A Small Drop in the (Research Funding) Bucket
Hello, friends.
I never was one to look at the numbers, but they are astonishing! Approximately 30% of women in the United States have symptomatic uterine fibroid at any given time - and 60% will have had them by the age of 50! The numbers are even higher for African American women - who are 2/3 times more likely to develop symptomatic uterine fibroids. If you do the math, we are talking about a lot of women.
As a new member of the Fibroid Relief team, I just read an article that announced that The National Institutes of Health (NIH) committed approximately $40 million research dollars in 2009 to comparative effectiveness research involving medical devices. A very small portion of these funds is going toward a study on UFE (uterine fibroid embolization) vs. focused ultrasound treatment for uterine fibroids. These are two minimally-invasive treatment options that have already, or will provide many women with life changing relief from their fibroids.
The Federal Government is starting to listen but this is only a SMALL drop in the research funding budget for a medical disorder that affects millions of women. These are mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and friends whose quality of life are affected on a daily basis.
We at Fibroid Relief are taking your stories, your questions and your concerns,and sharing them with representatives in the healthcare research community on the federal level and beyond. Our hope is to make a positive impact that will ultimately result in greater funding dollars to uterine fibroid research AND bring much needed visibility to this disease as a major health issue for women.
Talk with you soon,
Tina K.
I recently had a sonogram done and was told that I possibly have a small fibroid - about 3 cm. I’m just starting to read a little about this. I have been in menopause for a couple of years…does that mean that the fibroid I have will continue to shrink?
I had a small amount of bleeding (one day, just a little) a few weeks ago, which is what brought me to the doctor to see what could be going on. I had started taking baby asprin a few months ago, and feel that this and a huge amount of stress is what brought it on.
Hi Robin,
Thank you for sharing. The expectation is that upon menopause and drops in estrogen levels a woman’s fibroid will start to shrink. Unfortunately that will take some time and there is little research available regarding the time it takes for this to occur. There are things that can be done to reduce bleeding and alleviate some symptoms in the near term, but if you are in menopause and your physician is following you, my hope is you’re well on your way to relief. Our bodies are certainly affected by stress and anything you can do to help lessen its impact will reduce inflammation and overall stress responses in your body. There is an indication that some complimentary and alternative approaches, such as acupuncture, yoga and meditation, that are known to reduce stress levels can help quench these responses. We are looking to add additional information on this in the coming months, as we’re learning more and more (and it’s being scientifically validated) about stress response and its impact on disease, which should correlate to an improvement in symptoms of fibroids as well - although none of these will be a sure-fix, they are options to try that may have extremely positive impacts. Please keep us posted - we’d love to learn more from your own experiences.
Joy