researchers create a saliva test to detect it

It is a big step forward. Endometriosis affects the life of one in 10 French people, or 2.5 million women across France. And internationally, the number is considerable: 180 million. This disease, which can make you infertile, sometimes takes on significant proportions in women’s health. Like Enora Malagré and Léna Dunham, American actress Amy Schumer has recently paid the price. In a video posted on her Instagram account, she explains from her hospital bed that she had her uterus and appendix removed. Removals necessary because his two organs were too damaged with no less than 30 endometriosis points.

This painful and complex disease is one of the least well diagnosed syndromes. The reason ? Too long a waiting time, seven years on average, between the onset of symptoms and a full diagnosis. Currently under study, French researchers have just found a diagnostic solution that could change the lives of patients. A team from Tenon Hospital in Paris created a saliva test to detect the disease in a few days. According to their first tests, the reliability of this test would be “Greater than 95%”.

Are these saliva tests coming soon?

Asked by CNews, François Golfier, head of the gynecology and oncology department of the CHU de Lyon-Sud, speaks of a “Innovation that should transform the diagnosis of endometriosis” millions of women around the world. “Until now, to tell a woman whether or not she has the disease, it often has to be operated on because the reference imaging, the MRI, does not see all forms of endometriosis”, he explains. This saliva test would be carried out from one’s own home. The people doing it would then just have to mail it back and receive the results a few days later. At the start of 2021, the Endo Ziwig platform, at the origin of this creation, sent a free questionnaire to 15,000 patients. Among them, 200 women were going to undergo an operation and agreed to take a saliva sample.

For François Golfier, this scientific breakthrough could also be used to diagnose cancers. “We plan to explore this method to detect gynecological cancers as well.” For now, Ziwig Health is waiting to receive the necessary authorizations for the marketing of the tests.