For the nearly 200 million women and girls worldwide who suffer from endometriosis, the introduction of hormone-free treatments would be a game changer. MSU researchers are working to make this happen.
For many patients, each menstrual cycle brings days of excruciating pain that leads to missed work, school and social activities. Their suffering is compounded because endometriosis can take years to diagnosis.
Typically, this condition is treated by hormone-based medications, which have side effects and don’t allow patients to become pregnant.
“For well over 100 years, doctors have been trying to understand endometriosis,” said Asgerally Fazleabas, University Distinguished Professor and associate chair of research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology in the MSU College of Human Medicine. “We can’t yet cure endometriosis; we can only suppress it. The two main consequences of the disease are pain and difficulty getting pregnant. Our existing drug treatments only offer two choices: birth control pills or medically induced menopause. Neither is compatible with pregnancy.”