There is a higher rate of fibroids among black women. In this report by SADE OGUNTOLA, experts say that the nightmare from fibroid, including its complications, is better prevented.
LIFE for many women with fibroid is a nightmare. The severe menstrual period, accompanied by excruciating pain and dizzy spell can last for more than a week. Sometimes, their big tummy makes many think they are pregnant. Tade Akinsete is “either bleeding or angry” as a result of a fibroid. The painful menstruation started when she was 25. It was excruciating. Now, Tade looks 4-month pregnant due to the fibroid and conceiving has been a challenge.
“The fibroid has been disturbing me. The doctor said the fibroid has to be removed for me to get pregnant. It never allows me live a normal life. Due to the heavy period, I am always feeling uncomfortable,” said Akinsete, a shopkeeper.
For Mrs. Bilikisu Haruna, a devote Muslim, her severe menstrual cramps have made her observance of prayer difficult. She is always afraid to join others in the mosque to pray because the painful, heavy period may start at any time.
Unfortunately, severe menstrual period and excruciating pain are the least of Mrs. Anu Adeleye’s worries after a diagnosis of fibroid five years ago. For over six months, the 40-year-old school teacher found sexual intercourse painful. At the hospital, she was told that the fibroid was responsible for this.
No woman should go through the pain that these women go through each month. Yet, the possibility of all woman of childbearing age developing one increases with age, says Dr Olusiji Jagun, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State.
Dr Jagun said that fibroid is an abnormal growth that develops in or on a woman’s womb, with a tendency to become a nightmare because the quality of life of women living with the condition is disturbed by the symptoms they encounter.
He stated that a woman may have one or multiple fibroids, which can be as small as an apple seed or as big as a grapefruit.
According to him, most women with fibroids will experience no symptoms at all, but large or numerous fibroids can cause heavy or prolonged periods, bleeding between periods, pain, frequent urination, low back pain, pain during intercourse and difficulty getting pregnant.
Also, fibroids, he added may also interfere with physical and social activities, relationships, and work and if fibroids are large, there may also be weight gain and swelling in the lower abdomen.
Moreover, he stated: “Aside from heavy or irregular menstrual bleeding and muscle cramping resulting from fibroids interfering with the individual’s sex life, fibroids can make sex, especially penetrative sex, extremely painful for women whose fibroids are located in the upper section of the womb. Women with fibroids that cause visible abdominal swelling may also develop a negative body image, low self-esteem and low libido. In addition to pain, many women with fibroids experience bleeding during sex. As a result, having sex may be close to impossible.”
He, however, said there are three main types of fibroid based on their location in the womb. These are subserosal fibroids, which grow on the outside of the womb; intramural fibroids which grow inside the muscular wall of the womb and the submucosal fibroids which grow into the open space inside the womb.
Contrary to the thinking of many, the expert said not all fibroid lead to infertility. He added “the fibroid that will cause infertility depends on its location; if it is the type that prevents the sperm and egg meeting, it can cause infertility. If it is located where the baby will stay, it can prevent the woman from getting pregnant. Also, if it is so big and it has caused the distortion of the womb, this occasionally too can cause infertility.”
However, he added, “fibroid growing on the outside of the womb or that which grows inside the muscular wall of the womb usually don’t cause infertility.”
The expert said it is not in all cases that the fibroid needs to be removed. “Fibroid is an African disease, it’s an epidemic to the black women, so we will not say that every woman before she is pregnant should go and remove it. A lot of women are pregnant and they also have fibroids. But we do say that a fibroid that is big, that anybody can see or touch is big enough to be removed because it will not stop growing. Without removing such a big fibroid and the person eventually gets pregnant, there can be complications during pregnancy, including pain. Also, during delivery, contraction of the womb may be a bit difficult and therefore they tend to bleed a lot.”
Professor Oladeni Adeniji, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital Ogbomoso, however, said that black women are three times more likely to develop fibroid at an early age, develop symptom, and respond differently to standard medical treatment, compared to white women.
The expert said the exact cause of fibroid is not known, but it has been linked with age, obesity, African ancestry, family history of fibroids and no history of pregnancy.
He added, “nobody knows exactly, hormones had been implicated but all women have hormones, so there might be other factors that contribute to it.”
Professor Adeniji, however, said that the treatment of fibroid through surgery is complicated because of a large possibility of extensive bleeding during the surgical procedure which could either entail the removal of the fibroid or the womb.
Professor Adeniji stated that with fibroid surgery, there is also the possibility of an organ adhesion or scar formation; a complication can lead to infertility.
He added, “the way everybody reacts is different, you cannot sometimes predict who will experience adhesion or scaring.”
So, individuals with fibroids may want to be evaluated periodically to monitor the fibroid and womb size, even if there is no symptom. Remember that having fibroids doesn’t necessarily mean that one needs treatment, and many black women live happy and healthy lives despite this condition. However, if experiencing disabling symptoms, consult a healthcare professional and seek support from trusted family or friends.
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