Learn To Cure Uterine Fibroids!!!
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Surgery Fibroid Tumors
Fibroid tumors?
I asked a question yesterday and only 1 reponse. How do you live with them? Did you need surgery?
Hi,
I am a doctor..
Are you talkin about uterine fibroids?
they are not bad tumors as such..
hope this would help you..
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during your childbearing years. Also called fibromyomas, leiomyomas or myomas, uterine fibroids aren't associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer.
As many as three out of four women have uterine fibroids, but most are unaware of them because they often cause no symptoms. Your doctor may discover them incidentally during a pelvic exam or prenatal ultrasound.
In general, uterine fibroids cause no problems and seldom require treatment. Medical therapy and surgical procedures can shrink or remove fibroids if you have discomfort or troublesome symptoms. Rarely, fibroids can require emergency treatment if they cause sudden, sharp pelvic pain.
Causes
Uterine fibroids develop from the smooth muscular tissue of the uterus (myometrium). A single cell reproduces repeatedly, eventually creating a pale, firm, rubbery mass distinct from neighboring tissue.
Fibroids range in size from seedlings, undetectable by the human eye, to bulky masses that can distort and enlarge the uterus. They can be single or multiple, in extreme cases expanding the uterus so much that it reaches the rib cage.
Doctors don't know the cause of uterine fibroids, but research and clinical experience point to several factors:
Genetic alterations. Many fibroids contain alterations in genes that code for uterine muscle cells.
Hormones. Estrogen and progesterone, two hormones that stimulate development of the uterine lining in preparation for pregnancy, appear to promote the growth of fibroids. Fibroids contain more estrogen and estrogen receptors than do normal uterine muscle cells.
Other chemicals. Substances that help the body maintain tissues, such as insulin-like growth factor, may affect fibroid growth.
Treatment
There's no single best approach to uterine fibroid treatment. Many treatment options exist. In most cases, the best action to take after discovering fibroids is simply to be aware they are there.
Watchful waiting
If you're like most women with uterine fibroids, you have no signs or symptoms. In your case, watchful waiting (expectant management) could be the best course. Fibroids aren't cancerous. They rarely interfere with pregnancy. They usually grow slowly and tend to shrink after menopause when levels of reproductive hormones drop. This is the best treatment option for a large majority of women with uterine fibroids.
Medications
Medications for uterine fibroids target hormones that regulate your menstrual cycle, treating symptoms such as heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pressure. They don't eliminate fibroids, but may shrink them. Medications include:
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonists. To trigger a new menstrual cycle, a control center in your brain called the hypothalamus manufactures gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH). The substance travels to your pituitary gland, a tiny gland also located at the base of your brain, and sets in motion events that stimulate your ovaries to produce estrogen and progesterone.
Medications called Gn-RH agonists (Lupron, Synarel, others) act at the same sites that Gn-RH does. But when taken as therapy, a Gn-RH agonist produces the opposite effect to that of your natural hormone. Estrogen and progesterone levels fall, menstruation stops, fibroids shrink and anemia often improves.
Androgens. Your ovaries and your adrenal glands, located above your kidneys, produce androgens, the so-called male hormones. Given as medical therapy, androgens can relieve fibroid symptoms.
Danazol, a synthetic drug similar to testosterone, has been shown to shrink fibroid tumors, reduce uterine size, stop menstruation and correct anemia. However, occasional unpleasant side effects such as weight gain, dysphoria (feeling depressed, anxious or uneasy), acne, headaches, unwanted hair growth and a deeper voice, make many women reluctant to take this drug.
Other medications. Oral contraceptives or progestins can help control menstrual bleeding, but they don't reduce fibroid size. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are not hormonal medications, are effective for heavy vaginal bleeding unrelated to fibroids, but they don't reduce bleeding caused by fibroids.
Hysterectomy
This operation — the removal of the uterus — remains the only proven permanent solution for uterine fibroids. But hysterectomy is major surgery. It ends your ability to bear children, and if you elect to have your ovaries removed also, it brings on menopause and the question of whether you'll take hormone replacement therapy.
Myomectomy
In this surgical procedure, your surgeon removes the fibroids, leaving the uterus in place. If you want to bear children, you might choose this option. With myomectomy, as opposed to a hysterectomy, there is a risk of fibroid recurrence. There are several ways a myomectomy can be done:
Abdominal myomectomy. If you have multiple fibroids, very large or very deep fibroids, your doctor may use an open abdominal surgical procedure to remove the fibroids.
Laparoscopic myomectomy. If the fibroids are small and few in number, you and your doctor may opt for a laparoscopic procedure, which uses slender instruments inserted through small incisions in your abdomen to remove the fibroids from your uterus. Your doctor views your abdominal area on a remote monitor via a small camera attached to one of the instruments.
