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Too Few Lipedema/Lymphedema Treatment Options?
Two novel treatments may improve symptoms
As someone living with the symptoms of lipo-lymphedema for over 40 years, I am constantly on the lookout for effective even novel treatments for this chronic, degenerative, and sometimes hidden health condition. My condition is primary, with lipedema complicating and compounding the lymphedema; however, many women have one condition or the other. And while some women are affected with secondary lymphedema that develops as a result of treatment for breast or genitourinary cancer, up to 11% of women worldwide live with lipedema of unclear disease origination, or pathogenesis. Interest in treatment modalities continues to grow even as research funding may be drying up. Women need information now on promising treatments, not excuses or the downplaying of their suffering.
Lipedema is a chronic disease of subcutaneous adipose tissue that predominantly affects women and is frequently associated with endocrinopathies such as insulin resistance and obesity. Its pathogenesis is still unclear, and treatment, which requires a multi-disciplinary approach, is prolonged over time and is not always effective. There is currently no drug treatment available for this disease. (A Case Study on the Efficacy of the Pharmacological Treatment of Lipedema: The Italian Experience with Exenatide)
