Fibroid

Overview of fibroids
Fibroid can be defined as a tumor in a female’s uterus. A uterine fibroid is the most common benign (not cancerous) tumor of a woman’s uterus (womb). Fibroids develop with the uterine wall or attach to it. Generally fibroid grows as a single tumor or cluster of tumors. About 25% of all women have these tumor growths and these are the leading cause of hysterectomy around the world. 20 % of women above the age of 35 years have uterine fibroid. A large number of hysterectomies (removal of the uterus) are performed annually, and at least one-third are for fibroids. Fibroid growths can be controlled by medications and newer, less invasive surgery. Beginning in the muscle tissues of the uterus, fibroids can grow into the uterine cavity, into the thickness of the uterine wall, or on the surface of the uterus into the abdominal cavity. Although these tumors are called fibroids, this term is misleading because they consist of muscle tissue, not fibrous tissue.


Causes of fibroids
Estrogen hormone plays an important role in menstrual cycle of a female. Fibroids are stimulated by the estrogen, produced naturally in female body. These growths can show up as early as age 20 and shrink after menopause when the body stops producing copious amounts of hormone estrogen. Fibroids can be tiny and cause no problems, but they can also grow to weigh several pounds. They grow slowly. Some women with many fibroids may have an inherited tendency toward developing them. The following factors have been associated with the growth of fibroids:

Obesity

Never having given birth to a child (called nulliparity)

Onset of your period prior to age 10

Genetic factors. E.g. African American heritage (occurring 3-9 times more often than in Caucasian women)


Symptoms of fibroids
Most fibroids, even large ones, produce no symptoms. These masses are often found during your regular pelvic examination. Uterine fibroids can cause excessive menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, and frequent urination. The most common symptoms are :

Irregular vaginal bleeding
Increase in menstrual bleeding, known as menorrhagia.
Blood clots in menstrual bleeding.
Pressure on the bladder, which may cause you to urinate often and feel a sense of urgency to urinate and, rarely, the inability to urinate
Pressure on the rectum, resulting in constipation
Pelvic pressure, “feeling full” in the lower abdomen, lower abdominal pain
Increase in size around waist and change in abdominal contour (You may need to increase your clothing size but not because of a significant weight gain.)
Infertility (inability to become pregnant after 1 year of attempting to get pregnant)
A pelvic mass discovered by your health care provider during a physical examination


Treatment of fibroids
Following are the factors/symptoms that decide the course of treatment:
The size and location of your fibroids
Age (how close you are to menopause)
Desire to have children
General physical condition of patient.

Medical Treatment
Cases when treatment is not necessary are as follows:
If no symptoms mentioned above are experienced
Size of tumors is small.
Patient is past menopause stage.

Cases when treatment is required and what it maybe are as follows:
Abnormal vaginal bleeding caused by fibroids may require D&C.
If no malignancy (cancer) is found, this bleeding often can be controlled by hormonal medications.
Discuss the following treatment options with your health care provider


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