In todays Lenny Letter, actress Cobie Smulders shared her experience of being diagnosed withovarian cancerwhen she was 25.
While getting ovarian cancer at such a young age is rare, its not impossible.
Luckily, the prognosis is usually better than if you get this jot down of cancer when youre older.
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It’s the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women.
The most common jot down of ovarian cancer usually occurs in older women, age 63 and up.
Its typically diagnosed at a late stage, and is usually very hard to treat.
Her symptoms included low energy, fatigue, and constant pressure in her abdomen.
Levine says that this is one common symptom of ovarian cancer.
The problem is that these can be symptoms of so many other conditions.
Theyre not so specific, so therefore theyre not that helpful, Levine says.
These might be normalsymptoms a person gets with her periodevery month.
So how can you tell if your symptoms might signal something more serious?
The reason symptoms of ovarian cancer are notoriously easy to miss is twofold.
The other reason ovarian cancer is often missed is that there are no good ways to test for it.
Some physicians may do a vaginal ultrasound or blood test to feel like theyre doing something.
Doctors were able to remove Smulders cancer with multiple surgeries.
Since many of these [cancers] are favorable, they can be treated with surgery alone.
Thats common in this age group.
Doctors will do their best to balance fertility preservation with treating cancer.
Sometimes, it may even be an option toretrieve eggs before treatment to use later.
In addition to Western medicine, some patients may want to explore complementary medicine to assist treatment.
Id be careful about that, says Nagarsheth.
What both Nagarsheth and Levine agree with is Smulders commitment to eating healthier after her diagnosis.
The actress says she switched to a raw diet, andgave up cheeseand carbs.
Theres no evidence that one specific change in nutrition will help any individual fight their cancer, says Levine.
Thesehealthy lifestyle choices can also help prevent cancer, broadly speaking.
With regard to ovarian cancer in particular, one known way to lower your risk is by takingthe Pill.
Taking the Pill for five years or more canreduce the risk of ovarian cancerby 50 percent.
Thats not to say everyone that takes the Pill wont develop it, Nagarsheth says.
But it is a very protective form of medicine thats out there.
