Are You At Greater Risk for Ovarian Cancer?

 Ovarian cancer is not as common as breast cancer, but should concern all women. Ovarian cancer strikes 1 in 70 women.  Any women who are old enough to menstruate; are at risk for ovarian cancer, but women over 40 as with all cancers are at greater risk to develop ovarian cancer.

Women who are over the age of 30 and not had children are at a high risk of ovarian cancer. Women who have a history of ovarian and breast cancer in their family are a high risk even if they are under the age of 30 and have had children. It pays to talk to older women in your family about the occurrence of breast and ovarian cancer. Many older women may be reluctant to talk about reproductive cancers, but if you tell them it is for your own health records they will most likely share what they know.

Women who use fertility drugs or hormone therapy are also at higher risk of ovarian cancer. Signs of ovarian cancer that should not be ignored are abnormal vaginal bleeding, nausea, cramping and weight loss. If you have a history of endometriosis, you are also at increased risk for ovarian cancer.

If you have any of the risk factors for ovarian can you can ask your doctor about making a screening for ovarian cancer part of your yearly well women exam. It is not an easy cancer to detect in its early stages but it is a cancer that the survival rate drops significantly if it is not caught in the early stages. Get to know your family history and tell your doctor about past use of fertility drugs and other things that contribute to your ovarian cancer risk. Early detection of ovarian cancer greatly improves a women’s survival rate