4NBC story on UFE/New York/Dr. Anne

[Guest guest]

Anybody catch this story last night? TVEyes didn't pick up the complete

opening and I'm curious as to what the lead in health story was about

hormones and food cravings. It aired in New York on Channel 4 NBC. Dr.

Anne of San Diego and Debra Ingersoll were both interviewed and

a mini-version of the story can be found at:

http://www.msnbc.com/local/wnbc/662273.asp

WNBC 1/28/00 - 5:55:57 PM .....

...... hormones play a role in those cravings. Researchers at

Rockefeller University believe the hormones trigger production of

a chemical called gallinin stimulating the desire for fatty foods.

Researchers found higher levels caused the craving for fatty foods and

since it works together with female hormones, women are more prone to

the cravings than are men.

Fibroids are benign muscle tumors of the uterus , or womb. They can

cause pain, bleeding, even infertility. In fact, fibroids are the number

one reason for hysterectomies. An alternative, I've told you about

before, is really starting to gain acceptance. It's starving fibroids to

death. >>

Reporter: Each month, Debra knows what's coming, painful exhausting

menstrual periods with a lot of blood. The cause: Uterine fibroids. She

was told the only way to get relief was a hysterectomy, removing her

entire uterus >>

Debra: I went home and cried for two days. It just was not something

that I wanted to do. It frightened me. I didn't want to lose my organs.

>>

Reporter: She also didn't want to spend three to four days in a hospital

and weeks in recovery so Ingersoll turned to the internet and found an

alternative called uterine fibroid embolization or ufe. Fibroid

embolization is much less invasive than surgery. The catheter is

threaded through a tiny groin incision and into the arteries leading to

the uterus. Small plastic particles about the size of a grain of sand

are injected into those vessels blocking the blood supply to the

fibroids. >>

Debra: They're still there. They don't go away because they have lost

their blood supply. They go ahead and shrink down and that's what

causes them to stop having the symptoms. Hysterectomy frightened me. I

didn't want to lose my organs. >>

Reporter: Ufe is not without problems, though. Women can also have

cramps for days afterwards. And also, it's not exactly cheap, -- but

Ingersoll says the procedure was a small price to pay to avoid having a

hysterectomy. >>

Debra: Within three months, though, I was feeling great. By six months

later I had no symptoms at all outlying. >>

Reporter: Doctors in France invented fibroid embolization about eight

years ago. It's been available in the U.S. for three or four years. But

because it's still relatively new, not all insurance companies will

cover it. Although in the past any technique that reduces expensive days

in the -- days in the hospital has been quickly adopted by insurance

companies after approved -- after it's proved its effectiveness. Learn

more about medical stories on our website at www.Newschannel4.Com.

Fibroid embolization may not be right for women who want to have

children, though. Although there have been some cases of women getting

pregnant after the procedure, it does disrupt the blood supply to the

uterus so you have to assume that it will

cause infertility. It's not for women who definitely want to have more

children, although it's possible. >>

Okay. Thank you. >>> That's live at 5 for this week.