What is Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are tissue growth that appear during the fertility years. The uterine fibroids never lead to cancer and are non-malignant.
Uterine fibroids can grow as miniscule as a seed to a large bulky mass and yet distort or enlarge the uterus. It could be a single or multiple fibroids.
Some fibroids are so bulky that they can expand the uterus and thus add weight. Uterine fibroids are common in the majority of women, however, most of the cases it goes undetected due to no symptoms.
The fibroids might just be visible during a pelvic examination or prenatal ultrasound.
What are Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids?
Uterine fibroids might go undetected due to no symptoms. However, some fibroids are very evident because of the many symptoms including
• Heavy bleeding during menstruation
• Prolonged menstrual periods (more than 7 days)
• Pain or pressure on the pelvic pressure
• Frequent urge to urinate
• Difficulty or incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Constipation
• Backache or leg pain
In rare cases, a fibroid can be acutely painful when it outgrows its blood supply, and on the verge of dying.
How Fibroids are Classified?
- The fibroids that grow within the uterine wall are called intramural fibroids.
- The fibroids that bulge in the uterine cavity are the submucosal fibroids.
- The fibroids that project from the outer wall of the uterus are the subserosal fibroids.
What are the conditions of Uterine Fibroids?
• Constant pelvic pain
• Excessively prolonged, painful and heavy periods
• Spotting or bleeding intermittently between two consecutive periods
• Difficulty in emptying the bladder.• Anaemic
What are the Causes of Uterine Fibroids?
Clinical research suggests there are a lot of reasons for fibroid development. It prominently appears during the reproductive years a woman and therefore could be associated to
Genetic change – Fibroids can be influenced by the genetic change in the body and their gene content differs from the normal uterine cells.
Hormones- Hormones largely influence the uterine fibroids. With estrogen and progesterone stimulating the development of the uterine wall during the menstrual cycle, it could promote the growth of fibroids.
Fibroids are made up of estrogen and progesterone receptors as compared to normal uterine muscle cells.
However, fibroids tend to shrink post menopause due to less hormone production.
Insulin also might be a reason to trigger fibrous development.
Fibroids grow invariably from case to case and might shrink too. They might grow rapidly or in some cases maintain the size. Often fibroids that are present during pregnancy might shrink or totally disappear post pregnancy.
