A cure for uterine fibroids that maintains fertility?

Do you remember news about the new morning-after pill, ellaOne? The drug was recently licensed and described by some as a DIY abortion pill. Now, a new and still ongoing study indicates that ellaOne might just have the potential to shrink down uterine fibroids, and still preserve fertility. Would that not be great news for the millions of women struggling with uterine fibroids? Fibroids cause pain and extremely heavy menstrual periods. They also increase the risk of miscarriage, and are one of the most common reasons for hysterectomies.

The women in the study took ellaOne once a day for the duration of three cycles. The study showed that those taking ellaOne had far better results than those who took the placebo, and women taking higher doses of ellaOne had a larger reduction in the size of their fibroids. This study is still ongoing, but I think very promising. Dr Lynette Nieman, a researcher working on the study, predicts that ellaOne is an effective non-invasive treatment for fibroids that can help maintain fertility in women whose only option up to now was to have surgery. This would be a revolutionary new approach to treating uterine fibroids, that can help many women.

It is funny how a pill that was initially manufactured to prevent and terminate pregnancy will actually end up helping many women get pregnant and stay pregnant. I do wonder about negative side effects that ellaOne might have. Don't you think that a morning-after pill could pose risks to a fetus when it is used to shrink uterine fibroids? The next phase of the study is bound to look into that, and of course, we will keep you updated on new developments. For the time being though, I think those with uterine fibroids can be cautiously optimistic about this bit of news. What are your opinions?