Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Dec 20: A recent study has found that women diagnosed with uterine fibroids face a significantly higher risk of developing long-term cardiovascular disease compared to those without the condition.
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the large-scale study revealed that women with uterine fibroids had an 81 per cent increased risk of major heart-related conditions over a 10-year period. Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths of muscle and tissue that develop in or around the uterus and are among the most common benign tumours in women.
While fibroids are widely known for causing reproductive health issues such as pelvic pain and heavy or irregular menstrual bleeding, researchers say their impact may extend far beyond gynaecological concerns.
The study analysed data from nearly 450,000 women aged between 18 and 50 who were diagnosed with fibroids and compared them with more than 2.25 million women without the condition. Participants with a history of hysterectomy, menopause or cardiovascular disease were excluded. All women were tracked for up to 10 years or until they experienced a cardiovascular event for the first time.
Researchers monitored outcomes such as heart attacks, strokes and peripheral artery disease. Each woman with fibroids was matched with five women of the same age without fibroids to ensure accurate comparison.
The findings showed that women with fibroids experienced around 6.5 cardiovascular events per 1,000 person-years, compared to about 3 events per 1,000 person-years in women without fibroids. Over a decade, the risk of cardiovascular disease rose to 5.4 per cent in the fibroid group, against 3 per cent in the comparison group.
Notably, the elevated risk persisted even after accounting for factors such as race, body mass index, smoking, diabetes and hypertension. The risk was highest among women under 40, whose chances of developing heart disease over 10 years were more than three times higher than those without fibroids.
Julia D. DiTosto, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the study’s authors, said the findings suggest uterine fibroids could act as an early warning sign. “Fibroids may serve as an important marker for identifying women at elevated cardiovascular risk, with the increased risk lasting up to a decade after diagnosis,” she noted.
The researchers emphasised the need for further studies to confirm the association across different populations and to understand the biological mechanisms involved. They also advised women with fibroids to have informed discussions with their healthcare providers about long-term heart health, even as formal cardiovascular risk guidelines remain unchanged for now.