What Causes Fibroids And What You Can Do About Them
Fibroids will be diagnosed in many women, but may need no treatment at all. They are most often found in women between 30-50+ who have had no children and become less common at menopause as oestrogen levels decline. Being overweight is also a factor and African-Caribbean women have a threefold increased risk. What are they? Fibroids are round, firm, benign lumps on the muscular wall of the uterus, composed of smooth muscle and connective tissue, and seldom do you just get one. In size they start small and grow to something the size of an orange, but can get much bigger. The most usual consequences are painful and/or irregular periods and heavy bleeding, often accompanied by pain. Women with fibroids are often oestrogen dominant and have low progesterone levels. In women with smaller fibroids (the size of a tangerine or smaller), when progesterone is restored to normal levels, the fibroids often shrink and stop growing, which is due to progesterone’s ability to help speed up the c...