Should You Still Have a Mammogram?
1 in 5 breast cancers detected by screening would disappear without treatment, study suggests.
Breast Cancer
Each year, about 215,000 women in the United States are found to have invasive breast cancer. Changes that should be promptly evaluated are the appearance of a lump in the breast or underarm, flakiness around the nipple, or a reddening of the skin.
Cervical Cancer
Because so many women have Pap tests annually, deaths from cervical cancer have decreased greatly and are now rare in the United States. Chances of successfully treating cervical cancer are highest when it is detected early.
Endometrial Cancer
In the United States, the most common cancer of the female reproductive system is endometrial cancer, in which malignant cells grow in the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. Fortunately, most endometrial cancers are discovered early because of warning signs such as irregular or postmenopausal bleeding.
Fibroids
Most women get fibroids during their reproductive years—and most never know it. A single fibroid might never cause a symptom, never pose a health risk, and create no problems with fertility. But the "tumors" can grow large enough to cause severe cramping and heavy bleeding and, in some cases, a hysterectomy.
Gestational Diabetes
As it grows, the placenta secretes hormones that make it harder for a woman's body to use insulin normally. She needs an increasingly large amount of insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels. When Mom's pancreas can't keep up with the higher demand, the body falls behind in processing glucose, and gestational diabetes results.
Integrative Medicine
As the American healthcare system grows more and more stressed and truly patient-centered care is increasingly difficult to find, many people are looking for alternatives to the conventional healthcare model. Some find this in integrative medicine, which combines alternative therapies with conventional treatments to care for the whole person.
Ovarian Cancer
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often common and vague, which makes it difficult to diagnose. If ovarian cancer is diagnosed early, which happens in about 25 percent of cases, 90 percent of women survive for five years or longer. Ovarian cancer is usually treated with surgery and chemotherapy.
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence can be a mild bother or socially and emotionally debilitating, with the patient avoiding social gatherings out of fear of the involuntary release of large amounts of urine. It can often be treated with exercises, but medications and surgery can also be options.
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