The Colour of Health, Fibroids and a Lupus Discussion

Sunday March 8 Free One Day Fibroid Expo at the Hilton Kingston, Jamaica 12noon - 7PM Expert presentations, one on one consultations, advice etc.

Monday March 9 Declared Fibroid Awareness Day in Jamaica To promote awareness of this issue in Jamaica There will be full Islandwide distribution of the issue of the 48 page Uterine Fibroid Guide. 50,000 copies inserted in the local newspaper, the Jamaica observer

For more info, please contact fibroids@cwjamaica.com or ceventsgroup@hotmail.com

Dr Sandra Richards Phd Interviews Bridgette York about Fibroids on Colourful Radio, which is available online.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN & VIEW the Colourful Radio Website to visit the Colourful Radio radio interview (UK) 5th May 2007 between 9-12am GMTwith Sandra Richards

Fibroids do not affect your fertility. Many women have fibroids & sometimes only discover them during pregnancy, and still go on to have healthy babies. Fibroids are very common in women , between 50-80% of women will develop them by the age of 50. Some people will have tiny pea size fibroids, some can have melon size fibroids. 50% of women will have no symptoms from fibroids , irrespective of their size.

There has been research on fibroids & fertility, which confirms that women with fibroids are as fertile as the average woman of their age in society. After myomectomy , the chances of pregnancy for a woman under 35 is up to 75% . Women's ability to maintain a pregnancy (if they had , had problems before) increased after Myomectomy.

CLICK HERE to Read the Research Article on Myomectomy in the Human Reproductive Journal Myomectomy: a study to examine reproductive performance before and after surgery

CLICK HERE to to also visit FORESIGHT CHARITY Online which provides information on Preconception Health Programmes to help ensure you are in the best of health before you try for a baby

Bridgette York, was Interviewed, Sunday 11th March 2007 on BBC Radio London 94.9 fm Eddie Nestor,s show today Sunday 11th March 2007 between 9-12am in the morning. There was also phone-in. Toptcs discussed: Fibroids & pregnancy, the Mirena coil, new diet research, international fibroid statistics, hysterectomy & Patient Choice & the New NHS guidelines on Heavy Periods, with or without fibroids, which made all the alternatives to Hysterectomy available in the UK on the NHS from January 2007.

Realplayer or Windows Media Player are useful to play it. If you missed it it will be online for 7 days, 24hours a day CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ONLINE NOW. The Fibroids section is about 35 mins into the show

From left to right This Morning Presenter, Fern Britton, Bridgette York , Presenter , Phillip Schofield, Sashi Obhrai Fibroid Network

Bridgette York Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Womans Hour.

Realplayer or Windows Media Player are useful to play it. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW ONLINE

One in four women in England suffer from menstrual problems at some point in their life and half of those may never see their GP about the problem. Fibroids can be one of the causes and traditionally women have been offered a hysterectomy as a solution. However there are now many more treatment options and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued new guidelines to help women find the right one. Martha Kearney talks to Bridgette York, about the successful removal of an 11 pound fibroid , whilst still keeping her womb, Bridgette is a Director of the Fibroid Network and Jenny Higham, Consultant Gynaecologist, Imperial College, London CLICK HERE to Read about the Programme on the BBC WEbsite

Dr Adrian Lower (Myomectomy & Fertility Specialist)of the Private London Fibroid Clinic (Tel 0207 486 2440 )performed Bridgette's myomectomy Weblink Here

This & many other treatments including, Fibroid Embolisation (fibroid shrinkage), is now available to all UK women, on the NHS, thanks to the recommendations in the new NHS Guidelines.

There is a link between fibroids & diet, , Italian Researchers have found.

In a European Study , researchers found that fibroids were more common in women who ate beef and ham frequently, and less common in women who ate more green vegetables & fruit had a lower risk of fibroids.

Click here to Read the Full Research article from the www.greenjournal.org Obstetrics & Gynecology Journal Weblink Here

Exercising regularly may help prevent women from developing uterine fibroids, a new study shows. Fibroids, also referred to as uterine leiomyomas, are benign tumours that grow in the uterus and can cause infertility, bleeding, pain and pregnancy difficulties. They are the leading reason for hysterectomies among UK & US women, Dr Donna Day Baird of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and colleagues note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Thursday 25th January 2007 an all day conference will be held at the London Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists This educational day has been organised to coincide with the publication of the NICE guideline on diagnosis and management of heavy menstrual bleeding. The programme will include discussion of the main recommendations, key priorities for implementation and research recommendations from the guideline. The programme is appropriate for all healthcare professionals and patient groups with an interest in evidence-based practice, and in particular those involved in the care of women with heavy menstrual bleeding.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today issued guidance on the diagnosis, treatment and management of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) currently the leading cause of lower quality of life amongst women of childbearing age. One in four women in England suffer from menstrual problems during lifetime, and it is estimated that 6.5% of all women aged 12-51 have heavy menstrual bleeding.5 Despite this high figure, only 50% of these women are coming forward to seek help from their GP.5 The guidelines make recommendations on a range of effective treatments that should be discussed with women prior to considering irreversible and radical surgical operations such as hysterectomy.

The guideline is based on the need for good communication between women and the doctors and nurses caring for them. It promotes the need to provide women with evidence-based information so they can make informed decisions about their care and treatment, in partnership with their doctors and nurses

The NICE National Institute for Clinical Excellence , Press Officer for this guideline & for Fibroid Network Bridgette York is Kristin O’Leary 020 7067 5871 or kristin.oleary@nice.org.uk , for all press enquiries.

