A Bergson Academy evening on endometriosis

Under the title "Endometriosis - symptoms, diagnosis, treatment - an evening about women's health", we experienced the most intense, open and honest evening yet at the Akademie im Bergson. Prof. Dr. med. Dr. Tobias Weissenbacher from the MIC Center in Munich began by giving an insight into the disease, which affects around 15% of women in Germany alone and a good 190 million women worldwide.

The big challenge is to diagnose the disease correctly, as the symptoms are often not immediately associated with endometriosis. A detailed diagnosis takes a good 45 minutes, which is extremely disproportionate to the 7.5 minutes that doctors can spend on average on diagnosis in Germany. It can therefore take between 6 and 12 years for a diagnosis to be made before treatment can begin.

What's more, there is almost no research funding available from politicians, amounting to 400,000 euros. Dr. Kathrin Pohlig, partner at the Kinderwunschzentrum im Tal, explained that pregnancy is possible despite endometriosis. Pregnancy causes the pain to recede into the background, although it can return after the birth, but often in a milder form.

In the discussion that followed, individual participants told their own stories with great consternation and without any shame, which gave an idea of how great the suffering is. Unfortunately, there was no one-size-fits-all solution for those affected yesterday. It is important to take the symptoms seriously and to consult a specialist who is an expert in the field of endometriosis from the outset.

Rarely has an evening at the Academy been as open and depressing on the one hand, but also - thanks to the great expertise of our experts - as confident as on this day. The disease endometriosis must be brought much more into the center of society in order to promote understanding for sufferers. At the same time, politicians are called upon to provide funds for research and education and to declare war on this widespread disease.