moominmuppet

> REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES
>
> 4. Mifepristone May Shrink Uterine Fibroid Tumors,
> Study Says
>
> Access this story and related links online:
>
> http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=15844
>
> Mifepristone could be effective in shrinking
> uterine fibroid tumors and could allow women with
> such tumors to avoid hysterectomy, according to a
> study published in the February issue of Obstetrics
> & Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. Dr. Steven
> Eisinger and colleagues from the University of
> Rochester in New York determined that women who take
> small doses of mifepristone -- the drug used in
> combination with misoprostol to induce medical
> abortion -- on a daily basis could reduce the size
> of their fibroids and alleviate symptoms caused by
> the tumors. For the study, 19 women with fibroids
> were given a five milligram daily dose of the drug
> -- "only a small fraction of the 600 mg usually
> needed to induce abortion," according to Reuters
> Health -- and 20 women with fibroids received a 10
> mg daily dose. After six months of treatment, both
> dosage levels reduced the size of patients' uteruses
> by 50%, indicating that the treatment had an effect
> on their fibroids. Eisinger found in an earlier
> study that the size of fibroids could be reduced
> with the administration of a 25 mg dose of
> mifepristone each day, but patients suffered side
> effects, such as hot flashes, from the drug. The
> lower dosage in the latest study reduced the size of
> fibroids but did not produce the same side effects,
> Eisinger said. Uterine fibroids are the leading
> cause of hysterectomy in the United States and can
> cause intense pelvic pain and extreme menstrual
> bleeding. Approximately 25% of women get the benign
> tumors (Reuters Health, 1/31).