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December 10, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Uterine Fibroids Significantly Raise Risk of Heart Disease<\/p>\n In a new study, women diagnosed with these common growths had a more than 80 percent higher risk of developing heart disease over a 10-year period than their peers did<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Clara Moskowitz<\/span><\/p>\n Uterine fibroids\u2014common, often missed and frequently painful growths made of muscle and other tissue inside the uterus\u2014may dramatically raise the risk of heart disease, a new paper finds.<\/p>\n In a study of 2.7 million women, the more than 450,000 who were diagnosed with the growths had a more than 80 percent higher risk of developing heart disease over a 10-year period. Experts estimate that as many as 80 percent of women will develop fibroids by age 50, although the condition often goes undiagnosed, even in people who experience symptoms\u2014which can be debilitatingly painful.*<\/p>\n Although fibroids are very common, and heart disease is also the leading cause of death among women, potential links between the two have been historically understudied, study co-author Julia DiTosto, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a recent statement. The findings suggest fibroids may function as a biomarker for screening patients who are at greater risk of cardiovascular problems, she added.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n The researchers calculated the study participants\u2019 risk of heart disease at one, three, five and 10 years after their uterine fibroid diagnosis. Notably, the study found that participants under the age of 40 showed a strong link between fibroids and heart disease, with a 251 percent higher risk at 10 years.<\/p>\n The study didn\u2019t conclude that fibroids cause heart disease or look at whether treating a woman\u2019s fibroids or surgically removing them might affect her cardiovascular risk. And the research could not fully account for participants who had undiagnosed fibroids. But, DiTosto said in the statement, there is research to suggest fibroids and heart disease may share some features that could explain the connection.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strength of the relationship between heart disease risk and uterine fibroids was striking,\u201d DiTosto said. \u201cHowever, it\u2019s important to note that more research is needed to confirm these findings in other populations\u201d before changing the guidelines for assessing someone\u2019s risk of cardiovascular disease. But the results do suggest, she added, that those who know they have fibroids should have thoughtful conversations with their doctors about heart health.<\/p>\n *Editor\u2019s Note (12\/10\/25): This sentence was edited after posting to correct the estimate of how many women will develop fibroids by age 50.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. 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I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 10, 2025 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Uterine Fibroids Significantly Raise Risk of Heart Disease In a new study, women diagnosed with these common growths had a more than 80 percent higher risk of developing heart disease over a 10-year period than their peers did By Claire Cameron edited by Clara<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[4391,18153,3411,183,736,19498,20482],"class_list":{"0":"post-36792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-disease","9":"tag-fibroids","10":"tag-heart","11":"tag-raise","12":"tag-risk","13":"tag-significantly","14":"tag-uterine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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