MP opens up on 30-year fight for period healthcare

MP opens up on 30-year fight for period healthcare3 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleIsaac AsheEast MidlandsUK ParliamentGirls and young women need to be confident to speak up about period problems, said MP Jo White"It took 30 years before I got the treatment that I needed."A Labour MP has opened up about her own battle with debilitating periods and blood loss, as she calls for endometriosis diagnosis and treatment waiting times to be prioritised by the NHS.In an interview with Politics East Midlands, Bassetlaw MP Jo White revealed it took three decades before she got the help she needed and that, years on, similar delays continue to have a significant impact on women's lives.A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson previously said the government was determined to speed up diagnosis of endometriosis. Endometriosis affects one in 10 women in the UK and is often a painful condition in which cells similar to those lining the womb grow elsewhere in the body.But it can take an average of nine years to get a diagnosis.White told the programme: "Women suffer every month, knowing that certain days of the month you're going to have to stay at home or you're going to have a very difficult time at work."For women to have to go through life like that is not good."I very much welcome the revised NICE [National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] guidelines that say that women who present with complaints regarding their periods should be referred to scanning very, very quickly."Getty ImagesSymptoms can include heavy periods or severe period pain, and pain in your stomach, lower back or pelvic area, among othersEndometriosis symptoms can be severe and wide-ranging - from very heavy periods to extreme tiredness and abdominal pain - often mimicking other conditions.People frequently end up undergoing several tests, including ultrasounds and sometimes MRI scans, but these standard scans do not always pick up on...