Green Tea Extract Could Help Uterine Fibroids

Health and Wellness by Bethany Burks
Womens Health Update: Green Tea Extract Could Help Uterine Fibroids
January 24th, 2010

Womens health update: Green tea extract could help uterine fibroids, at least that’s what researchers at Meherry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee think. The school has received a $21.4 million grant to explore laboratory discoveries and turn them in to cures from the National Center for Research Resources. The green tea extract’s effectiveness on treating uterine fibroids will be examined under the umbrella grant.

Uterine fibroids plague as many as 40% of women that are within the reproductive age limits. Certain ethnic groups such as African Americans are more prone to this disease. The most common treatments include hysterectomy, and myomectomy. Hysterectomy includes removing a woman’s reproductive organs, making it impossible to have a child again.

Myomectomy is the surgical removal of fibroids. This treatment comes with risks that affect pregnancy, and does not remove the risk that new fibroids will occur. Sometimes a woman undergoing a myomectomy has to have a hysterectomy because of surgical complications.

If Green Tea extract helps with uterine fibroids, this would be a great development in women’s health. Using a natural substance such as green tea would be a welcomed alternative to surgical treatment.

Clinical trials on animals show that green tea extract appears to kill human leiomyoma cells in tissue cultures and eradicate fibroid lesions in animal models, and the grant they have received will help them bring this to a clinical trial including human subjects.

Women with uterine fibroids are urged to speak with their healthcare providers about possible treatments and management. A woman is best off when she follows the orders of her healthcare practitioner. A good doctor or nurse will explain all risks and benefits associated with a treatment and allow a patient to make an educated decision based on their personal analysis of such risk and benefits. Those unsure about advice given should always seek a second opinion.