Endometriosis can finally be diagnosed using a ‘game-changing’ non-invasive treatment

The tests will be used and funded by the NHS (Picture: Getty Images)

Endometriosis affects around one in 10 women of reproductive age in the UK, yet the average time to diagnosis is nearly a decade.

But that is hopefully set to change, with the introduction of a game-changing test aiming to give women faster access to treatment.

In a draft guidance issued by NICE, the independent body that advises the NHS on treatment, two new non-invasive diagnostic tests can now be used by doctors.

One is a new saliva test, which will be used in the NHS to help diagnose endometriosis – offering hope to the reported 582,744 women on the gynaecology waiting list in England last year.

Announcing the new tests, NICE healthtech programme director Dr Anastasia Chalkidou ...