Undiagnosed disease means women in UAE are suffering in silence, say doctors



DUBAI // A lack of knowledge about a disease that can cause infertility in women means only about 100,000 are being treated in the UAE, while many more are thought to be suffering in silence, doctors have warned.

Specialists from across the Arabian Gulf have met to discuss a campaign to raise awareness of endometriosis. The disease is the biggest cause of infertility in women and affects 176 million worldwide.

Although there is no known cure, hormonal treatments such as the oral contraceptive pill can help.

It is estimated up to 10 per cent of women in the UAE experience the condition during their reproductive years, but just 100,000 have been diagnosed.

By comparison, 2 million women were found to be sufferers in both Egypt and Britain.

The disease occurs when hormones during the menstrual cycle cause tissue from the uterus to grow outside the womb.

Dr Naglaa Rizk, a consultant gynaecologist at Al Zahra Hospital, Dubai, said once women recognise the symptoms they can then get help to avoid complications.

“We would like to show the benefits of the use of oral family planning methods to alleviate some of the issues that women face and allow them to live a healthy, productive life,” she said.

“Painful menstruation could be a sign of endometriosis. We need to find out what is causing the long-term pain before we can make a full diagnosis.

“There are multiple theories of the cause, but there are many cases in the Middle East, possibly due to genetics.”

During the awareness drive, women will be offered information on endometriosis at Latifa Hospital in Dubai, Al Qassimi in Sharjah, Corniche in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Tawam and private hospitals including Medcare, Al Zahra, Saudi German Hospital in Dubai, Health Plus in Abu Dhabi and Al Noor.

Cultural issues could be preventing women from asking for help, with some preferring to suffer in silence.

Dr Sony Singh, vice chairman at the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Ottawa Hospital in Canada, said it is important to educate doctors and patients.

“If menstrual pain is bad enough for a young girl to miss school or work, it is a problem. Ten years of pain is not normal, yet some women ignore it and live with it. It is a very personal issue.”

Some women are reluctant to talk to their GP and must be encouraged to do so, he said.

While use of the pill can reduce the risk, doctors have said in extreme cases it can cause blood clots, deep-vein thrombosis, heart attacks and strokes.

Women who are smokers, and over 35, are said to be particularly vulnerable, as are those with a history of breast cancer.

A daily prescription of the pill contains a combination of hormones that prevent pregnancy, with those who take the medication having up to a 60 per cent less chance of developing endometriosis, up to 80 per cent less risk from ovarian cancer and up to a 40 per cent less chance of contracting colorectal cancer.

Dr Lee Shulman, head of clinical genetics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, warned against mixed messages discouraging women from taking the pill.

“We usually notice a general tendency to focus on the risk factors associated with oral pills, without background knowledge and low awareness of the benefits,” he said.

“We can target that with the benefits of contraception and the reduction in cancer risk.”

nwebster@thenational.ae

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
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  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
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Company profile

Date started: January, 2014

Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe

Based: Dubai

Sector: Education technology

Size: Five employees

Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.

Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)

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US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:

Louisiana Purchase

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Florida Purchase Treaty

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Alaska purchase

America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of  Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".

The Philippines

At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million. 

US Virgin Islands

It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.

Gwadar

The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees. 

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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

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Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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