ABC News anchor Linsey Davis shares personal struggle with uterine fibroids
Davis, the anchor of "ABC News Live Prime With Linsey Davis" and weekend anchor of "World News Tonight," shared her health journey Monday in a conversation with singer Tamar Braxton and model and actress Cynthia Bailey -- two women who have also spoken publicly about having uterine fibroids -- in hopes of helping even more women.
"I feel like if there is an 80% instance in anyone's health, it should be a priority," Davis said of the importance of research into and awareness of uterine fibroids, which the U.S. Office on Women's Health estimates affect up to 80% of women by age 50.
Uterine fibroids are muscular tumors -- typically benign -- that grow in or on the wall of the uterus or womb, according to the Office on Women's Health. Fibroids can grow as a single tumor, but are more often found as multiples in the uterus.
They can range in size from microscopic to large enough to fill the entire uterus. Some women with fibroids may not experience any symptoms, while other women may experience symptoms including irregular and difficult menstrual cycles, frequent urination, heavy bleeding, cramping and bloating, according to the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine.
Davis said that while covering the news in front of the camera, behind the scenes, she has battled painful menstrual cycles, extreme fatigue and severe bloating due to fibroids for years.
While covering the Oscars in March, Davis said that bloating she experienced due to fibroids led people to speculate on social media that she was pregnant.
"It was such an embarrassing moment ... but it is a pouch that, you know, happens," Davis recalled in her conversation with Bailey and Braxton, who each said they also experienced bloating as a fibroids symptom.
"I stayed on the celebrity baby bump alert. Like I was always giving I was pregnant with imaginary children because of my fibroids," Bailey said. "And I was shutting down on rumors, I was like, 'I'm not pregnant, I have fibroids.'"
Bailey first publicly shared her fibroids health journey several years ago as a cast member on the reality TV show "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." She is now a paid brand ambassador for USA Fibroid Centers, a "national network of fibroid outpatient centers," according to its website.
Braxton, one of the famous Braxton sisters, also opened up publicly several years ago about her battle with fibroids, a condition she says her mom and sisters suffered from as well.
All three women spoke about both the physical and mental health challenges they have faced due to fibroids, including pain and fatigue as well as embarrassing moments during their menstrual cycles and feeling like they're falling short in their personal and professional lives.
"Not only does it affect you, it affects your family, it affects everybody that's around you, your kids, everyone," Bailey said. "I was exhausted all the time. I was always tired and all I did was work. And when I could just not be present, I would literally just take a shower, get into bed, and just be like, 'Everyone leave me alone now.'"
As a young woman, Braxton said she suffered from extreme pain and fatigue during her menstrual cycles, but was not diagnosed with fibroids until later in life when she was trying to become pregnant and had infertility issues.
"I became a bit upset at my siblings and my mother," she said, noting that their struggles with fibroids and difficult menstrual cycles were not discussed openly. "I'm like, 'Excuse me, you mean that this is something like I could have prevented or taken care of earlier and I could have understood what was going on with me?' But like we said before … it's a normalized situation, especially in the Black women community."
Woman has uterine fibroids removed that equaled the size of a 6-month pregnancy
Black women are more likely to develop fibroids than white women, according to the Office on Women's Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Though fibroids can often be more severe for Black women, they often go undetected until some kind of discomfort begins.
In July, tennis star Venus Williams and actress Lupita Nyong'o each publicly revealed their struggles with uterine fibroids, helping to shine a spotlight on the condition among Black women.
Dr. Soyini Hawkins, an Atlanta-based board-certified gynecology physician who joined the conversation with Davis, Bailey and Braxton, said there are multiple reasons why Black women are more affected by fibroids.
"We know now that there's genetics that go into it. There definitely is a hereditary component for everyone," she said. "And then for us specifically, our melanin blocks vitamin D, and vitamin D is associated with fibroid growth."
According to the Office on Women's Health, there is no one specific known cause of uterine fibroids, though they are known to be controlled by hormones.
Fibroids tend to worsen when women are in their 30s and 40s, and grow rapidly during pregnancy. Once a woman reaches menopause -- the end of her reproductive years -- fibroids shrink or stop growing.
If a fibroid is not causing any symptoms, it may be left untreated and routinely checked by a doctor.
This doctor helps provide more options for women suffering from fibroids
Treatment options for fibroids range from options like birth control pills, IUDs, medications and procedures to help ease symptoms. The only cure for fibroids is hysterectomy, a surgery to remove the uterus.
Davis, mom of a young son, said that after years of suffering from the symptoms of fibroids and taking into consideration that she may be several years away from the onset of menopause, she decided that hysterectomy was the right treatment option for her.
"I guess I just want to be final. You just want to be finished," Davis said. "It causes me enough angst and grief, and, you know, planning my day differently, accordingly, that I really feel like I'm ready to be finished with this journey."
See the conversation tonight streaming on "ABC News Live Prime With Linsey Davis" at 7 p.m., EDT. ABC News Live is available on Disney+, Hulu, The Roku Channel, YouTube, YouTube TV, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon, Pluto TV, TikTok, ABCNews.com, the ABC News and ABC News Live apps, and more.
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