Harsh criticism of lipedema care: "A violation of the Health and Medical Care Act"

Lipedema is a female disease that an estimated four to eleven percent of Western women may suffer from, according to various foreign studies.

The fat cells in the hips and thighs increase in volume, causing immense pain and unevenness in the skin.

Dieting and strenuous exercise have been shown to worsen the condition.

Almost everyone who has lipedema and who applies to the edema association has tried to get treatment for several years, says Margareta Haag.

These are women who are in despair about their situation and for the pain that affects their entire everyday life.

- They call us and cry.

They don't want to go to health care because they may have done it for ten years and only been told: "You're so fat, lose weight!"

- This is a violation of the Health and Medical Care Act, which states that everyone must have care on equal terms, says Margareta Haag.

Risk of incorrect treatment

Today, there is almost no research on women with lipoedema, neither internationally nor in Sweden, according to a report from the National Committee for Medical and Social Evaluation, SBU.

The authority has now received a government mandate to, with the help of patients, determine which research should be prioritized.

- Due to the fact that there is no research and that you do not know what effect certain treatments have, the risk is that you will receive the wrong treatment or no treatment at all, says Marie Österberg, project manager.

Women are left without care

Compression, psychosocial care, special dietary advice and other methods that many have experienced to have a good effect, are not provided by public health care in Sweden.

The regions only procure care based on evidence-based research, which is lacking.

Instead, the women have to pay for private care out of their own pockets and many are forced to take out large loans.

- Lipedema is as if it had flown away from the regions except in a few.

These girls, women and their children are doing very badly.

Many cannot even hold their children in their laps because they are in so much pain.