Black women are more likely to undergo a hysterectomy for fibroids than white women.
Doctors explain that women must be given all treatment options.
She even showed me pictures of the tumors she had removed the year before I was born.
Her fibroids came back, and by the time I was 14, my mother had her own hysterectomy.
Soon after, I developed the same heavy cramping and bleeding that my mom had always struggled with.
She had me get an ultrasound to see if I had fibroids.
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I was trying to get you thinking along the lines of, This is something that women go through.
You have a family history of them, my mom recalls.
I wanted you not to be frightened by what was going on in your body.
Because, you know, some women just have difficult reproductive systems.
Difficult reproductive systems might be an understatement here.
Dr. Marsh says six in 10 women can expect to develop fibroids by age 50.
That number goes up tonine out of every 10 for Black women.
There is no known permanent solution for fibroids other than hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus.
But the sad truth is that not all of those hysterectomies are necessary.
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Theyre also more likely to get hysterectomies.
For some people, hormonal contraception can be enough to manage fibroid symptoms.
Medication might not quell all of these symptoms, which is where other procedures come in.
Specialists can even do an MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment that uses sound waves to destroy fibroids.
Even with these procedures, there is still the risk that fibroids can returnwhich is where hysterectomies come in.
Dr. Bradley says that there are600,000to 650,000 hysterectomies performed annually in the U.S., and only between35,000and 50,000 myomectomies.
Black women are also more likely to experience these side effects from surgery than white women.
My colleagues and I, who are big proponents of [hysterectomy alternatives], do not believe that.
That said, Dr. Bradley adds that hysterectomy alternatives can be more complicated for Black women.
The uterus [with fibroids] could be the size of a watermelon, a turkey, a basketball.
Another incentive to perform unnecessary hysterectomies may be tied to the payout they provide for health-care providers.
There are many for whom a hysterectomy is an appropriate treatment, says Dr. Bradley.
Unlike myomectomies and non-surgical options, hysterectomies can also negatively affect surrounding organs like the bladder and the bowels.
Continuing research and education
Despite the prevalence of fibroids, our understanding of them continues to lag.
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