That women should maintain and healthy diet and avoid smoking or drinking alcohol to excess are the messages coming out of Taizhou in Jiangsu at present, after a girl as young as 17 was found to have enormous fibroids in her uterus.
一名年仅17岁的女孩被发现子宫内有巨大肌瘤，目前江苏泰州传出的信息是，女性应保持健康饮食，避免过度吸烟和饮酒。
The rare condition normally only found in women over twice her age was so extreme that the girl had in fact developed fibroids that en masse measured 23 x 19 x 20 centimetres in size, approximately that of a volleyball.
这种罕见的病症通常只发生在年龄超过她两倍的女性身上，但情况如此极端，以至于这名女孩事实上长出了肌瘤，其整体大小为 23 x 19 x 20 厘米，大约有一个排球那么大。
Jiang Tao, director of the Department of Gynecology at Taizhou Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University, spoke with the Yangtze Evening News on 8 November to explain the background to the girl’s condition.
11月8日，南通大学附属台州妇产医院妇科主任江涛接受扬子晚报记者采访，介绍了女孩病情的背景。
The young lady in question, who comes from another province, works in a town in Taizhou. Living with her boyfriend, she found that her period had failed to arrive and thus went to the local health centre for treatment at the start of this month.
这位小姐姐来自外省，在台州某镇打工。与男友同居后，她发现月经迟迟未到，于是于本月初前往当地卫生院就诊。
A preliminary examination by the health centre found the fibroids in her uterus, but due to the facility’s limited medical capacity, it was recommended to transfer the girl to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Taizhou.
卫生院初步检查发现子宫内有肌瘤，但由于医疗能力有限，建议将女孩转至台州妇产医院。
Jiang there recalled that when she first diagnosed the girl, she found her to be thin, but by touching with fingers, it was obvious that there was a mass in the girl’s abdomen. When asked if the she had noticed before, the girl replied that she thought she was pregnant.
江某回忆，第一次给女孩诊断时，发现她很瘦，但用手指触摸，明显发现女孩腹部有一个肿块。当被问及之前是否注意到时，女孩回答说她以为自己怀孕了。
Sometimes known as uterine myomas or leiomyomas, many women are after unaware they have fibroids simply because there are no symptoms. Many are too small to see. But as the case in Taizhou proves there are exceptions, albeit very rare.
有时被称为子宫肌瘤或平滑肌瘤，许多女性只是因为没有症状而没有意识到自己患有肌瘤。许多都太小而看不见。但台州的案例证明，也有例外，尽管非常罕见。
The Mayo Clinic notes, “A fibroid that gets very big can distort the inside and the outside of the uterus. In extreme cases, some fibroids grow large enough to fill the pelvis or stomach area. They can make a person look pregnant”.
梅奥诊所指出，“肌瘤变得非常大，会扭曲子宫的内部和外部。在极端情况下，一些肌瘤长得足够大，足以填满骨盆或胃部区域。它们会让一个人看起来怀孕了”。
Together with her colleagues, Jiang was able to subsequently and successfully performed an operation to remove the fibroids, whereupon they came close to filling an entire basin.
随后，蒋与同事一起成功地进行了肌瘤切除手术，几乎填满了整个盆地。
“Uterine fibroids generally occur in women aged 30 to 50, with an incidence rate of about 20-30 percent”, said Jiang. The doctor suggested that the case in such a young woman may be down to her family situation and lifestyle. With her parents divorced when she was a child, the girl received little care from her family. She has a history of smoking and an abnormal and unhealthy diet. Genetic factors cannot be ruled out.
“子宫肌瘤一般好发于30岁至50岁的女性，发病率约为20%至30%。”蒋说。医生认为，如此年轻的女性出现这种情况可能与她的家庭状况和生活方式有关。由于父母在她很小的时候就离婚了，女孩很少得到家人的照顾。她有吸烟史以及不正常和不健康的饮食习惯。不能排除遗传因素。
The Mayo Clinic again corroborates these as risk factors, saying, “Starting your period before the age of 10; obesity; being low on vitamin D; having a diet higher in red meat and lower in green vegetables, fruit and dairy; and drinking alcohol, including beer, seem to raise your risk of getting fibroids”.
梅奥诊所再次证实这些是危险因素，并表示：“10 岁之前开始月经、肥胖、维生素 D 含量低、饮食中红肉含量较高、绿色蔬菜、水果和奶制品含量较低，以及饮酒（包括啤酒）似乎会增加患子宫肌瘤的风险”。
