According to the Mayo Clinic, a majority of women develop uterine fibroids at some time in their lives. Uterine fibroids develop during a woman's reproductive years, generally up to the age of 50. Uterine fibroids can be extremely small or large enough to cause a woman's abdomen to distend to a point that she may appear to be pregnant.
Definition
Uterine fibroids are benign uterine growths that appear during a woman's child-bearing years. Uterine fibroids remain benign in most cases and rarely develop into cancerous tumors. These growths can appear in the uterine lining, in the uterine muscle or inside of the uterine cavity. Uterine fibroids range in size from the size of a pea to the size of a grapefruit. Uterine fibroids can also be found perimenopausal women, but they generally begin to shrink at this time.
Symptoms
Symptoms of uterine fibroids are heavy menstrual bleeding, prolonged menstrual bleeding, pelvic pressure, pelvic pain, frequent urination, backache and leg pain. Submucosal fibroids--uterine fibroids that hang into the uterine inner cavity--are responsible for heavy or prolonged bleeding. Subserosal fibroids--fibroids that grow on the outside of the uterus--are thought to be responsible for urinary symptoms.
Causes
Researchers aren't entirely certain what causes uterine fibroids, although they have discovered that their growth is responsive to estrogen. Every month the pituitary gland begins to secrete two hormones--luteinizing and follicle-stimulating. Once these hormones are released, estrogen and progesterone secrete from the ovaries, causing the uterine lining to swell. When this occurs, the uterine fibroids also expand. The Mayo Clinic states that uterine fibroids contain more estrogen and estrogen receptors than uterine muscle cells.
Diagnosis
There are several ways that uterine fibroids can be diagnosed. The way many uterine fibroids are found is through routine pelvic examinations. During a pelvic examination, the doctor does an internal exam using his fingers to feel for any enlargements or irregularities in the uterus and ovaries. Another way that uterine fibroids are discovered is through an ultrasound test. Using an abdominal ultrasound, the doctor is able to view uterine fibroids and their location. If these examinations do not offer enough information for the physician, he will expand the uterus using saline to obtain a better picture (hysterosonography).
Treatments
The treatment choice for many menopausal women is careful watching. This is because uterine fibroids normally shrink during menopause. If this option is not possible, the physician may prescribe androgens to relieve fibroid symptoms. Androgens are male hormones normally produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands. Uterine fibroids can be removed through an operation called a myectomy. In severe cases, the physician may have to perform a hysterectomy, a major surgical operation that removes the uterus.
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