Why Endometriosis First
Endometriosis affects millions of women and takes nearly a decade to diagnose. Understanding what it is, and why it is so hard to identify, is the first step toward changing that.
healthcare costs,
and delayed care.
What Is Endometriosis?
Every month, the lining of the uterus builds up and then sheds during a menstrual period. In endometriosis, tissue that acts like that lining grows in places it should not be, outside the uterus.
This tissue responds to hormones the same way the uterine lining does. It builds up, breaks down, and bleeds with each cycle. But because it has no way to leave the body, it becomes trapped. Over time, this causes inflammation, scarring, and adhesions, a process where organs can literally become stuck to one another.
Endometriosis can grow on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, the tissue lining the pelvis, the bowel, the bladder, and in some cases, organs well beyond the pelvis. Wherever it grows, it triggers an inflammatory response.
It is not just "bad period pain." It is a chronic, whole-body inflammatory disease.
Endometriosis is not a minor condition. In its most severe form, it behaves similarly to cancer in the way it invades surrounding tissue, infiltrates organs, and is extremely difficult to fully remove. Unlike cancer, it is not malignant, but the destruction it causes to surrounding structures can be profound and permanent.
It is one of the leading causes of infertility. It is associated with chronic pain that can be severe enough to affect work, relationships, and daily functioning. Many women live with it for years before receiving a diagnosis, and many more go undiagnosed entirely.
There is currently no cure. Treatment can manage symptoms and in some cases slow disease progression, but the disease frequently returns after any intervention, including surgery. The goal of Veridyn is to change how early this disease is caught, so that women have more options, sooner.
Three Types of Lesions
Endometriosis is grouped into three types based on where the tissue grows and how deep it goes. A person can have one type or all three at the same time.
Surface Lesions
Superficial peritoneal endometriosisSmall spots of tissue grow on the inner surface of the abdomen and the outer walls of the pelvic organs. They can look like tiny red, brown, black, or clear specks, often only a few millimeters across, similar to freckles.
Despite being the most common type, these lesions are almost always invisible on ultrasound and MRI. A surgical camera is the only way to see and confirm them.
Found in approximately 80% of endometriosis diagnoses.
Ovarian Cysts
Also called chocolate cysts or endometriomasWhen endometrial-like tissue grows on the ovaries, it forms cysts that fill with old, dark blood that has nowhere to drain. They can affect one or both ovaries and range in size from very small to roughly the size of a grapefruit.
Over time, these cysts damage the ovarian tissue around them, directly threatening the eggs stored there and reducing fertility.
Found in 17 to 44% of women with endometriosis, and up to 50% of those being treated for infertility.
Deep Infiltrating
Also called DIEThis tissue does not sit on the surface. It grows deep into the organs themselves, the bowel, the bladder, the tissue between the vagina and rectum, and sometimes further. It invades and destroys whatever it attaches to.
In the way it infiltrates and damages surrounding tissue, deep infiltrating endometriosis has been compared to cancer. It is not malignant, but the harm it causes can be permanent.
Affects approximately 25% of women with endometriosis and is the most difficult form to remove surgically.
How much pain someone feels does not always match how much disease is present or how deep it has grown.
We Deserve Better
Endometriosis affects millions of women in the United States and an estimated nearly 190 million worldwide. Yet diagnosis often takes many years. For women in under-resourced communities, that delay is frequently even longer.
Despite how common it is, endometriosis has historically received far less scientific attention than other conditions with comparable impact. The result is a disease that is widespread, under-researched, and chronically under-diagnosed.
Women's health has been historically underfunded, under-researched, and underestimated. Endometriosis is one of the clearest examples of what that costs.
Infertility Overlap
Half of women experiencing infertility have endometriosis. It is one of the leading causes of infertility, and most do not know it.
Women Worldwide
About 10% of all women of reproductive age. Most remain undiagnosed for years.
Annual US Economic Burden
Lost productivity, healthcare costs, and surgical expenses. One of the costliest chronic conditions in women's health.
Higher Odds
Women experiencing infertility are 3.6 times more likely to have endometriosis than women without fertility challenges.
The Diagnostic Reality
On average, 7 to 10 years pass between first symptoms and a confirmed diagnosis. Each step below adds time while the disease continues to progress.
Painful periods, pelvic pain, pain during sex, fatigue. Frequently dismissed as normal or attributed to other causes for years.
Primary care, OB/GYN, gastroenterology, urology. Most will not immediately consider endometriosis. Years can pass before it is even suggested.
Routine ultrasound usually returns normal. Superficial lesions are too small to detect on any imaging. A normal result does not mean nothing is there.
Hormonal therapies and pain medication, often for years, before a diagnosis is confirmed. Symptoms may be suppressed. The disease continues.
Laparoscopy remains the only definitive confirmation. Excision by a skilled surgeon is the gold standard. It does not guarantee lasting relief, and many patients require more than one procedure.
On ablation: Ablation only removes surface tissue and frequently leaves disease behind. Recurrence is common. Most patients are not told this before the procedure.
Conditions That Look the Same
One of the biggest reasons diagnosis takes so long is that endometriosis shares its main symptoms with several other common conditions. Without a definitive test, doctors often have to rule them out one by one.
Adenomyosis
Similar to endometriosis, but the tissue grows into the muscle wall of the uterus itself rather than outside it. It causes heavy, painful periods and pelvic pressure. The two conditions often occur together, making clinical separation especially difficult without a targeted test.
Uterine Fibroids
Non-cancerous growths in or on the uterus. They can cause pelvic pain, heavy periods, and a feeling of fullness or pressure. Very common and frequently confused with endometriosis in women presenting with pelvic pain.
Other Conditions
Pelvic inflammatory disease, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and ovarian cysts can all produce symptoms that overlap significantly with endometriosis. Without a test that can distinguish between them, the diagnostic path remains slow and frustrating.
A molecular diagnostic capable of distinguishing endometriosis from these conditions from a routine sample would not just shorten the diagnostic timeline. It would reshape how pelvic pain is evaluated entirely.
A gap that runs deeper than the disease itself
Diagnostic delay in endometriosis is not just a medical problem. It reflects real differences in how patients are heard, how symptoms are interpreted, and what resources people have access to. Research has documented that time to diagnosis is shaped by socioeconomic context, insurance status, geographic access to care, and differences in how pelvic pain is evaluated across different healthcare settings.
Women from historically underrepresented communities experience higher rates of symptom dismissal and longer paths to a confirmed diagnosis. These are structural gaps in the healthcare system.
For a non-invasive test to actually improve outcomes, it has to work reliably for everyone. Veridyn's validation is structured from the beginning to confirm that the diagnostic performs consistently across diverse populations. That is a design requirement, not an afterthought.
A Clear Place to Begin
Endometriosis is the first target because improving its diagnosis would have immediate, measurable impact for millions of people. The diagnostic delay is well documented. The unmet need is vast. The scientific questions are meaningful.
Beginning here gives Veridyn the opportunity to build on a condition with a clear gap, while establishing the molecular and clinical foundation that carries forward into additional women's health conditions as the science supports it.
What we learn here becomes the basis for what comes next.
FDA-cleared non-invasive diagnostics for endometriosis exist today. No blood test, no imaging, no non-invasive procedure meets clinical standards.
higher odds of endometriosis among women experiencing infertility, making it one of the most consequential undiagnosed conditions in reproductive medicine.
average from first symptoms to confirmed diagnosis. A decade during which disease progresses, fertility declines, and treatment options narrow.