What are Uterine Fibroids?

"cause of fibroids"

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There is no known specific cause for uterine fibroids , but research and clinical experience point to several possible causes :
- Age : The disease tends to occur in women during their child bearing period . This period is defined as the time from first menstrual cycle till the menopause . Mostly, uterine fibroids occur above the age of thirties . It rarely occurs before 20 . In menopausal women , uterine fibroids tend to shrink , cause no symptoms at all.
- Genetic alterations: Many fibroids contain alterations in genes that code for uterine muscle cells. One single gene mutation in a single cell causes it to reproduce repeatedly , eventually creating a pale, firm, rubbery mass distinct from neighboring tissue, but the entire mechanism has not yet been discovered.
- Hormones : Estrogen and progesterone are two hormones that stimulate development of the uterine lining in preparation for pregnancy. estrogen and progesterone hormones are essentially required for the growth of the tumor .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, several growth factors, including epidermal growth factor may affect fibroid growth.
- There may also be environmental causes that stimulate fibroid growth. It is important to realize that there is no evidence that fibroids turn into cancer. Fibroids are benign from the beginning and remain benign.
There are few known risk factors for uterine fibroids :
- Women at child bearing age .
- Heredity. If mother or sister had fibroids, there is increased risk .
- Race : African American women are more likely to develop fibroids , more likely to have fibroids at younger ages , more likely to have larger fibroids .
Current researches are considering other potential risk factors such as :
- Obesity. Some studies have suggested that obese women are at higher risk of fibroids .
- Oral contraceptives : Previous researches said that women who take oral contraceptives have a lower risk of fibroids. Current researches are done on those who start oral contraceptives between ages 13 and 16.
- Pregnancy and childbirth : Researchers have also looked at whether pregnancy and giving birth may have a protective effect, and so far pregnancy and childbirth seem to have a protective effect.

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