Breast/Ovarian Cancer And Young Women
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As young women, our lives are as bright and beautiful as we are. When we worry, it’s about everything from our families and careers to our outfits, deadlines and dates. We expect our bodies to be energetic and resilient, and if we worry about breast and ovarian cancer, it’s usually on behalf of our moms, aunts and grandmothers. After all, when it comes to us, breast and ovarian cancer is something we can think about when we’re older, right?
Well, not exactly. While breast cancer is rare in young women it can and does affect young women.
The best way to ensure you never get breast or ovarian cancer – or to find it before it becomes life threatening – is to start paying attention right now.
Don’t worry, starting to monitor your breast and ovarian health as a young woman does not necessarily mean you are looking for cancer, as it’s very unlikely you’ll develop either as a young woman. It simply means taking control of your long-term health – starting today!
The Proactive Priority
Not Our Mother’s Diagnosis
From Knowing to Doing
The Proactive Priority
Your life is probably guided by a carefully juggled list of priorities, and something has to be pretty important to make it onto that list. So here are a few reasons why a proactive attitude toward your health, and breast and ovarian cancer in particular, should be added to your list:
- In your 20s and 30s, you’re developing lifelong behaviors, so it’s the ideal time to get into the habit of sticking to a proactive health strategy.
- It’s the perfect time in our lives to get to know what’s normal in our bodies, so we’ll quickly and easily be able to detect anything strange or abnormal later on.
So what is a proactive approach to your breast and ovarian health, and how do you do start? Check out our Prevention and Early Detection page.
Not Our Mothers’ Diagnosis
While it’s worth saying again that breast and ovarian cancers are rare diagnoses among young women, it’s also important to realize that when they do occur, they create unique challenges.
- Because many of us – and our doctors – are unaware that young women can develop breast and ovarian cancer, we’re often diagnosed at a later stage.
- Because of its rareness, a breast or ovarian diagnosis can be especially shocking and difficult for young women.
- While treatment in all women, young included, is often very effective and survival rates are usually high, breast cancers in women under 40 tend to have a poorer prognosis than those in older women.
- One of the main concerns for young women being treated for breast cancer is loss of fertility
From Knowing to Doing
So with your newfound understanding of why you need to start thinking about your breast and ovarian health now, you’re probably wondering what that entails. The best places to start exploring are Risk Factors and Knowing Your Risk and Prevention and Early Detection.
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