Vitamin D Therapy for Fibroids

Fibroid Network

Vitamin D & Fibroids

Vitamin D deficiency has been identified as a Risk Factor for the development of fibroids. It has been suggested that Vitamin D therapy could be a new strategy for the prevention and/or treatment of fibroids. Or as a treatment used alongside existing strategies, to help to improve outcomes.

Studies are continuing to establish whether Fibroids can be caused and treated by lifestyle and/or Diet adjustments.

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumors affecting the health of women of reproductive age. Researchers previously underestimated the prevalence in society , of the condition. The prevalence of Uterine Fibroids is reported to be as high as 70% in Caucasian women and up to 80% of Black Women . Some fibroid patients suffer pelvic pain, heavy periods, period pain, pressure-related symptoms, & in a few cases, miscarriage, and subfertility. Currently, there is no effective medicinal treatment for fibroids (leiomyoma), and the enormous cost burden of this common disease on the US health care system is estimated to be about $34.4 billion per year. In the UK , up to 38% of women’s visits to Healthcare practitioners are for menstrual problems. There are a range of current management options: removal of the uterus (hysterectomy), removal of the fibroid lesions (myomectomy), uterine artery embolization, image-guided focused ultrasound thermal therapy, and, in mild cases, reassurance and observation. Currently, novel noninvasive treatment options for UFs – such as localized gene therapy, oral green tea extracts, and selective progesterone receptor modulators – are being explored by the researchers. A safe and effective oral treatment option for UFs would be a major advance in the field and it would have an immense impact on women’s health worldwide.

Vitamin D (Vit D) is produced in the skin via a sunlight-initiated reaction and converted to the active metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, mainly in the liver and kidneys.There are Vitamin D receptors in a wide range of human tissues, including skin, colon, brain, pancreas, and breast, as well as activated T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, and macrophages. There are also Vitamin D receptors in the womb lining, throughout the menstrual cycle, in addition to UF tissues. Vitamin D is believed to assist in preventing cancers, assisting the immune system, and controlling various hormone (endocrine) systems. Vitamin D may be potentially useful for the nonsurgical , noninvasive management of Fibroids which would have a major positive impact on women’s health worldwide.

Current Diet & Lifestyle research for Fibroids has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Research Centers in Minority Institutions. In the UK , no research has been funded to look at lifestyle or Dietary interventions which could help women to manage their conditions, without the need to use costly Medical or Surgical procedures which are an enormous cost burden to the NHS.

Environmental factors , called Endocrine Disruptors are also being examined by researchers. We will be examining these issues in further articles.

Sadly in the UK , lack of research is leading to crisis care, where treating the symptoms, but not the causes of fibroids are prioritized.

Ethnic disparities have also been identified for the age, onset , risk factors and symptoms associated with fibroids.

Recommended reading of the recent Fibroid Research is available at this site:

Proceedings from the Third National Institutes of Health International Congress on Advances in Uterine Leiomyoma Research: comprehensive review, conference summary and future recommendations

PMCID: PMC3999378

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