JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Women may end up having uterine fibroids at some point in their lives.
There can be some warning signs that something is wrong, but there are a lot of cases where the fibroids can go undetected because there aren’t any symptoms.
At 57 years old, Anna Lindler says she feels better than ever.
“I feel wonderful,” she said. “It just feels like a new beginning.”
It was a different feeling than Lindler says she had seven years ago finding found out she needed to be treated for uterine fibroids.
“I noticed that my menstrual cycles were very heavy and very long,” Lindler said. “It was a little abnormal. Very uncomfortable things like that. I did end up having a hysterectomy, which was fine for me.”
Uterine fibroids are typically benign tumors that grow in a woman’s uterus. They are rarely cancerous but can significantly alter someone’s quality of life.
Dr. Tony Reed, who has been an OBGYN for more than 20 years, says they can lead to other issues, too.
“They get bigger,” Reed said. “Depending on where they are placed, if you have one inside the uterus, implantation may be difficult and so pregnancy is difficult.”
Reed says the fibroids usually develop in women between 30 and 50 years old.
He says they can affect each person differently.
Sometimes, Reed says, no treatment is the best treatment. But there are times when medical attention is necessary.
“If [the patient] wants to have children, then we may say, ‘Well, where is the fibroid?’ and ‘Do we [use this] medicine that would pretty much shrink the fibroid maybe 25% so it is less space occupying?’ Or she may say, ‘I am bleeding tremendously, and it is altering my quality of life. I cannot perform my usual duties because of the fear of bleeding, and it is becoming a psychologically affecting day. I want definitive management.’ Then we will talk about a hysterectomy.”
This part of women’s health has found its way into the current legislative session in Tallahassee.
Florida Rep. Lisa Dunkley, who serves Broward County, is proposing a bill that would re-establish a database for uterine fibroid research that became law in 2022, but became useless because of an error.
In Dunkley’s bill, the database would include personal information, but it would be protected.
“We need that database to be able to serve the women of Florida,” Dunkley said. “Hopefully, more people take it on to see that this is something that is necessary in our community.”
As millions of women may or may not be aware of having uterine fibroids, Lindler and Reed have some suggestions.
“I would just say talk with your doctor about what is best for you to do,” Lindler said.
“What your friend had, what your mom had, that may not be what you need,” Reed said. “Your goals may be different from those other people in your life, and the fibroid may be in a different place in the body or in the uterus. We want to make sure that we have a custom-tailored treatment option.”
When it comes to Dunkley’s proposed bill, it recently passed all the committees and now heads to the House Floor for a future vote.
The Senate would need to take up its version of the bill to fix what became law four years ago.