endocrine disruptors in hair care products aimed at black women

Recent study found a bunch of them, many not even labelled.

And CDC reports show that black women have higher levels of some phthalates (used as a solvent in fragrances) and parabens (used as a preservative) in their bodies than white women.

Scary stuff. Details here.

Exploring The Connection Between Fibroids And Obesity

Interesting article. Fat produces estrone. So doesn't hurt to lose weight! Link here.

‘bad girls have babies, while the good girls have fibroids’

Some fibroids stories out of Africa. Link here.

Good article on stigma attached to natural black hair

Speaking from the perspective of someone who is white and who thinks that natural black hair is beautiful, the situation described in this article is so incredibly sad. And not to mention, the chemicals used in perms and relaxants have been proven to contribute to uterine fibroids. That's probably one reason that African American women have a higher incidence of fibroids than Caucasian women.

interesting information on how fibroids form

Blame genetic mutations and too much of those growth factors.  Details here.

chromosome shattering behind fibroids?

Interesting report of academic research, see link here.  Unfortunately, no practical applications at this point.

memories can be inherited

Fascinating research with a variety of implications.  Article here.

African American women have greater impact from fibroids

Report on the results of an interesting study, here.

Should black women have to risk losing their job over their hair?

This falls in the category of things that should not even be an issue for anyone.  Very depressing article about the discomfort that some people evidently have with natural hair on African American women (and additional article here with more details and links). (So hard for me to understand, as I think natural hairstyles on black women are beautiful.)  It doesn't mention in this article that hair relaxers have been linked to uterine fibroids in black women, and may partially explain why the rate of fibroids is so high in black women.  So in addition to being an equality issue, it's a health issue.

Scientists Uncover Genetic Link for Uterine Fibroids

Very interesting, could lead to personalized medicine.  Article here.

Looks like fatty acid synthase is the culprit, and looks like inhibitors of it are something that is sold as an anti-tumor agent, but this seems unproven and the ones out there are expensive.  Possibility however that xanthones and benzophenones could be helpful (article), although my other research suggests that benzophenones are phytoestrogens linked to causing fibroids (are we confused yet?).  Also looks like EGCG from green tea is a fatty acid synthase inhibitor, which could explain why it seems to be helpful for fibroids.

So I'm putting in an order for some mangosteen capsules (they include xanthones), some green tea extract with EGCG,  (I have seen some stuff on the web about mangosteen being helpful for fibroids, but have been reluctant to spend the big buck for the juice product that's out there, so capsules seem like an economic alternative.

this gene looks like a culprit for fibroids

Info here.  Not sure what to do with this info though!

Howard University holding a fibroid summit in March

Focusing on impact on African American women. Good for them!  Article here.

hair relaxers cause fibroids

Study shows that the chemicals in hair relaxers cause fibroids to grow.  Article here.  More detailed article here.

This follow-up article talks about how some African American women feel pressure to relax their hair, which is really a shame.

genetic determinants of uterine fibroids

So curious as to what this lecture will say.

new data on why black women more likely to get fibroids

Not a lot of detail given, but interesting.  Article here.

link between generic mutation and fibroids

When I was in Chicago recently, I saw an ad for a chiropractor/acupuncturist who listed fibroids as one of the things he specializes in. 

I decided to look at his site, and found a well-put-together discussion of fibroids and how he treats them.  Wish I had found him back in 2004 when I was living in Chicago and found out I had fibroids!

Most of it is familiar info but found something new to me and very interesting.  He gives a detailed discussion of estrogen metabolism, and mentions the role of B vitamins like folic acid. He mentions that some people have a genetic problem that interferes with their ability to absorb folic so he prescribes methylated forms. The implication is that people who have this genetic defect and don't take the methylated forms are going to have trouble with estrogen metabolism. 

The genetic problem he is referring to is MTHFR, and the reason I know that is that I have it, I was tested for it last spring.  It's discussed in the book Is Your Body Baby-Friendly?: Unexplained Infertility, Miscarriage & IVF Failure - Explained and Treated.

However, never before had I realized that there might be a link between this genetic defect and my fibroids.  A big eye-opener for me.

This makes me think, if you have fibroids it would be a good idea to get tested and see if you have MTHFR. 

my Body Talk session today

After hearing about all the recent surprises, my Body Talk practitioner asked me in for an on-the-house session today because she just had to ask my fibroids what was up. I think on a professional level, she was both upset and curious about recent developments, and for herself as a professional felt the need to get to the bottom of that. I really appreciate that kind of attitude.

For those of you who have not seen prior posts, Body Talk is a form of energy healing in which the practitioner "talks" to the body to uncover information and heal imbalances. I've been doing it for the past year and find it helpful, however have not been doing it intensively (for awhile because I was too busy with other appointments, and more recently because the practitioner told me my body said it only needed to come every 6-8 weeks).

A bunch of interesting things came up.

First of all, when she "asked" them the fibroids said that they were there to protect me, from "hostility" in the world. She asked me what was going on earlier in my career before some of my career achievements, what might have made me feel that I needed to "prove my worth" to others by being successful. In response to this I told the practitioner about how ever since my family moved to Chicago when I was 9, I never felt at home there and always wanted to somehow feel better about being different and rise above what I felt was being surrounded with people who didn't "get" me. That was a big part of going away to an Ivy League school on the east coast, doing something different and "better." Somehow I wanted to prove that I was made out of different stuff than all those kids in my high school I didn't like -- the same reason I wore ultra-preppy clothes in dark and primary colors to distinguish myself from the girls who wore pink and purple outfits with glitter on them.

