A Surprising Cause Of Endometriosis Could Lead To Cure

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Since the age of nine or ten, Katie Burns 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 Meredith Wadman about that discovery, which points to a surprising culprit of endometriosis — the immune system.

Read Meredith’s full piece in Science Magazine HERE.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Rachel Martin. I'm the host of Wildcard from NPR. For a lot of my years as a radio host,
0:06.6	silence sort of made me nervous. That pause before an answer, because you don't know what's going
0:11.9	on on the other side of the mic. But these days, I love it. Hmm. Ah. Gosh. Give me a minute. Yeah,
0:19.5	yeah. Think. Listen to the Wildcard podcast only from NPR.
0:24.4	You're listening to Shortwave.
0:27.2	From NPR.
0:29.8	When Katie Burns was a kid, she remembers being sicker than her brother and sister.
0:34.6	More colds, more sinus infections, more ear infections than my brother and sister.
0:40.2	Then the abdominal pain started when she was around 10.
0:44.3	It was so bad she went to the emergency room thinking it was appendicitis.
0:48.4	But the doctors ruled that out.
0:49.8	And they sent me home.
0:51.1	And then I remember from there on having more and more pain, but it wasn't
0:56.1	really until I started menstruating that kind of my whole world was just completely shifted upside
1:02.6	down. Katie has endometriosis, a disease where the tissue that lines the inside of the
1:10.0	uterus grows outside of the uterus,
1:12.7	often causing debilitating pain and fertility issues. Because of her pain, Katie avoided making friends
1:18.7	for fear of having to cancel plans. It didn't live, I don't think, as a normal teenager.
1:27.3	Growing up, the adults around Katie told her the pain was normal, that they were growing
1:32.0	pains, and to ignore it.
1:34.4	You would get your period and it would hurt, and you move on with life.
1:38.0	And that's what I did.
	...

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