POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — On Saturday, one group is running “F.A.R” to raise awareness about uterine fibroids.
The second annual Run F.A.R 5K is taking place Saturday to raise awareness and educate women and their families about fibroids.
Fibroids are non-cancerous growths in the womb that cause a lot of pain and abnormal bleeding in women. According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, 60% of Black women who were screened had fibroids by the age of 35. That number jumped to 80% by age 50.
The numbers were also high for white women. Of those who were screened, 40% had fibroids by age 35 and almost 70% of white women had fibroids by age 50.
F.A.R. is an acronym for “fibroid awareness and resources." LaToya Dwight the founder of The Fibroid Pandemic, the organization behind the 5K, told 11Alive that her own experience with fibroids sparked her desire to raise awareness and support other women on their own fibroid journeys.
Dwight discovered her fibroids during an appointment to have an IUD removed.
“She (Dwight’s doctor) sent me into ultrasound, and they were able to locate the IUD, but they also asked, 'Hey how are the fibroids coming along? And I go, 'What’s that?' I had no idea that they were fibroids on my uterus,” Dwight explained. “The fact that 70% of women will develop fibroids in their lifetime before they become age 50 should be alarming. Eighty percent of Black women have uterine fibroids whether they know it or not, that should also be alarming."
The Run F.A.R 5K is taking place on Saturday at Still Family Farm in Powder Springs starting at 8 a.m.