Join us as Dr. Leah Hechtman, PhD examines endometriosis, a condition that affects an estimated 10% of women yet can still take 7 to 10 years to be diagnosed. Drawing on three decades of researching the condition, she presents endometriosis as a multisystem condition that reaches well beyond the uterus, one in which hormones are affected as a consequence of the disease rather than being its cause. She explores how endocrine disruption, progesterone resistance, immune activity, microbiome shifts, environmental factors, and trauma-related physiology shape each patient’s presentation.
Through a detailed case study of a young woman with painful periods from her very first menstrual period, six years on the contraceptive pill without symptom relief, and a stage 4 diagnosis more than a decade later, Dr. Hechtman walks through EndoInsight hormone mapping, cortisol assessment, organic acid markers, and toxin evaluation. She shows how those results point to further testing, including serum hormones, a methylation profile, and microbiome testing, and explains how deep infiltrating endometriosis ultrasound and MRI are improving detection. Together, these demonstrate how comprehensive diagnostics reveal the underlying drivers of symptoms and support more accurate clinical decision-making.
- Learn to recognize the common symptoms of endometriosis that should prompt earlier diagnosis, from painful periods to digestive complaints that are often misdiagnosed as IBS.
- Discover how to time test collection to each patient’s menstrual cycle, interpret phase one and phase two estrogen metabolites, and know when results call for further testing.
- Take away practical treatment considerations, including why clearing recirculating estrogen comes before adding bioidentical progesterone, why surgery to remove endometriosis is best reserved for severe cases, and how endometriosis around the uterus and ovaries can affect fertility.
