In the frame of the World Endometriosis Day we talked with Prof. Dr. Engin Oral about Endometriosis Society, its aims and goals. While talking with numbers Engin Oral told women ‘not to ignore’ their symptoms.

Endometriosis&Adenomyosis Society, which was found in 2009, is working on different projects to draw attention to the disease in the frame of the World Endometriosis Day on March 24th, 2018. Prof. Dr. Engin Oral, the vice-president of the society says that there are about 2 million women with endometriosis in Turkey. We asked him about the disease, its symptoms such as pelvic pain, studies which are conducted on chocolate cysts and society’s activities. Oral says we are open to working with official institutions.

What does the Endometriosis Society think about the awareness level of women in Turkey on the subject of chocolate cysts?

Not only in Turkey but all around the world the awareness level is very low. In UK only about 20% know about this disease. 

When in UK the awareness level is so low it is not hard to guess the situation in Turkey. In our country, it is about 5%. Thus, as the society we have to work harder and increase our activities in order to make this disease well known.

Each year last Saturday of March is Endometriosis Day. Could you tell us the activities you as the society have planned for this day?

The activities that aim to inform patients are without a doubt the most important ones. Last year for the first time with the help of Kadikoy municipality, we organized a public awareness meeting. This meeting was widely covered by the press. This year we have also organized similar activities. 

First, we participated in the Eker I Run which took place in Bursa. While some of our physicians joined the run, we put up a stand where we talked and informed the people who came to watch or join this run. Also in the Istanbul Marathon, our young colleagues tried draw attention to the disease. With the help of Public, Children, Adolescent, Women and Reproductive Health Division of the Ministry of Health we organized a lecture on ‘Endometriosis- Chronic Pelvic Pain- Dysmenorrhea’ where we informed about 200 general practitioners on this subject. We have started with these activities before march. This month we share informational videos on social media.

 

PROF. DR. ENGIN ORAL: CHOCOLATE CYST IS VERY COMMON AMONG WOMEN

How common is chocolate cyst among women?

One out of 10 women has it. Worldwide about 180 million and in Turkey about 2 million women have endometriosis. In special cases, we encounter this disease more often. For example, 40% of the women who come to us because of infertility have endometriosis. Same as 40-50% of women with chronic pelvic pain have this disease.

You represent Turkey in the field of endometriosis in a lot of international meetings. This is a great achievement. Could you tell us about the society’s international activities?

Our society is small and specializes on only one these. However, since its foundation in 2009 we have hosted and participated in a lot of meetings worldwide. We hosted in Istanbul 2nd Asian Endometriosis Congress and European Reproductive Medicine Society’s Endometriosis Meeting. We also hosted an international meeting on one of the most problematic subjects of endometriosis which is deep infiltrative endometriosis. Our lecturers and physician gave talks and organized courses at the 2nd and 3rd European Endometriosis League which were held in Berlin and Budapest respectively. In 2017, we organized a course at the World Endometriosis Congress in Canada and shared our knowledge on the subject with our colleagues from around the world. On April 20-21st, 2018 we are going to organize 1st Istanbul Chronic Pelvic Pain Symposium.

 

ENDOMETRIOSİS&ADENOMYOSIS SOCIETY IS GEARING UP

What are the society’s expectations from official institutions?

Our society has been conducting activities to increase awareness among our colleagues, our patients and among the rest of the population. We have social media accounts (Facebook: endometriozis türkiye, Instagram: endometriozis_tr) and also a website (www.endometriozis.org). We constantly upload most up-to-date information. But of course, if we had a chance to work with official institutions on national and international basis we would be moving faster towards our goal. So far, we had a slow relationship with the official institutions, but as the society we are open to joint projects and organizations. We are planning to work on informing the public and increase the public knowledge on this disease.

 

Prof. Dr. Engin Oral

Vice-president of Endometriosis&Adenomyosis Society

Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology and IVF