Category: Environment Diet Lifestyle

Vitamin D Therapy for Fibroids

Fibroid Network

Vitamin D & Fibroids

Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as a Risk Factor for the development of fibroids. It has been suggested that Vitamin D therapy could be a new strategy for the prevention and/or treatment of fibroids. Or as a treatment used alongside existing strategies, to help to improve outcomes.

Studies are continuing to establish whether Fibroids can be caused and treated by lifestyle and/or Diet adjustments.

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors affecting the health of women of reproductive age. Researchers previously underestimated the prevalence in society , of the condition. The prevalence of Uterine Fibroids is reported to be as high as 70% in Caucasian women and up to 80% of Black Women . Continue reading

Italian researchers have found a link between fibroids & diet

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An Fibroid Study in Italy found that fibroids were more common in women who ate beef and ham frequently, and less common in women who ate more green vegetables & fruit had a lower risk of fibroids. Abstract of the Medical Paper Objective: To analyze the relation between selected dietary indicators and the risk of uterine myomas. Methods: They used data from a case-control study on risk factors for uterine myomas conducted in Italy between 1986 and 1997. Cases included 843 women with uterine myomas whose clinical diagnoses dated back no more than 2 years. Controls were 1557 women younger than age 55 who had not had hysterectomies and were admitted for acute nongynecologic, nonhormonal, nonneoplastic conditions. Results: Women with uterine myomas reported more frequent consumption of beef, other red meat, and ham and less frequent consumption of green vegetables, fruit, and fish. The multivariate odds ratios in the upper tertile were 1.7 for beef and other red meat (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4, 2.2), 1.3 for ham (95% CI 1.0, 1.6), 0.5 for green vegetables (95% CI 0.4, 0.6), and 0.8 for fruit consumption (95% CI 0.6, 1.0). Parazzini, MD Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri” Francesca Chiaffarino ScD, Fabio Parazzini MD, Carlo La Vecchia MD, Liliane Chatenoud ScD, Elisabetta Di Cintio ScD and Silvia Marsico MD “Diet and uterine myomas” Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri,” Milan; and the Prima Clinica Ostetrico Ginecologica and Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, University of Milan, Milan, Italy Alcohol especially Beer is also a Risk Factor for Fibroids . This Study involved 22,000 women.

References

  • Chiaffarino F1, Parazzini F, La Vecchia C, Chatenoud L, Di Cintio E, Marsico S. Diet and uterine myomas. Obstet Gynecol. 1999 Sep;94(3):395-8. PMID: 10472866.

Use of medical, surgical and complementary treatments among women with fibroids

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Jacoby VL, Jacoby A, Learman LA, Schembri M, Gregorich SE, Jackson R, Kuppermann M

Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. 2014 Nov;182:220-5

PMID: 25445104

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of medical management, uterus-preserving surgery (UPS), and complementary treatments among women with uterine fibroids.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of 933 premenopausal women ages 31-54 years with symptomatic fibroids who participated in the Study of Pelvic Problems, Hysterectomy, and Intervention Alternatives (SOPHIA) for an average of 4.3 years (SD 2.5 years). Incident use of fibroid treatments was determined through annual interviews. Linear regression models were used to compare changes in fibroid-related symptoms among women who underwent UPS versus those who did not undergo surgery.

RESULTS: Participants were racially and ethnically diverse, with a mean age of 43 years. During study follow-up, 531 participants (57%) did not undergo UPS or hysterectomy, 250 (27%) had at least one UPS, and 152 (16%) underwent hysterectomy. Complementary and alternative treatments were commonly used, including exercise (45%), diet (34%), herbs (37%), and acupuncture (16%): participants reported significant symptom improvement and few side effects with these interventions. In multivariable linear regression models, women who did not undergo surgery during the study reported improvement in dyspareunia (p<.001), pelvic pain (p<.001), and menstrual cramps (p<.001). However, women who underwent UPS reported greater overall resolution of "pelvic problems" compared with women who did not have surgical treatment (difference in change score 1.18 on a four-point Likert scale, p<.001).

CONCLUSION: UPS are effective treatments for women with fibroids, but many women use hormonal or complementary treatments and report significant symptom improvement without surgical intervention.