Causes

The specific causes of fibroids are unknown, but we do know this:

• Estrogen feeds the growth of fibroids.
• Fibroid tumors are more common in African-American women than in Caucasian women.
• Fibroids may grow more quickly during pregnancy because of increased hormone levels during gestation.
• Obesity and hypertension increase the risk of fibroids.

The good news is that during menopause, when estrogen production diminishes, fibroids generally do not continue to grow and they may even shrink slightly. For this reason, some women who have only mild symptoms late in life choose to wait for menopause before undergoing treatment.