from Civic Space (an EU funded Technical Assistance Project to strengthen the role of civil society in the Turkish Cypriot community) and shot 4 short movies to raise awareness of women’s health conditions and invite women to take part in the COHERE study, all of which are on air on local TV channels and in movie theatres across Cyprus. Read more...

Congratulations Nilufer and thank you for all your excellent work!

Winners of Wellcome Centre Human Genetics Public Engagement prize announced - Nilufer

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