Endometrios : En osteologisk studie om möjliga patologiska förändringar i skelettet

Endometriosis is a common chronic disease that effects approximately 10–15% of the women in today’s society. However, there is a lack of research that examines if endometriosis produces pathological changes in the skeleton. This thesis addresses the association between the osteological discipline and endometriosis.The primary purpose of this thesis is to test a hypothesis which was created during a previous paper. In order to test the hypothesis, it’s fundamental to analyze female pelvises and to see if endometriosis is detectable in the skeleton and leaves pathological changes in the shape of discoloration. The source material includes 39 female pelvic bones that are available at the medical history museum in Uppsala, Sweden. The collection includes 22 pelvic bones from individuals of Swedish descent and 17 pelvic bones from individuals of diverse foreign descent. This thesis also focuses on mental illness in association with endometriosis among historical women. The analysis of pelvic bones showed that 8 of them had pathological changes in the shape of discoloration. The analysis also demonstrated how women, in today’s- and historical society, was affected mentally and socially. The discussion includes how the skeleton is affected by endometriosis and how osteologist can trace the disease if it isn’t visible in the skeleton. The discussion also includes how historical women was mentally affected by the disease and if we can reach the mental illness through modern women. The study also demonstrates how women was affected economically.Currently, there is not enough research in order to prove the hypothesis about pathological changes in the shape of discoloration. We need more research to further investigate the hypothesis. To continue further investigation of the hypothesis, we need to examine modern patients diagnosed with endometriosis.