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Credit: Curated Lifestyle for Unsplash+<\/p>\n Credit: Curated Lifestyle for Unsplash+<\/p>\n
Two new rapid tests, EndoSure and Endotest, can drastically reduce the wait time for a proper diagnosis of endometriosis\u2014from an average nine-year wait to just days.<\/p>\n
The saliva test just approved for use by the UK\u2019s national health system, NHS, is being called \u201cgame-changing\u201d by experts in the field of endometriosis.<\/p>\n
Guidance issued this month says doctors can now use two new non-invasive diagnostic tests, which will be funded by the NHS while researchers collect more data on their success rate.<\/p>\n
The Endotest analyses a saliva sample for tiny biological markers called microRNAs, which can indicate whether endometriosis is likely present. The 45-minute EndoSure test detects endometriosis by measuring electrical signals in the gut using sensor pads on the abdomen after the patient has fasted.<\/p>\n
Endometriosis affects around one in ten women of reproductive age in the UK. It\u2019s a painful condition wherein cells like those in the womb grow in other parts of the body. Perhaps worst of all, the average wait time until a definitive diagnosis is more than nine years.<\/p>\n
Until now, it was diagnosed using a laparoscopy procedure carried out under general anesthesia and involves the insertion of a small camera through a tiny cut in the abdomen to look inside the pelvis for signs of the condition.<\/p>\n
Announcing the new tests, Dr. Anastasia Chalkidou explained why reducing the wait time is so important.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat delay means living with chronic pelvic pain\u2026 These technologies have the potential to change that by allowing earlier and better treatment quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ami Robertson, 23, experienced symptoms of endometriosis at age 16, but was repeatedly told she had irritable bowel syndrome.<\/p>\n
She was finally diagnosed using the non-invasive tests, enabling her to access treatment for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent years being told my pain was something else entirely. I started to doubt myself, wondering if it was all in my head,\u201d said the Pilates instructor from Glasgow, Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I finally had the test, it took less than an hour and gave me something I\u2019d never had before: concrete evidence I could take to my doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, I was believed, and I could finally get the help I needed. Today my quality of life is night and day compared to before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simran Chavda, 15 (pictured below with her mom), began experiencing severe pelvic pain at 13, but repeated doctor visits failed to identify the cause. Her mother, a GP, Dr. Sharan Uppal, said having the non-invasive test finally gave them the evidence they needed to push for a referral and, ultimately, a diagnosis of widespread endometriosis.<\/p>\n
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Simran Chavda with her mother Dr. Sharan Uppal \u2013 SWNS<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting my diagnosis honestly felt like the best thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe test itself was easy, it wasn\u2019t painful at all\u2014just drinking water and being monitored. Really simple. And I\u2019m already starting to feel better after my surgery. I know I\u2019m not going to be in pain all the time, and that means everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Symptoms of endometriosis include heavy menstrual bleeding, fatigue, pain when urinating, pelvic pain, difficulty getting pregnant, and painful bowel movements.<\/p>\n
For Ebony Dowdell who had periods that lasted as long as four months, it took eight years for her to get a diagnosis and treatment for her endometriosis.<\/p>\n
She had a laparoscopy procedure in July 2024 but was still not officially diagnosed until she saw further professionals.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old from Southampton had robotic-assisted endometriosis excision laparoscopy surgery to remove her endometriosis in April 2025, but believes if she\u2019d had a quicker diagnosis it wouldn\u2019t have gotten to that stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a diagnosis makes you feel human, you know it is not in my head and you are not crazy. A quicker diagnosis system would make a huge difference to people, and younger people would be getting diagnosed earlier too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Endotest saliva sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis, but the EndoSure results, derived from electrical signals in the gut, are available as soon as the 45-minute test is complete.<\/p>\n