Hysteroscopic myomectomy. This procedure may be an option if the fibroids are contained inside the uterus (submucosal). A long, slender scope (hysteroscope) is passed through your vagina and cervix and into your uterus. Your doctor can see and remove the fibroids through the scope. This procedure is best performed by a doctor experienced in this technique.
Variations of myomectomy — in which uterine fibroids are destroyed without actually removing them — include:
Myolysis. In this laparoscopic procedure, an electric current destroys the fibroids and shrinks the blood vessels that feed them.
Cryomyolysis. In a procedure similar to myolysis, cryomyolysis uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the fibroids.
The safety, effectiveness and associated risk of fibroid recurrence of myolysis and cryomyolysis have yet to be determined.
Endometrial ablation. This treatment, performed with a hysteroscope, uses heat to destroy the lining of your uterus, either ending menstruation or reducing your menstrual flow. Endometrial ablation is effective in stopping abnormal bleeding, but doesn't affect fibroids outside the interior lining of the uterus.
Uterine artery embolization
Small particles injected into the arteries supplying the uterus cut off blood flow to fibroids, causing them to shrink. This technique is proving effective in shrinking fibroids and relieving the symptoms they can cause. Advantages over surgery include:
No incision
Shorter recovery time
Complications may occur if the blood supply to your ovaries or other organs is compromised.
Focused ultrasound surgery
MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery (FUS), approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October 2004, is a newer treatment option for women with fibroids. Unlike other fibroid treatment options, FUS is noninvasive and preserves your uterus.
This procedure is performed while you're inside of a specially crafted MRI scanner that allows doctors to visualize your anatomy, and then locate and destroy (ablate) fibroids inside your uterus without making an incision. Focused high-frequency, high-energy sound waves are used to target and destroy the fibroids. A single treatment session is done in an on- and off-again fashion, sometimes spanning several hours. Initial results with this technology are promising, but its long-term effectiveness is not yet known.
Before you decide
Because fibroids aren't cancerous and usually grow slowly, you have time to gather information before making a decision about if and how to proceed with treatment. The option that's right for you depends on a number of factors, including the severity of your signs and symptoms, your plans for childbearing, how close you are to menopause, and your feelings about surgery.
Before making a decision, consider the pros and cons of all available treatment options in relation to your particular situation. Remember, most women don't need any treatment for uterine fibroids.
Feel free to write to me or visit
www.medicguide.org
this is a site done by me and my doctor friends to answer all your health queries for free...
Fibroids During Pregnancy - How Fibroid Tumors in Pregnancy Can Cause Problems
Both pregnancy itself and the time spent trying to conceive can be an exciting time for many women. However, for women who have fibroids it can be quite a worrying time as it is a known fact that fibroids during pregnancy can cause some complications. However, the good news is that with careful monitoring, most women conceive naturally and go onto achieve a perfectly normal pregnancy.
For some women though, fibroids can cause problems both when trying to conceive and during the pregnancy itself.
<b>Possible Problems Caused By Fibroids During Pregnancy</b>
* Infertility-Although fibroids do not account for a large percentage of infertility cases, for women who have unexplained fertility, those who shrink their fibroids or have them removed, have between a 40% to 80% chance of achieving a pregnancy.
* If fibroids develop just below the surface of the womb, they can interfere with the normal implantation of a fertilized egg and therefore cause a miscarriage even before the woman would know she was pregnant.
* In late pregnancy, fibroids can prevent the womb expanding normally and can lead to a premature birth.
* If a fibroid develops near to the entrance of the womb or at the entrance to the fallopian tubes, it can prevent the normal passage of sperm. In late pregnancy, a caesarian may be performed to prevent delivery complications.
* Occasionally, a condition called "red degeneration" can occur. This can seem very worrying and typically occurs in the middle three months of the pregnancy. In this case, the center of a larger fibroid begins to bleed, and this is brought about by the increase in hormones causing rapid growth. Fortunately, although this condition can be painful, it is rarely dangerous and fibroids normally shrink back to their pre-pregnancy size after delivery.
If you are wanting to conceive and are worried about your fibroids and the possible impact they might have, you can take proactive steps to minimize their effects. Although some women consider surgery, this is not always the first choice for women who wish to conceive due to the recovery time and the fact that they will naturally feel uncomfortable about having surgery in the uterus which could potentially weaken it. Fortunately, there are a number of methods which can be used very safely to shrink fibroids naturally.
For further information on how you can shrink fibroids naturally, along with specific details of how they can affect pregnancy, please visit Fibroids During Pregnancy. Please feel reassured that following appropriate measures, the vast majority of women go on to achieve a successful outcome despite having fibroid tumors in pregnancy.
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