Childhood trauma linked to higher risk of endometriosis, study finds

Women who experience trauma or hardship in childhood may have up to twice the risk of developing endometriosis later in life, new research has found.

A study involving more than 1.3 million women found those exposed to violence in childhood were over twice as likely to be diagnosed with the condition compared to those who were not.

The risk of endometriosis was 20 per cent higher in women who experienced any form of childhood adversity and rose to 60 per cent among those with five or more adverse experiences.

The research, conducted in Sweden, analysed data from women born between 1974 and 2001. More than 24,000 of them had received a diagnosis of endometriosis.

Researchers used national health and social records to examine childhood circumstances.

Factors included having parents with mental illness, intellectual disability, financial hardship or substance misuse, being born to a teenage parent, experiencing bereavement, or being exposed to violence or sexual abuse.

All factors studied—except bereavement—were linked to an increased risk of developing endometriosis in later life.

Marika Rostvall is first author of the study and a physician and doctoral student at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet.

The researcher said: “We also saw that the more adverse experiences in childhood, the higher the risk. Among those who had five or more factors, the risk increased to 60 per cent.”

The most significant increase was seen in women who had been exposed to violence, who had more than double the risk of being diagnosed with endometriosis.

Rostvall said: “The results suggest that early life experiences can affect the body’s health much later in life and highlight the importance of looking at the whole person, not just the symptoms.

“The findings are also in line with previous research showing that difficulties in childhood have profound consequences for future health.”

While the biological mechanism is not yet fully understood, Rostvall suggested two possible explanations.

One is that stress during childhood may impair immune system function, reducing its ability to remove endometrial tissue from the body.

Another is that trauma could increase sensitivity to pain, making symptoms more likely to be noticed and diagnosed.

Rostvall said: “I hope that the findings can be used to improve both preventive measures and treatment in healthcare,” she added.

As the study is observational, it does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship.