Month: March 2011

Women can get relief from uterine fibroids with any of three procedures, new research finds. But they prefer the ones that avoid removing the uterus. The study included 197 women with fibroids. These are tumors of the uterus, but they are not cancer. Many produce no symptoms. But some women have pain or heavy bleeding. Some have problems getting pregnant. Women in the study chose one of three treatments. Some had a hysterectomy. This is surgery to remove the uterus. Some women had uterine artery embolization. Doctors inject a material to block the blood supply to the fibroids. This is done through a small tube threaded into an artery. The third procedure uses ultrasound to block blood vessels to the fibroids. This is done from outside the body. It is guided by MRI images. Women treated with all three methods reported better quality of life.

About half of adult men may be infected with human papilloma virus (HPV), a new study suggests. This virus causes genital warts. Some strains cause cervical cancer in women. HPV also can cause cancers of the anus, penis, vagina, mouth and throat. The study included more than 1,100 men, ages 18 to 70. They were from the United States, Brazil and Mexico. All were tested for HPV when they enrolled in the study. Half of them were infected, the author told Reuters Health news service. They also were tested every 6 months for another 2 to 3 years. Researchers found that 6% of the men became newly infected each year with HPV 16. That’s one of the HPV strains that causes most of the cancers. The journal Lancet published the study online. Reuters wrote about it March 1.