When Health Care Goes 'Below The Belt' - Editorial
Think of 10 women in your life. If one of them—your mother, daughter, sister, wife, friend or colleague—was diagnosed with a disease so prevalent that it afflicts the same percentage of American women as diabetes, you might logically assume that it should be relatively easy to access treatment and care. After all, diabetes research receives billions in funding, so surely a disease with the same prevalence will be similarly funded, right?
Unfortunately, that is not the case for the estimated 190 million girls, women and people assigned female at birth who suffer from endometriosis, a widespread reproductive health issue for which there is no known cure or cause, and little to no research. In fact, although it is among the most common of diseases, it typically takes an individual suffering from endometriosis 10 years and eight different doctors to even receive an accurate diagnosis, and the treatment that follows is a whole different battle.
Many of our readers have perhaps never heard of endometriosis before, and that is okay; they are not alone. It is for this very reason that the Enterprise is proud to be sponsoring a film screening of a groundbreaking documentary that sheds light on this very topic.
We would like to cordially invite our readers to join us at Falmouth Academy at 6:30 PM on Monday, August 7, for a screening of “Below The Belt: The Last Health Taboo,” a documentary that follows four women with endometriosis in their quest for adequate treatment, accessible care and knowledgeable doctors who will listen to and respond seriously to women within a healthcare system that has ignored them for far too long.
Note that “taboo” is right there in the film’s title. It is not hard to guess why—women’s bodies themselves are often taboo, and discussing the unmentionables of female reproductive health is beyond the pale of societal norms.
This thinking, however, is exactly why this disease is a silent public health crisis that is shattering lives across the globe. In the newspaper business, disseminating information and fostering education within our community is what we do; this is no different, although it may seem somewhat taboo. This documentary directly combats the culture of not talking, and therefore not knowing, about endometriosis. It might be uncomfortable, but important work often is.
Endometriosis is an inflammatory chronic pain condition that wreaks havoc on the bodies in which it lives and occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, and it can literally pop up anywhere—most commonly in the bowels, bladder, intestines, ovaries and other pelvic structures. In more widespread cases it has been found in the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts, lungs and central nervous system. This tissue behaves similarly to uterine tissue, so the growths and lesions formed from it thicken, bleed and break down as uterine tissue does during a woman’s menstrual cycle, also known as a period. If that sounds sort of like internal bleeding, that’s because it essentially is.
The disease’s comprehensive nature means that symptoms can manifest in a number of ways, the most common of which include crippling chronic pain, pelvic and/or menstrual cramping, back pain, fatigue and abnormal menses. Comorbidities are common, and delayed diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis account for roughly 50 percent of infertility cases, all of which could have been prevented with proper care.
And in terms of funding a 2022 study found that endometriosis funding from the National Institutes of Health accounted for 0.038 percent of the overall budget—$16 million to research a disease that has an estimated annual cost of $119 billion in lost wages and associated medical costs in the United States alone.
There is much more to say about endometriosis and it cannot all be done here, so please consider joining us on August 7 at Falmouth Academy’s Simon Center for the Arts to watch “Below The Belt” and learn more about endometriosis. The film screening will be preceded by a reception and followed by a Q&A/discussion period.
Executive producers of “Below The Belt” include Rosario Dawson, Hillary Clinton, Corinne Foxx and Mae Whitman. The film features US Senators Elizabeth Warren and the late Orrin Hatch and is backed by renowned organizations such as Harvard Medical School, MIT, Yale University, the Mayo Clinic and others. Together, these groups and individuals created a documentary that shines a light on endometriosis, treating it as a matter of public health. As a news organization, we see the importance of promoting this education and we hope you do, too.
Our event is free to attend; refreshments will be available and optional donations to fund endometriosis research will be accepted. More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page, which can be easily accessed through any of our Facebook pages or website.
It will be a wonderful, community-filled evening that will open the door to understanding an extremely common disease that has been essentially pushed under the rug. We look forward to seeing you there.