Since the age of nine or ten, <a href="https://med.uc.edu/depart/eh/directory/entire-directory/Index/Pubs/burns2ki"target="_blank" >Katie Burns</a> has had debilitating pain from endometriosis, a condition where tissue resembling the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. For years, Katie was in the dark about what was causing her pain. Even after a diagnosis at age 20 it was hard to find relief, or even answers about her condition. Her search for better care is part of what led her to a career studying the disease, which affects tens of millions of people worldwide. And in 2012, she discovered something new about its origins. Today, we talk to Katie and science reporter <a href="https://www.science.org/content/author/meredith-wadman"target="_blank" >Meredith Wadman</a> about that discovery, which points to a surprising culprit of endometriosis — the immune system. Read Meredith’s full piece in <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/driven-pain-endometriosis-scientist-uncovering-clues-its-causes"target="_blank" >Science Magazine HERE</a>.  Interested in more health science ? Email us your question at <a href="mailto:shortwave@npr.org"target="_blank" >shortwave@npr.org</a>. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/shortwave"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/shortwave</a>. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Podurama

Home

Trending

Personal

Your Podcasts

New Episodes

My Files

Favourite Episodes

Tags (Folders)

Recently Played

Bookmarks

Followed Playlists

A Surprising Cause Of Endometriosis Could Lead To Cure

Short Wave

AI Chapters

AI Insights

Reviews