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The All Important Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer may start in the ovaries, one of the reproductive organs of women, but it isn't just about the ovaries. Here are some of the basic facts about ovarian cancer that all women should know about. The more you know about ovarian cancer the better you will take care of yourself and better your odds of beating the odds against the deadly disease of women.

Women normally have two ovaries, one on each side of the uterus. They are the size of an almond (not very big to cause all this grief), and produce eggs (ova). They also produce the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone. The ovaries have an important role in the life of the female especially regarding her ability to have children. They also can grow not only ova but also tumors, which may be benign, or they can turn out to be malignant (cancerous).

According to the American Cancer Society, 20,000 women in the United States will develop ovarian cancer in a year. In that same year as many as 15,000 women will die in the U.S. from ovarian cancer. To beat those odds women have to become more educated about the disease, now what the risks are and how to prevent the disease from making them a statistic. When ovarian cancer is caught early, the woman's chance of survival is greatest. The problem is that catching the cancer early is difficult, as symptoms do not show until the cancer starts to spread and then it is more difficult to treat it. This is why periodic screening tests especially for high risk women is so important, it is the only way to catch the disease in the early stage. Only around 20% of the ovarian cancers are found in this early stage - 20% that is very low! The majority of the women with ovarian cancer are not even diagnosed until after the cancer has spread, which gives them a much lower chance for survival.

New studies show that there are symptoms in the early stage of cancer but that most women are not aware of the symptoms and therefore go about life as if they were not experiencing any. Why is this? Because the symptoms tend to mimic the same symptoms that women experience while having a period, or when they are having an abdominal upset over something they ate, or when they experience irritable bowel syndrome or a urinary tract infection. Some of these very common symptoms are just overlooked in their very commonness.

Being aware of these early signs of ovarian cancer can save lives!

What are the symptoms of ovarian cancer?

Studies of women who have ovarian cancer show that there are symptoms women can watch for including abdominal pressure, or a feeling of fullness even if they have eaten very little. They also have reported feeling swollen or bloated. They have also reported a sense of urgency to urinate, and pelvic discomfort or pain. Other symptoms that women may experience when they have ovarian cancer are a persistent indigestion, gas or nausea, and an unexplained change in their bowel or urinating habits, including diarrhea or constipation. Other symptoms are loss of appetite, an unexplained weight loss or gain an increased abdominal girth or feeling like their clothes are fitting tighter around the waist. They may experience pain during intercourse (dyspareunia) or a persistent lack of energy or even low back pain.

Because some of the symptoms can be vague it may take doctors a while to rule out other diseases and conditions or to be able to diagnose the ovarian cancer. Sometimes women who have ovarian cancer are actually misdiagnosed with other conditions or diseases when they actually have ovarian cancer.