The mystery of fibroids

BY PATIENCE NYANGOVE Many Zimbabwean women have uterine fibroids but they are not aware of it, a Bulawayo-based gynaecologist has said. Uterine fibroids are described by the PubMed Health website as a pelvic tumour whose causes remain unknown. According to the gynaecologist who, for professional reasons, spoke on condition of anonymity, fibroids are most common in women who fail to conceive for a long time or those that take a long time in having children again. “They may cause so much pain, heavy periods, can make someone have difficulty in conceiving, and pressure on the bladder leading to one visiting the toilet frequently,”  the doctor said. He said fibroids are most common in African women, with research saying at least one in two African women have them. Fibroids can be so tiny that one needs a microscope to see them but they can also grow to be big tumours filling the entire uterus. Although it is possible for just one fibroid to develop, usually there are more than one, according to the PubMed Health website. “The fibroids can be as big as between 6-10kg,” the doctor said. “We have removed such big ones. “They suck the blood from the uterus thereby taking a lot of blood and causing anaemia. “It’s true that so many women have them but they don’t know it. Some women have tiny ones that they never experience any pain.” He concluded that most women had mistaken uterine fibroids for pregnancy.