Utefine Fibroids and Vitamine D defficency

Uterine Fibroids, also known as uterine leiomyomas or myomas are benign tumors of the uterus. They are commonly found in women in the childbearing age. Many women have uterine fibroids sometime during their lives. Your doctor may discover fibroids incidentally during a pelvic exam or prenatal ultrasound.

It's not known what exactly causes the growth of fibroids, however a combination of genetics and estrogen and progesterone levels are known to play a role. Hormonal changes are also influenced by individual behavior and by our own metabolisms. This is why there could be some relationship between the fibroid growths and a disequilibrium in the metabolism.

 

A recent study looked at the Vitamin D status in women with Uterine Fibroids. The study concluded that Vitamin D is an emerging regulator of Uterine Fibroids development.  Despite these promising findings, the authors suggest that bigger size studies are needed to confirm a causal relationship between fibroids and Vitamin D level and to investigate the potential therapeutic benefits of vitamin D supplementation.

The study: Overall, 128 women diagnosed with Uterine Fibroids were selected. Fifteen of them (12%) reported a history of surgical myomectomy (operation for the removal of the Uterine Fibroids). These 128 affected cases were matched to 256 controls. Serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ (the most accurate way to measure how much vitamin D is in your body) were collected and were found to be significantly lower in women with fibroids than in controls. Based on this cross-sectional study, the frequency of Uterine Fibroids is up to 2-fold higher in women with a condition of vitamin D deficiency.

This study did not focus on other risk factors for the uterine fibroids, ie, BMI, diet, stress, and metabolic and environmental factors which may deserve investigation, also it did not collected data behind the reasons for vitamin D deficiency. The authors concluded that vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the development of the fibroids more than on their growth. This is because vitamin D deficiency appeared  to be correlated to the number and not to the dimension of the lesions, however further evidence is required to draw this conclusion. Of relevance however was that the study confirmed a critical role of vitamin D in disease susceptibility. Vitamin D supplementation could potentiality become a simple and economic means to prevent fibroids development or growth.

To find out more you can read the original study here.