Reproductive Health Archives

Could an App Help Diagnose & Treat Endometriosis?

Posted in May 10, 2019 by Kalliopi Goulidou.

Endometriosis is an often painful chronic gynaecological disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of a woman’s uterus grows outside of the uterus. The patient has to live with certain symptoms, like painful periods and ovulation, pain during or after sexual intercourse, heavy bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, fatigue, and infertility over time.

These symptoms can impact on general physical, mental, and social wellbeing. If left untreated, endometriosis can lead to further health complications, painful intercourse and infertility. According to the World Endometriosis Society and the World Endometriosis Research Foundation:

“Endometriosis affects an estimated 1 in 10 women during their reproductive years, which is approximately 176 million women in the world.”

Despite this, there has been little commitment to investing in basic research and there is currently no known cure for endometriosis.

Not only is there no known cure, diagnosis isn’t simple. This is because endometriosis symptoms are often dismissed as ‘just bad periods’. Symptoms can also be similar to those of other diseases.

At Sweden National Finals Creative Business Cup on May 8 2019, Sweden’s top 8 startups within the creative industries pitched their ideas to a ‘jury’ of investors. One of these ideas might just be able to validate under-recognised illnesses such as Endometriosis.

Endometrix

Endometrix is an app that aims to make endometriosis easier to understand. It can provide self-care advice on how to treat symptoms through adequate, accessible and individualised healthcare through the use of technology.

Behind Endometrix is a cool team from Stockholm with backgrounds in bio-entrepreneurship, media & communication and healthcare. Witnessing the inadequate gynaecological care and a lack of everything from validation to awareness, choices and treatment, they created an innovative tailor-made solution for a slow-moving, conservative industry.

“Do not undermine the power of women turning to one another to share their knowledge and emotions with each other. Endometrix was born with this connective mindset. Our vision is that every woman receives adequate care by sharing their experiences and progress with one another.” – Moa Felicia Linder, Co-Founder

“I was told, the only time you look at what someone else has is to see if they have enough. I looked, and found that there wasn’t enough; there has been unequal treatment, unequal pay and unequal care for women. Through Endometrix, I want to change at least one of those things.” – Sushrut Shastri, Co-Founder

“I had an incredible six years helping people working as a registered nurse, but there came a point where I wanted to be able to help people on a larger scale. Ultimately, to provide people with easier access to adequate care. I hope to achieve just that through Endometrix.” – Mitchell Isakka, Co-Founder

At the core of their solution lies the personal experiences of endometriosis of different girls and women. “We sent out the survey to which a lot of people responded and that was the basis for training a machine learning algorithm,” says cofounder Sushrut Shastri. The app uses machine learning, an automated system that uses data to answer questions. By using data from over 700 individuals, Endometrix identifies patterns and teaches themodel to learn how each user manages these symptoms.

Its 80% accuracy reduces the time it takes to reach diagnosis. It has potential to expand to other gynecological conditions, such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Adenomyosis and all sorts of infections.

Machine learning in healthcare is not something new. It has been playing an integral role in for at least 5-10 years. In the case of Endometriosis, the Endometrix app gives users access to information from the experiences of others who are overcoming similar challenges. It also helps to curate a wellness plan (diet, fitness, medication and meditation) and bust myths around endometriosis. “The future of machine learning used in healthcare is to help doctors to work together with doctors”, says cofounder Sushrut Shastri.

Using the full potential of artificial intelligence, and machine learning in particular, often requires addressing certain issues. However, health is fundamentally different from other areas since it concerns the understanding of diseases and treatments.

Machine learning technology can help tremendously with under-recognised disorders like endometriosis and provide doctors with the evidence they need to help girls and women.

Men, Welcome to the World of Contraception

Posted in April 12, 2019 by Maxine Perthel.

Recently, the world was made aware of a study that cleared a contraceptive pill as safe for men. The results of the study indicate that it is possible to decrease sperm production while preserving sexual drive and avoiding serious side effects.

For years, women have been held primarily responsible for birth control and have had to suffer the side effects of various contraceptives. But, it’s 2019 and birth control should exist for everyone! This study shows that the world of sexual and reproductive health and rights could, in the future, be very different to how it is today:

1) Both men and women will be held responsible for wanted, or unwanted pregnancy.

While some people may argue that it is unfair that women have been solely responsible for birth control for so many years, there have been some advantages. With birth control options, women are able to plan for or prevent pregnancy, while men do not have the option to do so as directly. The introduction of a male birth control would ensure both sexes to have a voice in discussions about pregnancy and children.

2) There will be a greater effect on the climate.

Women who take birth control excrete the chemicals as waste and in turn, an increasing presence of these synthetic hormones have been found in soil and water around the world. As with any drug, introducing a male contraceptive would increase the level of chemicals being released into the environment.

