What the Military Is Learning About Endometriosis

Sometimes the Most Important Lessons in Healthcare Begin with Listening

A few weeks ago, I attended the Swinging for Hope: Driving Change for Endometriosis golf tournament in Plymouth, Massachusetts, expecting a day of golf, conversation, and support for a great cause. Instead, I came away with a lesson about healthcare that I was not expecting.

Before the tournament began, I learned why the event meant so much to its organizer, Victoria Cosgrove.

Beginning in her teenage years, Victoria endured chronic pain, repeated medical appointments, multiple surgeries, and treatments that provided little lasting relief before finally receiving the specialized care she needed. Today, as the mother of a young daughter, her mission has become deeply personal. She hopes that greater awareness today will help ensure fewer girls and young women spend years searching for answers tomorrow.

Her story changed the way I listened that day.

As conversations unfolded around the course, I heard similar themes from other women.
Different experiences.
Different journeys.

Yet many shared years of pain, delayed diagnoses, repeated procedures, and the frustration of wondering why it had taken so long to find answers.

Like many people, I knew very little about endometriosis until that day.
Curious to learn more, I began reading.

That search led me to a recently published report from the Military Health System that completely changed my perspective.

The report found that 5,733 active component service women received a new diagnosis of endometriosis between 2017 and 2024. Over that same period, the annual rate of new diagnoses increased by approximately 42 percent.

At first glance, that statistic appears alarming.
But the report offers a different perspective.

The increase may not necessarily mean more women are developing the disease.

Greater access to healthcare and diagnosis through the Military Health System may help explain the increase, rather than a true rise in the number of women developing the disease.

That may be the report's most important lesson.

Healthcare does not begin with treatment.
It begins with recognition.

 
What the Report Found
The Military Health System examined newly diagnosed cases of endometriosis among active component service women between 2017 and 2024.

During that eight-year period, 5,733 women received a new diagnosis.

Researchers found that the annual rate of new diagnoses increased by approximately 42 percent. The report also documented the significant effects of endometriosis on chronic pain, fertility, quality of life, lost duty time, military readiness, and deployability.

Importantly, the report does not conclude that endometriosis itself is necessarily becoming more common.

Instead, the findings suggest that greater access to healthcare and diagnosis through the Military Health System may help explain the increase, rather than a true rise in disease occurrence.

The report also points to the importance of identifying women at risk and developing policies that support earlier diagnosis.

That distinction matters.
Finding more cases because healthcare is better able to identify and diagnose them can represent progress.

Why This Matters
Every disease teaches healthcare something.
Heart disease taught us the value of prevention.
PTSD reinforced the importance of early intervention and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health.

Today, endometriosis is teaching healthcare another lesson.

Recognizing a condition earlier creates the opportunity for better outcomes.
That lesson extends well beyond one diagnosis.

Delayed recognition affects countless conditions in which symptoms are overlooked, misunderstood, or accepted as normal.

Every delay represents time when pain continues, conditions may worsen, and opportunities for timely treatment are lost.

Victoria's experience reflects that reality.

She spent years searching for lasting answers before receiving the specialized care she needed.

Sadly, her story is not unique.
If earlier recognition improves outcomes for endometriosis, what other conditions might benefit from the same approach?

Healthcare completion reminds us that diagnosis is not the end of the journey.
Better outcomes depend on helping people move successfully from recognition to diagnosis, from diagnosis to treatment, and ultimately to completing the medically approved care they need.

What Frontline Organizations Can Learn
The Military Health System's findings offer an important reminder for every organization serving military members, veterans, and their families.

Not every barrier to healthcare is financial.

Some begin much earlier, with symptoms that go unrecognized, concerns that go unheard, or conditions that take years to diagnose.

Frontline organizations are uniquely positioned to help change that.
​
A Veteran Service Officer may be the first person to hear that someone has been living with chronic pain.
A case manager may recognize a pattern that deserves further evaluation.
A nonprofit advocate may encourage someone to seek a second opinion.
A healthcare provider may connect symptoms that had previously been dismissed.

None of these actions replaces medical care.

Each one, however, can shorten the journey from uncertainty to diagnosis, and from diagnosis to treatment.

Sometimes the most meaningful contribution is not providing the treatment itself.
It is helping ensure the right care begins sooner and continues until it is completed.

Breaking the Barrier
The Military Health System's report reminds us that barriers to healthcare do not always begin with cost, insurance, or access.

Sometimes they begin much earlier.
Sometimes the barrier is a symptom that goes unrecognized.

A concern that goes unheard.
A condition that is accepted as normal for far too long.

Victoria Cosgrove created Swing for Hope because she wants the next generation of girls and young women to have a different experience than she did.

That hope reflects a lesson much larger than a single disease.
Recognition.
Diagnosis.
Treatment.
Completion.

When any step is delayed, the entire journey is affected.

The Military Health System's research shows why earlier recognition and diagnosis deserve greater attention.

The challenge now is making sure recognition leads to diagnosis, diagnosis leads to treatment, and treatment leads to healthcare completion.

​Healthcare does not begin with treatment.
It begins with recognition.
And it succeeds only when care is completed.

 
About the Breaking Barriers Brief
The Breaking Barriers Brief is a recurring executive publication written by Michael P. Duggan, President and Founder of Medic Now Foundation Inc.

Each edition explores emerging healthcare research, public policy, and frontline experience to identify practical lessons that strengthen healthcare completion for military members, veterans, and their families.

Rather than simply reporting what is happening, the Breaking Barriers Brief asks a more important question:

​What can we learn, and how can we improve healthcare completion?

Source
Military Health System, Medical Surveillance Monthly Report (MSMR). “Incidence and Burden of Endometriosis Among U.S. Active Component Service Women, 2017–2024.” March 2026.