Posted on February 19, 2010.
Causes of uterine fibroids and symptoms of uterine fibroids Uterine fibroids are noncancerous tumors of the uterus that often appear during your childbearing years. Also known as fibroids, fibroids or myomas, uterine fibroids are not associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer.
Uterine fibroids are the most common tumors, not cancer among women of childbearing age. Fibroids are muscle cells and other tissues that grow inside and around the wall of the uterus.
Fibroids are muscular tumors that grow in the lining of the uterus (womb). Another medical term for fibroids is "leiomyoma" (Leye-oh-oh-muh-Meye) or just "myoma". Fibroids are almost always benign (not cancerous). Fibroids can grow as a single tumor, or there may be many of them in the womb.
Causes of Uterine fibroids
Uterine fibroids develop from the smooth muscle of the uterus (myometrium). A single cell reproduces repeatedly, eventually creating a pale, firm, rubbery mass distinct from neighboring tissue.
Afro-Americans are 2-3 times more likely to have symptomatic uterine fibroids and generally occur at a younger age than in the rest of the population of women with uterine fibroids.
Average age for symptomatic fibroids is to become 35-50.
Fibroids can be tiny and cause no problems, but they can also grow to weigh several kilograms. They grow slowly. Some women with many fibroids can have a hereditary tendency for developing them.
Fibroids can also cause pain or pressure or heaviness in the lower basin (the area between the hip bones), back or legs. Some women have pain during intercourse. Others have a constant feeling that they need to urinate.
Signs and symptoms of uterine fibroids
subserosal fibroids. Fibroids that project outside of the uterus (subserosal fibroids) can sometimes press on your bladder, making you feel urinary symptoms. If fibroids bulge in the back of your uterus, they may occasionally release is on your rectum, causing constipation, or on your spinal nerves, causing backache.
irregular bleeding or unpredictable
The most common complaints of women with fibroids are pressure symptoms and heavy periods. An expanded matrix will put pressure on the bladder giving increased urinary symptoms (eg frequency), and can cause back pain, lower abdominal pain and pain on relationships. Fibroids can cause heavy periods, causing anemia.
Treatment of Uterine Fibroids
Watchful waiting
If you're like most women with uterine fibroids, you have no signs or symptoms. In your case, watchful waiting management (speaker) could be the best solution. Fibroids are not cancerous. They rarely interfere with pregnancy. They usually grow slowly and tend to decrease after menopause when levels of reproductive hormones drop
Uterine artery embolization is a new procedure to prevent the need for major surgery. The method stops the blood supply that makes fibroids grow. The long-term effects of this procedure are still unknown, and the safety of pregnancy after this procedure is questionable.
A laparotomy myomectomy (also known as an open or abdominal myomectomy) is the most invasive surgical procedure to remove fibroids. The doctor makes an incision in the abdominal wall and removes the fibroid from the uterus. A particularly extensive laparotomy procedure may be necessary for future births be conducted by caesarean section.