In this article, we will discuss the 3rd Facebook live class sponsored by Blue Bee One and conducted by our medical advisor Dr. Shi Armero. She gave her third lecture about Uterine Leiomyoma. Please keep on reading the following important information about this topic!
Some Cases of Myoma
In this section, Dr. Shi started her lecture by mentioning some cases of myoma that some women in the audience can relate to.
- KS, 48 years old – She noticed that her hypogastric area near the lower abdomen has been increasing in size since 2 years ago. As she went to the clinic, her BMI or body mass index was checked and it was 28. Also, she bleeds heavily during menstruation but there are no other symptoms she noticed. An ultrasound test was performed as it showed the enlarged uterus and the first myoma is almost 10cm on the left intramural.
- JD, 27 years old – She is about to get married and she went to the clinic because she wanted to prepare herself to get pregnant. The ultrasound test showed a small myoma, 2 by 2cm intramural.
What is Leiomyoma?
“Leiomyoma, also known as myoma, is also called fibroid or fibromyoma. When it is considered benign, it means it is not cancerous,” Dr. Shi explained while demonstrating the visual presentation.
“This is a drawing of a uterus. Here’s the inner lining that I mentioned in our last discussion which is referred to as endometrium. The second one here is also an endometrium. The muscle layer is called myometrium while the third one is the outer layer which is called the visceral peritoneum or the serosa.”
Symptoms and Risk Factors of Myoma
Dr. Shi explained that the common symptoms of myoma are mostly asymptomatic which means the patient couldn’t feel any symptoms. “However, if there are symptoms, as I said earlier, it depends on the size and the location of the myoma. Also, if you have submucous, it means there is spotting. Submucous myoma can distort your inner lining.”
“The lining there is where the baby will reside but if there is something that obstructed the lining like myoma, the baby couldn’t stay in the lining for a long time,” she added. So, if you are experiencing heavy menstruation, it is more likely to be intramural. Why? Because it is the muscle that contracts that can stop the bleeding as it locks the blood vessels, while the outer lining will cause pressure symptoms because it is near the intestines.
Here are other symptoms of myoma and other risk factors that are associated with the development of myoma:
- Vitamin D deficiency – According to several studies, many black women are affected by myoma due to a lack of Vitamin D. In the case of Filipinos, we don’t have problems with Vitamin D deficiency because we are rich in the source of sunlight.
- Women who started very early menstruation – Are also at risk of developing myoma.
- Intake of Tamoxifen – Some people are reading it on Google and possibly the majority of the audience is not familiar with this medicine. There are medicines for hormones but they can also cause risk for women to have myoma.
- Obesity – If you exceed the normal BMI of 52.9 among Asians and you have a high-fat diet or perhaps you have familial tendency or genetics, there is a possibility that you may have myoma.
Treating and Managing Myoma
“The good thing is it will shrink, the myoma will shrink by itself after menopause because if a woman had her menopause, of course, there is a decrease in estrogen already,” Dr, Shi explained. Also, she added that obesity remains to be an issue in myoma because it is the most common cause of endogenous or overproduction of estrogen. High cholesterol can produce estrogen so when a woman eats high cholesterol foods, she will have more estrogen and fatty liver in her body.
So, what are the ways to treat and manage myoma? Dr. Shi told the audience about AFPS.
- A – Age
- F – Future fertility
- P – Parity
- S – Size and number of myoma
She highly recommends that you need to ask your gynecologist about your health condition, especially for proper medical management because it’s on a case-to-case basis. But, what if this condition of myoma is hereditary or in your family’s genetics? Take note of these letters: ABC.
- A – Attain normal BMI – Make sure your weight is controlled.
- B – Be active and take daily exercises. For 18 years old and above, the average minutes of exercise per week should be at least 115 minutes. You can be flexible and it depends on your physical capability
- C – Check the quality of your food. It is very important to eat balanced and nutritious foods.
CONCLUSION
Today we learned all about leiomyoma or myoma, which is a health condition that affects the uterine lining of some women. Some of the common symptoms and risk factors of myoma are vitamin D deficiency, subserosal, and obesity. For the proper management of myoma, remember AFPS which means age, future fertility, parity, and size and number of myoma. Meanwhile, ABC which means attain normal BMI, be active physically and check on the quality of your food. In the next article, we will discuss endometriosis. So please look forward to our next article!
