LAS VEGAS, Oct. 29, 2008 / PRNewswire / At the

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 29, 2008 / PRNewswire / At the annual meeting of the American Association of Gynecologic laparoscopic (AAGL), ETHICON Women # 39; s Health Urology today announced results of a study of seven countries to measure the effects of uterine fibroids and associated symptoms on quality of life (QoL). The researchers found that one in five women suffer from symptomatic fibroids for more than 5 years before receiving treatment. Furthermore, regardless of diagnosis, over one third of women remain untreated either surgically or medically for their fibroids, which means that many women continue to experience symptoms severe enough to affect the quality of life. br Uterine fibroids are benign tumors composed of fibrous and muscular tissue in the uterine wall. They occur in one third of women over age thirty and are a major reason for hysterectomy worldwide. Women who have uterine fibroids may experience debilitating symptoms such as abnormal bleeding, pain, pressure in the pelvic region, painful intercourse, frequent urination or infertility. br The Chasm (crosssectional survey of quality of life and symptoms of Myoma) study was sponsored by ETHICON and designed to quantify the fibroid burden on quality of life of a woman and to better understand current management of fibroids symptomatic. More than 2,500 adult women experiencing fibroid symptoms with a selfreported physician diagnosis or previous treatment for uterine fibroids were surveyed in the United States, Canada and five European countries. The researchers found that: br br