Cancers below the waist

There was a fundraising walk in Montreal recently, for “cancers below the waist.” It was billed as the cancer walk for cancers that we don’t talk about: prostate cancer, colon cancer, penile cancer, all those types. And one of those below the waist cancers is in the news again: ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is one of the scariest for women because it is so hard to detect it before it has progressed quite far. Unlike breast or testicular cancer, where you may feel a lump, or colon cancer where you may start having bloody stools or pain, or it’s detected by routine colonoscopy, you can’t tell you have ovarian cancer easily. That’s why it’s often called the silent killer.

According to the most recent statistics from the National Cancer Institute of Canada (2004), there are 2,300 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2004. There were 1,950 deaths in Canada that year because of ovarian cancer.

Many of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are physical discomforts that most women put up with, especially during their menstrual cycle. What woman hasn’t felt boated? Had the urge to void frequently? Been nauseous? Had difficulty eating or feeling full quickly? The problem is, when these symptoms go on for more than a short period, or they all happen together, they can be a sign of ovarian cancer.

According to the latest news, released by the American Cancer Society and some other groups, if a woman have any of those symptoms daily for at least three weeks, she should see her doctor as soon as possible.

Of course, having just those signs doesn’t mean that a woman has ovarian cancer. Those symptoms could mean irritable bowel syndrome, for example. So then we also need to take into account other facts, like family history. According to the Canadian Cancer Society , you have a higher chance of having ovarian cancer if you:

- Are older than 50 years old
- Have a family history of ovarian cancer
- Are taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

- Some experts feel that an increased risk may also be present if you:
- Have used fertility drugs
- Started menstruating late and/or went through menopause early.

The society also offers a more comprehensive list of symptoms of ovarian cancer, in addition to the bloating, abdominal pain, frequent urination, decreased appetite and feeling full too early:

- Abdominal swelling
- Indigestion
- Upset stomach
- Gas
- Change in bowel habits
- Fatigue
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Menstrual disorders
- Pain during intercourse


Women have beaten ovarian cancer but the trick is to make sure it’s found early enough. Don’t be worried or embarrassed about getting checked. If it’s not ovarian cancer, that’s wonderful! There’s no need to feel that you shouldn’t have been checked. It’s much better to be checked and know that there is nothing wrong, than to neglect it and to die because of it.


News for today:
Lack of sleep harms heart response: study
Symptoms Found for Early Check on Ovary Cancer
Study: Bullies prone to sleep problems

The Vitamin D Buzz

Vitamin D is all over the news. A new study has found that increased doses of daily vitamin D could decrease the chances of developing certain cancers, such as colorectal and breast cancers. In fact, they found a 60% of cancer incidence.

This led the Canadian Cancer Society to recommend that all Canadian adults take 1000 international units (UI) of vitamin D during the darker winter months. There has been a rush on vitamin D at the stores. The Montreal Gazette reported today that several city pharmacies were wiped out of their vitamin D supply. I don’t know, last time I checked, it’s June and sunny a good part of the day. A good *free* way to get vitamin D is to get it from the sun.

I take a regular multivitamin and there are 400 IU of vitamin D in the brand I take. I try to get out in the sun, walking the dog, gardening or sitting and reading the morning paper, and eat foods that have vitamin D in them. In the winter, I try to make a point of getting out on sunny days and expose my face to the sun for a bit, just for the sheer joy of feeling sunshine because I’m one of those people who has a hard time when the days are too grey.

Sunscreen has its place and I’m against the sun tanning that lots of people still do. I have blonde hair, very fair skin and green/yellow eyes. In other words, when I was a kid, I burned and burned and burned so many times, I couldn’t keep track. But, I also was never for the constant slathering of the highest SPF sunscreen available. We need the sun. For example, Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. Northern countries have much higher rates than countries in the south, which don’t have the short grey days we have. Is it connected to the sun? No fool-proof connection has been made yet, but it sure sounds suspicious to me. The sun is vital and, like almost everything, we went way too far the other way, from worshipping the sun to being terrified of it. While skin cancer is frightening, we can prevent it without totally eliminating the sun from our lives. With my pale, easily burned skin, I still spent 45 minutes this morning outside in the sun gardening, without sunscreen. I made sure I was in and out of the shade and I never stayed in the sun for more than 5 minutes straight. If I go outside in the sun again today, I will put on sunscreen because my skin was exposed to enough sun today. But tomorrow, I’ll likely try to spend at least a half hour enjoying the sun.

And, in the winter, I’ll increase my dose of vitamin D to 1000 IU until the summer sun rolls around again.