"Many are ashamed and don't ask." Endometriosis is a disabling disease that is still little known, also due to the reluctance to reveal its symptoms. This was also demonstrated by the event, promoted yesterday by Nhood and the Alice Endomarch association, in the Porte di Sassari centre.

«15 percent of women in the world», declares Elena Crobu, the association's representative for Sardinia, «suffer from the pathology». Which is a chronic inflammation of the female genital organs, caused by the presence of the endometrium, usually inside the uterine cavity, outside the uterus. «It proliferates like tumor cells», explains Dr. Stefania Mulas, nutritional biologist, «and affects people from a young age».

And here the volunteers, in front of the many women who stopped to get information, dispel a myth: «Menstruation does not have to be painful. If they are so bad that they can't get out of bed, that should raise alarm bells."

However, it is difficult to know why girls can end up with gynecologists who do not treat the pathology and, among other things, often send their mothers forward to ask. «Endometriosis», adds Crobu, «becomes dangerous also because it is diagnosed on average 4/5 years late. And unfortunately at the moment there is no cure."

The topic is taboo, as demonstrated by Alice's meetings in schools. «We bring», the volunteers clarify, «a comic that addresses the topic. But when you talk about it with young people, it's very embarrassing." This is why they think of a way to connect with the association anonymously. "It is important to raise awareness among males too because they too can do their part in helping and understanding."