Not as simple as Black and White

In the last post we talked about some factors that increase certain women's risk of developing fibroids. One of the most significant is race. The cumulative incidence, or the total percentage of new cases, is over 80% in black women by the age of 50. Some studies have looked at why these racial differences exist. This can partially be explained by the racial differences in the other risk factors. For example, Black women on average experience their first periods at a younger age than white women. Because we know that an early period is already a risk factor for fibroids, this can explain some of the differences between the races. However, accounting for each of the individual risk factors does not explain the wide gap between black and white women's fibroid risks.

Lots of research is currently being done to try to explain these differences. One area that has received much attention is dairy consumption. One study asked black women about their diet and then followed them to see if they developed fibroids. Women consumed more servings of dairy per day had a lower risk of developing fibroids than those who ate less dairy. This was the first study to find this kind of relationship so there is still a lot of research that needs to be done particularly to see if adding calcium to the diet could decrease the development of fibroids.

Another possible explanation for racial differences is stress or racism. Several studies have looked at this relationship and found that women who reported experiences of racism in their lifetime or discrimination in their daily life had an increased risk of developing fibroids. The risk increased even more for a higher number of life events reported. There have been other diseases associated with a stressful life so this could be an explanation for the development of fibroids.


References:
Cramer SF, Patel A. The frequency of uterine leiomyomas. Am J Clin Pathol. Oct 1990;94(4):435-438.

Wise LA, Radin RG, Palmer JR, Kumanyika SK, Rosenberg L. A prospective study of dairy intake and risk of uterine leiomyomata. Am J Epidemiol. Jan 15 2010;171(2):221-232.

Wise LA, Palmer JR, Cozier YC, Hunt MO, Stewart EA, Rosenberg L. Perceived racial discrimination and risk of uterine leiomyomata. Epidemiology. Nov 2007;18(6):747-757.