3) Men will experience side effects of birth control that women have been experiencing for years.

In the study conducted, men reported a few non-severe side effects as well as side effects that could be seen as deal-breakers for taking the pill. The non-severe effects included fatigue, acne and headaches, and more serious reports were made of loss of muscle mass, hair loss, decrease in libido and erectile dysfunction.

Many women will find this ironic, as female contraception methods have historically had many side effects but have never been seen as ‘unsafe’ for consumption. Side effects for women can include blood clots, weight gain, increased risk of certain cancers and mental illness.

We are still a long way away from the introduction of a male contraception – but it is on the horizon!

I believe that allowing both men and women to make active choices to either prevent or achieve pregnancy will give many people more control over their lives, sexual health and safety.

In Conversation with Kizanne James

Posted in February 12, 2019 by Girls' Globe.

Let us introduce you to Kizanne James. Kizanne is a physician from Trinidad & Tobago working on reproductive health and rights.

In this conversation with Girls’ Globe, Kizanne speaks about the challenges she has faced as a woman – and especially as a black woman – working in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Caribbean.

“We were taught that if you had sex or you had a boy touch you, it’s like a tomato – the more that a boy touches you the less valuable you would be. And that’s not the same narrative for boys.”

Kizanne explains that it’s being grounded in her values that helps her to handle difficult circumstances. In the face of negativity or even hateful abuse from those who disagree with her, knowing her work and advocacy empowers women and girls to make decisions about their own lives keeps her motivated.

“Regardless of what I may be feeling, or the negative voices or concerns people may have…I feel like I’m on the right side.”

This video was made possible through a generous grant from SayItForward.org to support women’s advocacy messages.

If you liked this post, we think you’ll love our conversations with Kinga, Winfred, Scarlett, Natasha & Tasneem, too!

Women in Rural Zimbabwe are Being Left Behind

Posted in November 14, 2018 by Yunah Bvumbwe.

Being a young woman living in a rural or remote community can be very daunting. You have to fight tirelessly to loosen yourself from the grip of sociocultural stigmatization to have any sense of autonomy over your sexuality.

The situation is worsened by the absence of easy access to modern family planning methods. The problem lies in the fact that when coming up with sexual and reproductive interventions for women and adolescents, our governments still rely on ‘a one size fits all’ approach.

But women in rural areas have different lifestyles and challenges than women living in urban communities.

When it comes to sexual and reproductive health, one size fits all really makes no sense. One size fits all isn’t good enough.

In Zimbabwe, the fact that young women and adolescents in rural and remote communities are still struggling to access modern family planning methods – or even comprehensive sex education – is overlooked. These issues are still regarded as taboo, and in my community you can’t talk openly about them.

It’s a different scenario for women and adolescents in urban communities within Zimbabwe. In urban areas, it’s possible to access both information and services through youth friendly centres, Non Governmental Organisations and other diverse forums.

I believe that women can only enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and rights if they have access to relevant services and supplies – including access to contraceptives and accurate information on how to use them – regardless of geographical area or socioeconomic status.

The government of Zimbabwe is committed to ensuring improved availability of and access to quality integrated family planning services for all women irrespective of age, marital status and their geographical location by the year 2020.

A sizeable number of interventions have been made. For example, we now have an ambassador for Family Planning to advocate for family planning. This is a great initiative, but in rural areas this ambassador is not visible, and so issues are misrepresented! This type of intervention is relative – it primarily benefits the adolescents and young women in urban areas the brand ambassador is engaging with – which makes it an unfit approach for women collectively.

I believe that this kind of intervention leaves a lot of women behind.

A large percentage of Zimbabwean women are in rural communities. Adolescents and young women in rural areas need interventions they can relate to – services that resonate with their particular reality and their existing level of understanding.

As much as there have been family planning and contraceptive outreach services, it is still absurd that in rural areas adolescents and young women continue to have unwanted pregnancies and new cases of HIV infections. The reason behind this is a lack of positive and affirmative approaches towards women’s sexuality.

From my experience in a rural area, the healthcare service providers are not youth friendly and they tend to have a negative perception of young women trying to access family planning. As a result, adolescents and young women shy away from these health centres as they don’t trust the service providers.

This is very disturbing, as trust should be one of the core values health service providers should strive to uphold at all times. I believe that it would be a great idea for genuinely youth friendly centres to be established in rural and remote areas. This would encourage adolescents and young women to seek out sexual education and feel comfortable asking questions about the family planning methods that will work best for them. It would also help conservative rural communities to recognize family planning as not only a priority, but also a right.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and adolescents in rural communities should be prioritized in Zimbabwe, and the government must be held accountable for delivering meaningful and diverse approaches in tackling the family planning challenges our country faces. Without this, achieving the FP2020 targets will not be possible.