Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is aiming to raise awareness of uterine fibroids and boost funding for the common chronic condition among women.
The newly announced Democratic vice presidential nominee introduced a bill last month that would provide $30 million annually to the National Institutes of Health to expand research on uterine fibroids. Additionally, the legislation would allocate money to the CDC to fund a public education campaign, and direct the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to grow its chronic conditions database to include more information on services for these patients.
Often discovered during routine pelvic exams, uterine fibroids are benign tumors that can cause reproductive problems and other complications such as heavy bleeding and bulging in the pelvic region. An estimated , about two-thirds of whom experience symptoms.
The condition disproportionately affects Black women, with more than 80% diagnosed with the condition during their lifetime. Black women encounter symptoms earlier than whites, and are more likely to undergo hysterectomies as a course of treatment.
Harris emphasized that passing this legislation would be an opportunity to reduce racial disparities in outcomes for patients with uterine fibroids.
"Millions of women across the country are affected by uterine fibroids, which can present serious health complications," Harris said in a . "Complications from uterine fibroids can lead to maternal mortality and morbidity, an ongoing crisis especially for Black women."
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) co-introduced the legislation in the house.
Ob/gyns told MedPage Today that more funding for uterine fibroids -- an under-researched condition -- could change the medical community's understanding of the disease process, as well as unveil improved treatment methods.
"Uterine fibroids can cause debilitating symptoms for millions of women across the country and represent the leading diagnosis for performance of hysterectomy in the U.S.," Eva Chalas, MD, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement to MedPage Today.
Chalas emphasized the health inequalities for Black women, stating that "additional federal investment in high quality research will help increase access to evidence-based clinical care and improve women's health and quality of life."
"Without the focus and emphasis on funding, there isn't drive or opportunity to study these things," said Lauren Schiff, MD, a minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon at the University of North Carolina in Hillsborough. She added that it takes legislation like this to "push the needle" when it comes to women's health issues.
Many of Schiff's patients seek out care long after symptoms have escalated. "They have been told that heavy, painful periods are normal, and that they should just deal with it," she said.
She hopes that the patient education campaigns introduced in this legislation provide an opportunity to communicate information about early onset of symptoms and risk factors, which may spare women from having to undergo major surgery when they seek care for fibroids that are large or numerous.
Charles Ascher-Walsh, MD, director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, said that women's health providers have a variety of ways to treat fibroids later on. The real question is "how we can stop this before it starts?"
Among the treatment options for uterine fibroids include medications, minimally invasive procedures such as uterine artery embolization, and surgery, including hysterectomy.
Ascher-Walsh said that hysterectomy is the most successful treatment for uterine fibroids, as the tumors can't recur. However, there are few treatments that don't come with negative side effect profiles and are available for women who want to get pregnant.
Some medications used to manage fibroid-associated bleeding or pain have been linked to bone loss or early menopause, making them useful for a limited number of patients.
Finding safer drugs for long-term medical management that could diminish the size of uterine fibroids and the bleeding effects "would be one of the more important research ventures," Schiff said.
She concluded that this legislation is an opportunity to explore the racial gaps in the care of women with fibroids. "I think that more funding for research will allow us to understand not only the medical disease process, but also the socioeconomic impacts and health disparities that are born from that," she said.