Power Morcellator Under Scrutiny

It isn't everyday that I get an email from someone asking me to post about products or a recent topic concerning health related to chronic disease, but when I do and I research what they have to say, and agree, I feel compelled to post.

This latest email request hits very close to my heart because I know what it's like to experience the pain of menorrhagia and many with Fibromyalgia experience this type of period http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2011/09/27/fibromyalgia-the-women-only-symptoms.htm. Menorrhagia is heavy or prolonged periods, and with that, I have also experienced two miscarriages within the past couple of years that required me to have two dilation and curettage, as well. My doctor was, of course, concerned, and rightly so, because this change in me was very sudden.

But through all of the tests, visits, and surgeries, one of the things my doctor was very adamant about was the fact that he did not want to perform a hysterectomy due to my heavy bleeding. He truly feels that hysterectomy should be an absolute last resort, and I agree with him.

Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones. My issues reversed as soon as I was put on a low dose birth control pill and I changed my diet by eliminating wheat. But some woman are not as lucky and sometimes a hysterectomy is in order.

Hysterectomies are only second to cesarean sections as the most common surgery for women in the US. And by the age of 70, one out of three American women will undergo a hysterectomy. 90 percent of these surgeries are done to remove Fibroids, a non-cancerous tumor found in the uterus, but the other 10 percent of these surgeries include uterine prolapse, cancer, Endometriosis, abnormal vaginal bleeding (menorrhagia), chronic pelvic pain, and Adenomyosis, or a thickening of the uterus.   

Just recently a new study came out about a particular device that is used in the hysterectomy procedure to cut tissue into small pieces to be removed from the body. However, uterine cancers can go undetected before the procedure, and in those cases, the device used may spread cancer to other areas in the woman's body.  A particular type of cancer known as sarcoma is of major concern and is potentially linked as a much higher risk than previously perceived to this device used in the surgery.

The device is called Power Morcellator. A JAMA article written in March of 2014 explains the risks, http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1828691 . Within the past week further articles have come out about this particular device and it is under further scrutiny. So much so, that Johnson and Johnson, one of the manufacturers of this device, has pulled it off the market.

For more information about Power Morcellators, please visit:  http://www.recallcenter.com/power-morcellator/.

Stay fabulous!
Love and friendship,

Kimberley




Popular Posts