Raise Your Voice; End an Epidemic
Bulun, Morton and their teams’ discoveries are keys to less invasive ways to treat fibroid symptoms and maybe, someday, find a cure. Morton’s findings about FASN may even lead to personalized treatments for women based on their genetic profiles. But their work is just a beginning.
“We need to know more,” Morton says. “We need women to step forward and empower these studies.”
Referring to her ongoing research on sisters with fibroids, she adds: ”We really need black women to participate so that we can get answers about what treatments will work best for them.” Women who think they might qualify can volunteer and learn more on the center’s website.
Stewart adds: “It’s also important for women to be advocates for themselves. Fibroids affect women in the prime of their lives, yet there are not a lot of advocacy groups —there’s no equivalent of the American Heart Association for fibroids, but there should be. There is no reason for women to suffer in silence anymore.”
Sheree Crute is co-founder and editor-in-chief of FierceforBlackWomen.com. This periodic series is part of Living Well: Fierce Reports on Black Women’s Health. Part 2 will focus on how to treat fibroids.
Women with fibroids in white dresses? Yes, and they’re declaring July as Fibroids Awareness Month. (Michael Jung/ThinkStock)
“Every time you mention fibroids, somebody knows somebody who has them,” Tanika Gray Valbrun says. “It’s so familiar to people, but there’s no national recognition for it.” So Gray Valbrun founded The White Dress Project. Read Errin Haines Whack’s article to learn more about their efforts to declare July as Fibroid Awareness Month and why so many women are wearing white dresses.
Other key organizations in the fight against fibroids include:
- The Fibroid Foundation – a patient advocacy partner of the Mayo Clinic fibroid research team. The mission of the Fibroid Foundation is to be a life-enhancing resource for the millions of women with fibroids, and a catalyst to bring attention to more holistic solutions to women’s health.
- The Fibroids Project – an online community and website dedicated to women suffering from uterine fibroids. The organization’s mission is to be a resource to women and medical professionals by providing information on the latest programs, procedures and research.
- The National Uterine Fibroids Foundation – A group organized to engage in charitable, educational and scientific activities related to the care and treatment of women who have uterine fibroids or related conditions of the reproductive system.
Tanika Gray and her pledge for The White Dress Project.
Show Us Your White Dress!
Upload selfies and other photos of you in a white dress to our Facebook page! And wear a white dress on Thursday in commemoration of Fibroids Awareness Month — first in Georgia and eventually nationwide.
