Fibroids Are Common in Women and Are Non-Cancerous Tumours

Uterine fibroids are the more common non-cancerous tumours in a woman’s uterus or womb. Fibroids are found in the smooth muscle in the wall of the uterus. They often develop within the uterine wall itself or just attached to it. They can grow in clusters or as a single tumor. Uterine fibroids may cause menstrual bleeding to be excessive, causes pelvic pain as well as urination that are frequent.

Where they begin

Fibroids begin in the tissues of the muscle in the uterus. They can grow up into the uterine cavity or submucosal, into the thickness of the uterine wall or intramuscular, or the surface of the uterus (subsersoal) in the abdominal cavity. Some may develop as pedunculated masses (growing on a stalk off the uterus.)

Misleading term

Although these tumours are known as fibroids, this is a misleading term since they do not consist of fibrous tissue, but muscle tissue. The medical term for what are uterine fibroids is leiomoma, a type of myoma or mesenchymal tumour.

50{fb9a4be0d6494174e6be9660e119e25a878ea9b5c7f2169440a84f81fc131373} cause of hysterectomy

These growths happen in up to over50{fb9a4be0d6494174e6be9660e119e25a878ea9b5c7f2169440a84f81fc131373} of all women and are one of the foremost cause of hysterectomy which is the removal of the uterus in the United States. It is estimated that 600,000 hysterectomies are done in the US annually and at least one-third of these procedures are for fibroids. Medication and newer, surgical treatments that are less invasive are now available to help in controlling the growth of fibroids.

Causes of Uterine Fibroids

The exact reasons why fibroids develop are not known. Fibroids due tend to run in families, and affected women often having family members who have them. Women of African descent are two to three times more likely to develop these fibroids than women of other races.


Fibroids grow often in reply to stimulation by estrogen which a hormone is produced naturally in the body. These growths often show up as early as age of 20 years of age but begin to shrink during menopause when the body stops creating large amounts of estrogens. So, the causes of uterine fibroids include stimulation by hormones and family history.


Fibroids often can be tiny and cause very little problems, or they can grow to weigh several pounds. Fibroids usually tend to grow slowly.

About Jasper Barbour

Jasper Barbour

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