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• The senior doctor
  from the Gynecology,
  Saiseikai Central Hospital

A uterine fibroid is a benign tumor arising in the uterine muscle (a lump of muscle). The occurrence rate of the disease is ranked high among gynecological diseases. It is said that forty percent of women in their late thirties to forties have uterine fibroids.

Fibroids come in all sizes and may be located in any part of the uterus. The symptoms produced are also different. There are two main symptoms: menstrual disorder such as heavy menstrual bleeding and pressure symptoms due to fibroids.

Subserosal fibroids arise from the uterine muscle, protruding outward toward the abdomen. It is hard to detect until it grows to considerable size because the symptoms are hard to recognize. Intramural fibroids, which develop in the uterine muscle, and submucosal fibroids, which grow toward the endometrium, often result in heavy menstrual bleeding. Uterine fibroids often appear in the uterine body, however, sometimes they occur in the uterine cervix (the areas close to the entrance to the uterus) or in the ligament that sustains the uterus.

It is not known what causes uterine fibroids, although it is known that the female hormone estrogen contributes to the development of uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids thus appear during the period of sexual maturation when the female hormone is active in a woman's body. When women reach their late thirties to forties, uterine fibroids are often found as a result of examination due to heavy menstrual bleeding caused by enlarged fibroids or accidentally found when they have a pregnancy or gynecological examination. Since fibroids become smaller after menopause, uncomfortable symptoms due to fibroids gradually disappear.

• Menstrual disorder (heavy menstrual bleeding, aggravation of menstrual pain, prolongation of menstrual period)
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding (Bleeding other than a normal menstrual period)
• Pressure symptom due to fibroids (frequent urination, a lump in the abdomen)
• Anemia symptoms (dizziness and palpitation)

In 1989, Sakiko Ito underwent a complete medical checkup with her husband. The outcome of this was a detection of uterine fibroids.

Her doctor said: "Your fibroid is about the size of a fingernail. There is no need to be thinking about surgery at this point." She was relieved to hear that it was nothing serious.

"Rather, I thought I was lucky. I didn't have a gynecological examination for a while afterwards."

Although her fibroids grew gradually, she had endured severe pain for almost ten years because she wanted to preserve her ability to have a child.

However, her sister persuaded her saying, "I can understand your desire to have a child. But if you think ahead about your future, you would be best for you to have the surgery…"

Sakiko Ito was born in Tokyo in 1958. In 1973, at the age of fifteen, she won a singing competition program, "A Star Is Born", produced by Nippon TV. In 1974, she made her debut with a song called "Sunflower Girl". She became a top idle, almost catching up with the big three female pop singers at the time: Momoe Yamaguchi, Masako Mori, and Junko Sakurada. Among her contemporary singers, there are singers such as Kiyoshi Nakajo, Mineko Nishikawa, and Teresa Teng.
Her great-aunt is Michiko Sunahara, one of Japan's most esteemed opera singers.
In 1989 she married a businessman and stopped her carrier as a singer, however, she divorced in 2007. In 2004, she started working as a singer again and remarried in 2010.