NICE The National Institute of Clinical Excellence has produced a new guideline for the UK NHS, that gives Drs & Patients Information on how to deal with Heavy Periods & Fibroids.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW to see Jenny Hope's article in the Daily Mail (UK) Women robbed of motherhood by a needless hysterectomy

Also here is a BBC article online "No hysterectomy for Heavy Periods" CLICK HERE to view

Advances in Uterine Leiomyoma (Fibroid) Research: 2nd NIH International Congress 24th-25th February 2005 The AMERICAN NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH held its 2nd Fibroids conference. At the National Institutes of Health Maryland USA.

This medical conference brought together researchers working in the fields of biomedicine, epidemiology, basic research, therapeutics to exchange scientific information among members of the uterine leiomyoma research and health care communities.

The conference covered Fibroid Clinical Experience and Therapeutic Strategies, Epidemiology, Clinical Trials, Pathogenesis of Smooth Muscle Tumors, and Molecular and Genetic Characteristics.

For Presenters' Conference notes, abstracts & Slides CLICK HERE to visit their site.

Foresight Charity provides information& research on Preconception , assisting couples to have healthy babies when they have had difficulty conceiving. Women with Fibroids considering Pregnancy or post fibroid surgery may find their information leaflets helpful. Statistically their programme is more successful then IVF. Foresight works with the University of Surrey & Doctors to maximise couples health prior to pregnancy.

Foresight has put together a thoroughly researched programme, which looks at the common key areas, of preparing for pregnancy in order to try to have uncomplicated pregnancies.

1. Nutrition. 2. Common Social Toxins. 3. Contraception 4. Genitourinary and Other Infections. 5. Allergy, Malabsorption and / or Intestinal Infestation 6. Trace Mineral Metabolism and Toxic Metals

Their research has shown that eliminating or reducing these problems leads to more successful pregnancies. We are often asked by women with or without fibroids what they can do about their diet prior to pregnancy, this organisation helps to provide this information. They also assist older women considering pregnancy.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE about the FORESIGHT PROGRAMME

Huw Edwards MP for Monmouth has tabled an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament to support the need for Women with Fibroids to have Informed Patient Choice in Alternatives for Hysterectomy

On Wednesday 15th December 2004 , Mr Huw Edwards Labour MP for Monmouth leads a presentation in the UK Parliament at Westminster with Fibroid Network on the difficulties facing Women with fibroids. Lack of Patient Choice in obtaining alternatives to hysterectomy will be discussed.

50% of UK women having fibroid surgery in the NHS each year will have their wombs removed (Hysterectomy), when alternatives to hysterectomy are available nationwide. 95% of women who contact Fibroid Network, want an alternative to hysterectomy. This is a major public health issue for women. Women want more conservative & more minimally invasive treatments.

Bridgette York, Director of Fibroid Network visited Cuba, Dominican Republic & Jamaica with the British Caribbean Council to compare healthcare systems for the treatment of fibroids. Our research tour took place in November 2004

Generally, we found that women were less likely to be treated by hysterectomy in their fertile years than in the UK. In Cuba & the Dominican Republic , fibroids were less common in women in their 20's. Doctors generally advoided hysterectomy due to high costs, patients wishes & side effects.

In these countries, we found many Doctors combining Complimentary medicine with surgery as the last resort. All countries were interested in researching the prevention of early onset of fibroids in women, or generally managing symptoms to avoid surgery.

We met with many Doctors, Health Ministers & the President of the Dominican Republic. There is a clear need for an International Symposium on Fibroids to update Doctors both in the UK & Worldwide on the range of new treatments for fibroids. Our full report on our findings will be presented on this site

Fibroid Embolisation is an alternative to hysterectomy , which is now available throughout the UK, both on the NHS & Privately. We understand that this was the treatment of choice for Dr. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor to the USA Government.

Uterine Artery Embolisation (UAE) is a minimally invasive procedure which involves blocking the blood supply leading to the Fibroids so they shrink. In most cases this both shrinks the fibroids and reduces heavy menstrual bleeding

We have a reguarly updated list of where to obtain this treatment. It is also available worldwide . This article also has links to online web videos showing the embolisation procedure.

Hydrotherm Ablation is a new kind of minimal surgery for heavy menstrual bleeding. In trials it has been over 80% effective in reducing Heavy Bleeding without the need for Hysterectomy.

There is also a short video, showing the procedure in this article. Click Read More for more information.

Breakthrough research on pregnancy after fibroid embolisation was presented by Dr WJ Walker at the 30th British Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Glasgow this month.

Fibroids are common benign growths of the uterus (womb) which may cause sub fertility as well as symptoms such as heavy periods and/or compression of adjacent organs.

The Royal Surrey County Hospital/London Clinic trial is one of the largest Fibroid Embolisation trial in the world. Over 1000 patients have been treated since December 1996, with this non surgical technique (For details visit www.fibroids.co.uk ).

Within the trial 94 of patients with fibroids were wishing to become pregnant of which 45 (48%) became pregnant of these 31 (33%) pregnancies were successful (25) ongoing (6).

Caribbean Woman- The 2nd Women's Fibroid Expo, addressing Uterine Fibroids is being held at the Kingston Hilton, Jamaica, on Saturday & Sunday 12th -13th March 2005

This Women's conference is designed to look at the whole issue of fibroids including psychological aspects, fertility issues, holistic, dietary and other treatments as well as more conventional interventions such as myomectomy, hysterectomy and now Embolisation.

Recent research findings show that Fibroid tumors (benign uterine growths affecting many women) lack a key protein that plays a role in holding tissues together, according to a study by researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

"This finding is a major step in understanding the nature of fibroids and may prove useful in efforts to devise more effective treatments for them," said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NICHD.