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While this article focuses on ovarian cancer, it is important to realize that with any health problem the diagnosis is more important than the treatment. This is because a correct diagnosis can help determine the correct course of treatment.

When it comes to ovarian cancer, it is especially important that you get an early diagnosis. Often an early diagnosis is key in providing you with enough time to allow your treatment to work. As with other life threatening illness it is important that you get ovarian cancer diagnosed as early as possible.

In modern times, everything seems like it is possible and many of us wonder why people are still dying from diseases. However, modern medicine still doesn’t promise that people will be completely free of malignant health problems. Continue reading ‘Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer’ »

Once called a silent killer of women, ovarian cancer was considered to be symptom free up to the point that the cancerous growths had reach critical mass and most likely already spread to other organs. Diagnosis would then be made because of symptoms the other organ manifests, in turn leading doctors to the source of the problem, often times too late for many sufferers to undergo successful treatment.

Nevertheless, in recent years experts and researchers have determined that when comparing case studies of various patients presenting with ovarian cancer, across the board there appeared to be a general agreement about similar feelings of discomfort that took place well before the diagnosis. This has caused the medical industry to rectify its opinion of ovarian cancer and it is no longer considered a symptom free illness, but instead one that has symptoms so subtle that unless the patient knows what to look for, they are likely missed or attributed to other problems. Continue reading ‘Could it Really Be Ovarian Cancer?’ »

Cancer is a deadly disease all over the world, with very little known about curing it completely. One type of cancer that affects many women around the world is ovarian cancer. It has now become the fifth leading cause of death in cancer patients and leads the charts under all the gynaecological cancer deaths. Women of all demographics, races and ethnicities show risk factors for developing ovarian cancer. After one has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the first response is to affirm the ovarian cancer survival rates and life expectancy. These rates differ from patient to patient, but some common factors are the age, family history of disease and early diagnoses of the cancer.

As the age of a woman increases, so do the chances of her having ovarian cancer. Very few women below the age of 40 are seen to suffer from this, but it is not a complete rarity. However, ovarian cancer survival rates are much higher in young women that the elderly. Women under the age of 20 show the highest survival rates, with close to 99% of the women recovering fully from it. This changes almost minimally for women under the age of 30 with death rates climbing to 0.8%. With early screening of cancer, death rates decline rapidly and most women go on to live completely healthy lives. After the age of 35, with the onset of other gynaecological problems and lower chances of pregnancy, the survival rates take a slight dip; going down to some 96.8% and even lower if the cancer has advanced to stage III or IV. Continue reading ‘Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates’ »

Of all women’s cancers, ovarian cancer is the most lethal. A woman diagnosed with this cancer can go through difficult treatments that result in a lot of discomfort. This is unfortunate for women who have to deal with the pain associated with ovarian cancer either because of the disease itself or from the treatments.

A patient’s complaint of pain can range from a continuous pelvic pain to pain when having sex. The best example is that of abdominal pain that isn’t associated with diarrhea or vomiting and is found in 22% of cases before a woman is diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

If you are a patient then the amount of pain you feel will depend on three factors: the type of cancer you have, the stage or extent of the cancer and your individual pain threshold. How well you tolerate pain will determine how much pain you actually feel. Continue reading ‘Dealing With the Pain of Ovarian Cancer’ »

Natural and Alternative medicine has been getting notoriety in the treatment and prevention of cancer. Tea is the most well-known as a potential remedy. Continuing research shows the effectiveness of green tea in the prevention of heart disease as well as other forms of cancer.

The first indication of tea effectiveness is in the markedly low incidence of major diseases in the Asian regions. Those who are living in Asia typically imbibe large quantities of green tea and statistics show that they have a significantly lower risk or heart ailments as well as cancer. Particularly Japanese men, as opposed to American men have statistically lower risk of lung cancer and heart ailments though as much as 75 percent of them smoke cigarettes. Continue reading ‘Effective Against Ovarian Cancer – Green Tea’ »

Cancer can be a difficult disease to treat and cure fully. Due to the different types of tumors that comprise of cancer as whole, no single type of treatment is fully effective after a certain stage. After one has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, there are different courses of treatment that one can choose from. There are no sure fire cures for ovarian cancer, but a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and intensive medication work very well for almost all patients. Depending on which stage the cancer has advanced to, treatment can be decided. There exist three main types of treatment for ovarian cancer, namely surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

The most common treatment for stage I and benign tumors is the removal of all cancerous tissue through surgery. This can be limited to removing only some pieces of tissue or the entire ovary and fallopian tube altogether. In severe cases, the uterus may also be removed. This is known as a hysterectomy and is common when there is no risk factor for recurrence of any cancer. If the tumor removed is high grade in nature, then some chemotherapy may also be given in accordance to the type of the tumor. Surgery is also helpful in making an exact diagnosis about ovarian cancer to start with and is seen as the safest method of treatment due to low chances of any risk. Continue reading ‘Treatment and Cures For Ovarian Cancer’ »

Ovarian cancer is the 5th most common cancer in women after lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. It accounts for only three percent of cancer in women, and fortunately there has been a decline in incidence of this type of cancer by about 1% over the last twenty years. Unfortunately, diagnosis is usually late as there are very subtle and often protean symptoms and signs. Ovarian cancer is not just a cancer of old age, it can occur at any age, even infancy, however, the incidence of this cancer does rise significantly after the age of 50.

There are certain risk factors for ovarian cancer, chief amongst them is family history and some associated genetic syndromes. A blood relative with ovarian cancer raises the risk for their female relative by 5% for this cancer. There is a syndrome of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer which occurs in one out of every 500 women and being an autosomal dominant genetic disorder results in BRCA1 and/or BRCA2 gene mutation. The other is Lynch II syndrome a hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer syndrome, again autosomal dominant, which increases risk for ovarian cancer by 12%. However, the majority of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have no family history and the etiology remains unknown. When ovarian cancer occurs and is not detected early when localized to one ovary, the cancer will usually spread to the unaffected ovary and uterus first, but can spread to the liver, lungs, adrenal glands, spleen and other intraperitoneal organs. Continue reading ‘Ovarian Cancer (Ab Ovo)’ »

Around 1.5 percent of women are likely to develop ovarian cancer at some stage of their life. It is less common than breast cancer but is considered as the most serious and fatal of all gynecological cancers.

The reason for this is that the cancer is usually advanced before it is diagnosed, making treatment difficult. The ovaries cannot be easily examined and, because the warning signs are unclear, late diagnosis is common.

Because of the lack of screening tests available, it is imperative to know the early symptoms and the possible risk factors.

Understanding ovarian cancer

The ovaries are two small organs that are a part of the female reproductive system and they are situated each side of the uterus. These ovaries contain germ cells that become eggs which are released when the woman menstruates.

They also produce estrogen and progesterone, the hormones that adjust the menstrual cycle and have an effect on the growth of breasts and body hair as well as affecting the development of the female body shape.

What types of tumors are there?

Continue reading ‘Ovarian Cancer – Don't Ignore the Warning Signs’ »

Ovarian cancer is a highly dangerous and deadly cancer that kills more women than any other type of cancer. It is a silent killer. It is not easy to identify this cancer at the early stages. It produces symptoms only in the later stage of cancer. So the death rate of woman due to this cancer is very high.

First let’s understand what ovarian cancer is. A sudden improper growth of cells in the ovaries results in ovarian cancer. This cancer also affects the pregnancy cycle of a woman. There are 3 types of cancer that may be produced in ovaries. They are epithelial tumors, Germ cell tumors, Stromal tumors. Continue reading ‘Alternative Ovarian Cancer Treatment’ »