Ep43: Rethinking the Name and Definition of Endometriosis

Updated 2/2023. The definition of endometriosis is often written incorrectly on websites, magazine articles, and even in research publications. Endometriosis is NOT the endometrium - it's tissue similar to the endometrium, but in reality, it is more different than similar! This misconception continues to propel misinformation and myths about the cause and treatment of endo. What if we were to move away from talking about the endometrium in the definition of endo? Additionally, the etymology of the word ‘endometriosis’ isn’t doing us any favors either! Today we talk about why renaming and redefining endo based on current knowledge could be a good idea. We talk about how nonsensical the theory of retrograde menstruation is, go over an alternate definition of endo as suggested by researchers, and have fun inventing new names for endo! CONNECT WITH US! INSTAGRAM: @in16yearsofendo WEBSITE AND RESOURCES: insixteenyears.com LIKE OUR SHOW? Please rate it or leave a review! SUPPORT US by buying us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/insixteenyears SOURCES. Clickable links at insixteenyears.com/episode43 --P Vigano, M Candiani, A Monno, E Giacomini, P Vercellini, E Somigliana, Time to redefine endometriosis including its pro-fibrotic nature, Human Reproduction, Volume 33, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 347–352, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dex354 --David Redwine, MD – Origin of Endometriosis: Cartoon Science vs Evidence-based Medicine – Talk by Dr. David Redwine, excision specialist. --Is endometriosis an autotransplant? – Article on Endopaedia.info. Here you can see a table with differences between endometriosis and the endometrium in humans. --Diagnostic value of hemosiderin laden macrophages in histologically proven endometriosis – M.A. Bedaiwy, S. Gupta, J. Noriega, J. Brainard, A. Agarwal, T. Falcone. September 01, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.07.1133