A new study of women with ovarian cancer claims that ignorance about the condition is a common thing among patients and it leads to sad consequences.
reports about early signs of ovarian cancer you should watch for.
Women should know more about ovarian cancer
The World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, a not-for-profit organization, conducted a study that showed the ignorance about the condition is common among patients in all 44 countries surveyed. it is important because the disease is more treatable, even potentially curable, in its early stages.
1531 women with ovarian cancer in 44 countries took part in research that was conducted between March and May of this year.
The women’s answers also suggested their doctors were ignorant. Many of them reported that diagnosis took a long time and that they weren’t referred to proper specialists.
Ovarian cancer is the eighth leading cause of cancer in women, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly 300,000 women will develop it this year. The World Ovarian Cancer Coalition estimates that one in six will die within three months of diagnosis and fewer than half will be alive in five years.
Over two-thirds of women had not heard of ovarian cancer, or knew anything about it prior to their own diagnosis, with wide variations between countries.
Symptoms and early signs
There are several signs that suggest you may have a tumor in your ovaries including:
Prolonged pelvic area pain
As the growth of a tumor for ovarian cancer takes place in the pelvic area, you might experience pain that doesn’t go away after normal treatment. This constant pain could be from the affected organs themselves or from surrounding areas that have been prodded to create space for the growing tumor.
Bloating
Although bloating can be caused by varying reasons including the food you eat, persistent bloating hat won’t go away could be a warning sign. When accompanied by additional symptoms such as sharp abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, frequent urination, or constipation, bloating could be as a result of developing cancer cells growth.
Menstrual changes
Irregular bleeding in most women is always a red flag that goes unnoticed for many women. This could be excessive bleeding, bleeding in between the usual periods, bleeding after menopause among others are all possible indications of a growth in the ovaries.
Back pain
A most ignored early symptom, back pain caused by tension created in your pelvic area by tumor growth is a sign you should attend to. When cancerous cells grow into tumors, they cause your abdomen to grow bigger hence pushing against surrounding organs. This also puts a strain on your back causing a dull pain that will not go away but increase as the tumor grows.
Feeling full sooner
Another early sign is quick satiety whenever you want to eat. You will notice that now you can no longer finish half of servings you used to eat on a normal day.
Urgent need to pee
Feeling pressure or pain in the bladder that accompanies sudden urgent need to pee and frequent urge that keeps you from doing your normal tasks well could be a warning for ovarian cancer.