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One of my favorite teachers died from ovarian cancer. She was like an aunt and my school mom.
What a horrible disease. Never want another woman and family to entire what she and they do.
This is amazing news. I know she would be thrilled to know this was a possibility.
Same. She'd got teenage kids too. I still think of her and feel sad. It's one of those cancers that has spread before you even know it's there. This is really good news, but it's still sad to think of all the women already taken by this horrible disease.
Gosh this is amazing! It's one of the silent killers isn't it.
I lost an ovary and tube at 23 to what turned out to be ovarian cancer and was VERY lucky in how it presented so it was surgically removed before we even knew it was there and before it had had chance to spread. Sadly though on the other end of the scale my partner's mum passed away from cancer that originated in her ovary.
Silent and also "silent". I had a large tumour removed recently, and that was only luck. I've been complaining about abdominal pain to my doctors for 20 years, and they never even tried to check it out. Just gave me some ibuprophen, and later a bunch of hormones (that probably made it worse. It made the pain increase).
When I say my doctors didn't bother to check, they actually never did. This was discovered in an unrelated setting. It still took around 4 years before it was removed after it was seen and my doctor notified. The main tumor was large enough to involve several organs and I was in constant, intense pain.
I'm pretty sure the main reason so many women die to these types of cancer is that their doctors don't listen when they say they have pain.
They dismiss pain as just “period related pain”. I am so sorry you had to go through that.
It’s infuriating that doctors dismiss literally everything
"Here have some birth control. That doesn't work? Here, have some antipsychotics."
"Also, have some antidepressants, since you are not exuding joy at the moment, and it's probably all in your head anyway"
Oh this is amazing. I hope the trials work out well. I would absolutely get this if I could.
A dear friend of mine got VERY lucky and went to the Dr when she was feeling unwell, and it was ovarian cancer (this was in Sweden). They caught it early enough that she was able to go into remission!
It's so scary because there is no specific symptom. Oftentimes by the time it's found, it's too late.
I lost a good friend to ovarian cancer just a few years ago, in her early 50’s. I would welcome this vaccine.
This is great news and I hope the trials go well. I know someone in school who died from ovarian cancer.
I am not very thrilled about this. Not trusting vaccines since the last one.
What happened to the last one?
Nothing, it's perfectly fine but conspiracy theorists like to spread antivax nonsense
Well, the covid vaccine and the extreme menstrual disregulation it caused on women. I just don't trust the pharma industry anymore.
I would rather have some menstrual dysregulation than die. While I do agree they need to do the proper research on effects on women, and give us information about it, I am extremely happy we have vaccines.
We have had vaccines so long people have forgotten how many people used to die of the diseases they prevent (or even ameliorate)
Two of my great-grandmothers died of the flu in 1919 - they were in their 40s.
Vaccines save lives. I am grateful I have had access to them for myself and my child and I hope they roll this one out soon.
An estimated 154 million lives were saved by global immunization over the last 50 years.
Nearly 20 M deaths were prevented in the first year of Covid vaccination.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/237591/vaccinations-have-prevented-almost-20-million/
the diseases they prevent (or even ameliorate)
I am a little wary of how they have been using the word "vaccine" in the last few years. It used to mean "making you immune to something". Now it's becoming more and more vague. The covid vaccine isn't a true vaccine, in my opinion. You still get covid, and you can still pass it on to others. In my opinion it's not a vaccine at all, just medicine that makes you less ill from it.
An actual vaccine would prevent you from getting an illness entirely, and make it impossible for you to pass it on to others because of that. I think in medicine it's important that we distinguish these things, as they have very different effects on a population.
Yeah, and covid fucks with the endocrine system as well. Myself and my same aged friend (early 30s) developed random hot flashes during and after we got covid in 22.
That's wild! Did it go away and normalise again?
I got some weird menstrual effects from the covid shots, but not from covid itself.
Try having serious covid without the protection of the vaccine. Millions of people died horrible deaths.
While I'm frustrated that doctors didn't discuss the side effects women could expect to experience, menstrual disregulation often occurs as a result of an immune response.
The covid vaccine saved countless lives and allows immunocomprised people to participate in public life.
A vaccine to prevent types of ovarian cancer would be a momentous occassion. The HPV vaccine prevents the most commom type of cervical cancer, can you imagine how many women that has saved?
What utter nonsense. I have had 5 shots so far. No issues. Covid causes way worse menstrual disregulation
Yes some women experienced menstrual issues after the COVID vaccine. From what I understand their cycles went back to normal.
I was vaccinated with the first 2 doses. But didn’t get any boosters. I think I will this year with my flu shot though.
Sometimes you have to take on small side effects and most side effects are rare. Vaccines are good for our society. So many diseases that kill you quick are rare now thanks to vaccines.
Something like cancer has a very rough treatment. It’s so difficult on your body. I’d gladly take a vaccine and deal with small side effects than to go through chemo and possibly die a slow death.
