By: Maayan S. Heller for Fibroids1There are so many reasons to work out. Reasons include looking good, feeling good, and having energy. The health benefits of exercise are touted in every direction, and if you’re a woman, even just a little added activity can do more than make your jeans look better; it can also reduce your risk of fibroids.
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Working it Out: Megan P. Nash, MS, CHES, suggests different exercise options for women at any point on the fitness spectrum:
Nash says the same thing to everyone she trains or instructs: “Your body is meant to be used. Try to increase daily activity and general movement, period…That means the usual: taking the stairs, walking for 10 minutes during lunch breaks, reducing television time, playing with the kids, doing your own house and lawn work, etc.”
For anyone looking to change their activity level, Nash says: “For anyone, hiring a certified personal trainer is always beneficial for individual attention and program planning.”
For women who don’t currently exercise much and want to initiate a more active lifestyle, Nash suggests the following: “Walking is an easy, accessible and effective form of exercise. If you want to quantify it, I would suggest a brisk 30-minute walk daily. In addition, women should engage in load-bearing exercises (such as weight lifting or yoga) at least three times a week.”
For already "active" women, Nash says: “I would suggest increasing intensity – adding a spin class, extending cardio for longer times, increasing weights at least one (of three/four) time a week, etc.” |
A recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the more active women are, the less likely they are to develop uterine fibroids. Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. They can have various threatening effects on women, including infertility, bleeding, pain, and pregnancy difficulties. They are also the number one reason behind hysterectomies among American women.
According to the study’s research team, little is known about how to prevent fibroids, but hormones do seem to be directly tied to the onset and growth of the tumors. “It is true that fibroids grow with increasing amounts of estrogen,” says Maura Quinlan, MD, an OB/GYN in Illinois. “Estrogen is in fat cells – so women who are thinner would likely have less estrogen and therefore smaller fibroids.”
The researchers looked at 1189 women (734 African-American women and 455 white women), studied their health histories and screened them for fibroids using ultrasound technology. Their findings showed that those women who exercised seven or more hours weekly had a 40 percent lower risk of fibroids than the women who exercised less than two hours weekly. Women who worked out “vigorously” for at least four hours a week were also found to have lowered fibroid risk than those who exercised less.
“They are really saying that ‘active’ women are less inclined to develop fibroids and serious gym rats are very unlikely to suffer from debilitating fibroids for sure,” says Megan P. Nash, MS, CHES, a certified health education specialist and trainer based in Washington, D.C.
The researchers found that the link between exercise and tumor onset was notably stronger than the link between exercise and tumor growth, and when they removed women from the study who had severe fibroids that could have interfered with physical activity, the relationship between exercise and lowered fibroid risk remained.
“The details about why exercise would help are not totally clear,” says Dr. Quinlan. But as lead researcher Donna Day Baird, PhD, of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina reported, “exercise is a modifiable practice and also has other positive effects on women's health.”
It’s true that women have little control over some of the other factors known to affect fibroids. “Exercise is such an important part of staying healthy, and this is just another possible benefit!” says Dr. Quinlan. “Leading an active, physically engaged life is healthiest,” agrees Nash.
