Endometriosis: ancient disease, ancient treatments.

E ver since Vincent Knapp published his 1999 article ‘‘How old is Endometriosis?’’ (1), there seems to have been renewed interest in identifying just when endometriosis was discovered as a distinct disease entity. While the history of endometriosis subsequent to its 1860 microscopic unveiling by Karl von Rokitansky has been well-studied, its story leading up to that moment has remained largely unknown. The time seemed ripe to cast light on this chasm of history and give voice to the inaudible narratives of illness that have been lost in themargins of centuries. Inexact as the study of history may be, nevertheless clinical observations from the past may offer unique perspectives that would otherwise have been entirely overlooked. Moreover, in surveying the historical development of scientific medicine, it is evident that nearly all of our current understandings of complex disease-states have resulted from the synthesis of centuries of observations. Even medical theories that ultimately proved to be exquisite fallacies have actually served as essential counterpoints throughout the ages, refining knowledge by producing the searing clarity that only unanticipated failures can yield; the sort of shock medicine sometimes needs to achieve transformative change. Viewed in this light, to exclude the formative years leading up to the microscopic discovery of endometriosis is to deprive our discipline of an invaluable reservoir of knowledge that may reveal