I’m also untrusting of the pharma industry. I personally think we’re over medicated, especially in the western world. But you can’t deny how lucky we are to live in a time where we are making these types of medical advances.
If anything, the pharma industry will make more money without vaccines. Vaccines are way cheaper than treatment. I can never understand this argument against vaccines
I can vouch also that yes I had some menstrual dysregulation after the original two shots, but it too went back to normal and stabilized. I did not get any boosters, as I’m not in the medical field, give them to the older population who needs them more than I do.
Any proselytizing against vaccines is severely misguided misinformation that was spread by far right extremists.
I hate how a lot of science these days is disregarded because some individual things they know more than a doctor. Though some things should be contested, as you said, you can’t trust Pharma blindly. Like they should be given hard questions as to why more research isn’t done with the female population as an example.
I hate how a lot of science these days is disregarded because some individual things they know more than a doctor. Though some things should be contested, as you said, you can’t trust Pharma blindly. Like they should be given hard questions as to why more research isn’t done with the female population as an example.
Definitely this! I think with social media the way it is it’s easier to spread misinformation and letting everyone know your personal opinions on everything. I think that’s why anti vax has got to where it is.
I’m not anti vax but I do have a lot of questions for pharma and I hate that women aren’t in mind for any treatments. It’s always based off males.
And getting Covid also causes menstrual irregularities
And getting the vaccine doesn't guarantee you won't get covid anyway.
My menstrual cycles have been exactly the same. It can cause a cycle to lengthen by a few days or shorten for a few days but that applies for when you have an infection too.
If you are at a higher risk for ovarian cancer, for example you have a condition that causes abdominal pain or you are infertile/never had children or you did fertility treatments to have children, you can request your doctor to do additional screenings on your ovaries. I do an ultrasound every 2 to 3 years and it’s what my doctor has recommended.
I’ve literally gotten into fights with people online who tell me that additional screening is not needed or that additional screening causes more problems because it might show a condition that is not ovarian cancer and cause stress in your life. I just wanna say that is bullshit because I’ve had three breast biopsies which were all unneeded. That caused additional stress in my life, but I’m so glad I did them because I’d rather have the additional stress than cancer that’s untreated.
Anyways, ladies: ask your doctor about additional screenings if you are at risk for ovarian cancer or maybe if you’re over 40. One of my primary care physicians said she had caught two ovarian cancer before any symptoms by sending women for an ultrasound.
Another preventative measure to consider is having your fallopian tubes removed. Most cases of ovarian cancer start in the tubes.
This is true but it’s also a fairly invasive surgery and if you already have pre cancer cells it could seed the cancer.
ETA or at least I assume it could - the reason they don’t biopsy ovarian cancer and instead directly take it out is because piercing it “seeds” it and it could travel.
They dont biopsy? What if it's a benign tumor and they removed a woman's ovaries?
I was told that biopsies weren’t done on ovaries because putting a needle in the tumor automatically aerosolizes the cancer cells to the entire abdominal cavity. My cancer has spread to my right ovary this way (or at least that’s the assumption because no biopsy) and this came up during diagnosis.
Im so sorry.
I haven’t talked to a doctor who treats this, but it says online they automatically do surgery and don’t do biopsies.
Women's health issues are the worst.
Like literally all of it from speculums to mammograms to this.
Isn't the problem that there is no reliable screening method for ovarian cancer?
If by “reliable screening” you mean that in studies it has “reduced death”, then yes they did ONE study about ultrasound as a screening and it did not reduce ovarian cancer deaths and caused “undo stress”.
I don’t consider this study to be definitive. I would rather know and fight than not.
Also people will tell you the only reliable way to diagnose ovarian cancer is surgery, so technically an ultrasound just says there’s an anomaly. Again, just because diagnosis only comes with pathology I don’t think this makes an ultrasound worthless.
Because incidence of breast cancer is 1 in 8 and ovarian 1 in 87.
Still, you're already stressed if you're requesting the test so I don't see how not getting it would help.
You sound like a doctor who likes to brush off women’s concerns as not important…
I have IBS (aka abdominal pain) and I only got that diagnosis after abdominal ultrasounds and colonoscopy (so don’t accept it without tests ladies!) and I’m infertile AND I did fertility treatments. Please don’t brush me off like that. You have made an assumption that I am histrionic about my risks (I’m not) and that I can’t handle my stress about risks, which is what I’m doing. Honestly really rude.
ETA I’d actually like to skip the mammogram because that’s low risk for me and causes lots of stress (you should have seen them bullshitting me at my last one “your last mammogram was normal” “you mean the six month follow up from my BIOPSY was normal?”). But somehow no one likes that idea do they?
I didn't say any of that. I even said that their reasoning for refusing you the test was stupid.
My point was that, medicine operates largely on statistics. Though yes, it's also generally dismissive of women.
If you're truly low risk and are on your third breast biopsy, you should absolute switch docs.