The first step to fighting any illness is to understand it – and the best time to understand it is even before someone we know is diagnosed with it! Ovarian cancer is often referred to as silent killer because the symptoms are vague and many women are often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

As ovarian cancer is becoming more and more common among women today, here are 5 things you need to understand about Ovarian Cancer.

 

1. Get your symptoms checked with your doctor.

Some common symptoms are abdominal pain, bloating, feeling full too soon and always feeling like you have to use the restroom. While these are very common symptoms for other diseases as well, it is better to be safe and consult a doctor in case you find these symptoms very often.

 

2. Young women are rarely affected

Ovarian cancer does not affect young women – even when it does happen it is very exceptional and mostly women under 40 are safe from the disease.

 

3. Family history

If anyone in your family, especially a close family member has had ovarian cancer, the risk of you having the disease is significantly higher.

 

4. Regular gynecologic  exams

Although there is not reliable screening test for finding out if you have ovarian cancer, regular exams by your doctor helps catch any symptoms early on and increase the chance of spotting it early on.

 

5. Maintaining a healthy weight

Overweight women are more likely to develop ovarian cancer as opposed to their peers. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces your risk by a significant amount!

 

6. Permanent birth control is protective

Tubal ligation or having your tubes tied and hysterectomy (removing uterus without removing ovaries) reduces the risk of having ovarian cancer by one-third.

 

7. Diagnosis early on increases survival rates

When ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, 90% of women are likely to survive than when it is diagnosed at a later stage.  

 

Reference links

http://www.prevention.com/health/what-every-woman-needs-to-know-about-ovarian-cancer