Suffering from endometriosis increases the risk of early death: what we know

What is the link between endometriosis, uterine fibroids and life expectancy? Patients with endometriosis or uterine fibroids have a slightly higher risk of dying before age 70 due to associated conditions, such as certain cancers, according to a new study.

“Endometriosis and uterine fibroids (are) associated, in the long term, with a greater risk of early mortality”explain the authors of the study published in the British Medical Journal this Thursday, November 21.

Also read: What is gynecological health leave, established by the city of Strasbourg?

A study carried out on 100,000 women

This work was carried out using a cohort of women who were regularly followed for around thirty years. This type of study, even if it cannot establish a cause and effect link, is generally very solid.

Here, the people included in the study are 100,000 American nurses, whose health status has been measured every two years since 1989.

From these data, the researchers established that patients with endometriosis and uterine fibroids were slightly more likely to die before the age of 70, a threshold that they define as that of early death.

Pathologies associated with endometriosis and uterine fibroids

This risk is explained by the already known existence of pathologies more frequently associated with endometriosis and uterine fibroids. For the latter, it mainly concerns certain cancers, while for endometriosis, the range of risks is broader with, for example, certain respiratory diseases.

The risk of dying early remains relatively low for patients. For endometriosis, it is thus multiplied by 1.19 compared to patients who are not affected by these pathologies.

Towards better care?

But the data underline the importance of taking into account the existence of these disorders during routine examinations, for example carried out by general practitioners, emphasize the authors.

This work takes place in a context where women’s health is the subject of greater attention from researchers and policy makers.

This is particularly the case for endometriosis, a chronic disease which affects around one in ten women and usually results in severe pain during periods and/or fertility problems.