The main reason I came back to Chicago was that for many years I strongly believed that I had to be there, due to my sister's handicap, both to be supportive to my parents and perhaps someday to take over managing her care. I just didn't consider any other options, it was like a promise I had made mentally somehow. And indeed except for the 2 years I lived in Japan, I stayed in Chicago for years and years. It wasn't until I was 40 years old and read the book Calling in the One (dreadful title, fabulous book) that I realized this subconscious promise I had made that was not serving me, that I was not helping anyone by feeling like I had to stay in Chicago, and within several months I had split town.

In hindsight, how stupid it was of me to come back to a place where all the people I hated from high school (highly materialistic and whose world did not go beyond the Midwest) and people like them were in the majority and were the ones running the town. A place where someone like me, who went to an ivy league school, got an MBA, lived in Japan for awhile and learned fluent Japanese, etc. was viewed as kind of a freak. (Sorry to sound so down on Chicago, there are many wonderful things about the city and I have so many wonderful friends there but it was just not the right place for me!) But I valiantly tried to make it work, spending years frantically scrambling to find those few like-minded people to be friends with (successfully) and to date (unsuccessfully).

It wasn't until I came to California where all the things that had made me seem like an oddball in Chicago just made me average here, and where I suddenly went from never having a date to being what I jokingly told friends was being "the Prom Queen of Palo Alto". (I am a kind of dream gal for the typical Silicon Valley PhD type guy -- a brainy gal who is also cute, and once I got here for the first time in my life I had my pick of guys, and quickly nabbed a charming software programmer who is now my dear husband...)

My practitioner picked up on the words "frantically scrambling" and said that my body has not figured out that things have changed, that I don't need to to frantically scramble anymore, that somehow I am stuck in that mode, especially my endometrial tissue, she says it's like it's scattered, not coherent.

Indeed, there was a lot of frantic scrambling in my life in my 30s, during the time that the fibroids were getting established -- frantically scrambling to establish my own company and to make it successful, scrambling to try to carve out a satisfying social life in a place where there were not many people I could relate to (for example I started not one but two successful social clubs!), and trying to meet the right guy (I put huge amounts of effort into this for years, countless blind dates and showing up at every flavor of social event, before I finally realized I was fishing in the wrong pond).

She said that I need to change my relationship with time, and not always feel like I am scrambling to meet a deadline. In that sense, this whole fertility thing with "we have to have a baby while my eggs are still good" certainly has played right into my issues with time.

She then asked me about my father's mother, an interesting question because I look exactly like her and share some similar interests (e.g. yoga and health food (she was ahead of her time on those)). Sadly, my grandmother had lots of difficulties in her relationships with other people, she was always combative and alienated many of her relatives, and although I didn't spend enough time with her after the point where I would have noticed it, evidently she was a rather difficult person to be around. Even though I don't have those kinds of issues, the practitioner said that I do carry that combativeness at some level. The practitioner said that I need to let go of that kind of combativeness, the feeling that I always have to be primed for a fight or to defend myself. That I need to learn how to switch this off, and only turn it on when I need it, as opposed to having it on all the time.

She said that beneath these issues was also what she called a genetic layer, consisting of "stuff" that had been passed down to me over generations, of feeling that the world is out to get me and is full of enemies. I laughed and said yeah, that's kind of the message you get when you're Jewish and your ancestors were all persecuted for centuries and for the generation before you the horrible memory of the Holocaust is only all too fresh and you are only too aware that many of your relatives were murdered. (I also feel like I got way too big a dose of this kind of information and feeling as a child when it was too hard for me to process it, including lots of coverage in religious school, seeing the TV miniseries Holocaust and the movie Sophie's Choice at too young an age (high school), and things like having the Hebrew school teacher skip class one day when a big report about intermarriage came out so that she could lecture us that we should only date and marry Jewish people or otherwise our people would disappear (don't you think that's a bit much for a 10 year old to have to shoulder?). So in addition to whatever stuff is there "genetically" I think there is a lot there based on what I heard/was told in my youth.

All of this ties up with what Walter, the clairvoyant, told me about my system being too geared up, that I need to get a lot calmer. It seems like I have been on high alert at some deep level for way too long a time. The challenge is, how to get my body and spirit to realize that I am safe, and that I am at home, and don't have to fight the world... I think my fibroids are telling me that I have a lot more work to do...

gene variant related to fibroids discovered

A new study has discovered a gene variant that is related to the risk of developing fibroids.

This confirms some of what has been discussed in this blog before, about genetic factors being part of what causes fibroids.

I don't know why someone would want to be tested for this gene though -- it's not as if western science currently has anything to tell us about what to do if we are found to have a genetic disposition. Why don't they spend some of this research money to look for a preventative and a cure?

study on fibroid growth rates

This interesting study looked at fibroid growth rates. Typical growth rate was 9% every 6 months, but in 7% of cases they shrunk more than 20%. Unfortunately they don't seem to give any info about what might have been different about those 7%. Also interesting data about growth rate differences in white and black women.

racism and fibroids

As a follow-up to my post about fibroids and African-American women, I just wanted to share this article I just found, which links perceived racism to increased risk of uterine fibroids in black women.