The Deadly Disease You Don’t Hear Enough About

Ovarian cancer is always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
At weddings, there’s a reason we focus on the bride. It’s her big event. She’s the center of attention, and rightly so. But sometimes, the bridesmaid’s speech has more to tell us — and we should listen.
We hear a lot about breast cancer. It affects a quarter of a million women and is fatal 15 to 20 percent of the time. Breast cancer is a serious and important disease that merits the time, money, and resources we spend on funding and public awareness each year.
But what do you know about ovarian cancer, a disease with a fatality rate of 65 to 70 percent? Fortunately, far fewer women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer than with breast cancer each year. Yet the nearly 22,000 women diagnosed, combined with the high fatality rate, is what makes ovarian cancer so important.
No significant campaign exists to spark industry change around treatment and research for ovarian cancer, and in the meantime, this preventable, treatable disease is wreaking havoc on our mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends.
Much of ovarian cancer’s damage comes from a low early-detection rate. Only 15 percent of ovarian cancers are caught before they can spread. If ovarian cancer is found and treated before it moves beyond the ovary, the survival rate jumps drastically.
Here’s the good news: You can help. Despite the lack of public awareness campaigns and research dollars, prevention occurs when you arm yourself with the knowledge you n...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 16, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Access Cancer Women Veterans Source Type: blogs