News Release

New study shows uterine fibroids have greater impact in African-American women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

<I>Journal of Women's Health</I>

image: Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. view more 

Credit: ©2013 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, October 9, 2013—A national survey has found that uterine fibroids have a disproportionate impact on African American women, causing more severe symptoms, interfering with their daily life, and causing them to miss work. These new findings are reported in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh.

African American women have a 3-fold higher incidence of uterine fibroids and tend to have them at an earlier age. In "The Burden of Uterine Fibroids for African American Women: Results of a National Survey," authors Elizabeth Stewart, MD, Wanda Nicholson, MD, MPH, MBA, Linda Bradley, MD, and Bijan Borah, PhD, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, and Cleveland Clinic, OH, describe the symptoms, concerns, and quality of life issues African American women are more likely to face than are other women with uterine fibroids.

Early intervention to reduce the high risk of hysterectomy and preserve the fertility of this disproportionately affected group of women should be considered, proposes Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, in the accompanying Editorial, "Uterine Fibroid: The Burden Borne by African American Women."

"Uterine fibroids are a major source of morbidity for reproductive-aged women, and this is especially true for African American women," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Women's Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. The Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health website at http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh. Journal of Women's Health is the Official Journal of the Academy of Women's Health and the Society for Women's Health Research.

About the Academy

Academy of Women's Health is an interdisciplinary, international association of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work across the broad field of women's health, providing its members with up-to-date advances and options in clinical care that will enable the best outcomes for their women patients. The Academy's focus includes the dissemination of translational research and evidence-based practices for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of women across the lifespan.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Population Health Management, Thyroid, Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, and Breastfeeding Medicine. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax (914) 740-2101


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