European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 7, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                August 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 ovarian cancer  be so deadly by Jane Brody new York times cancer of the the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in american is a disease that is widely misunderstood and often More than two thirds of the cases Are not diagnosed until the disease has spread beyond the site of and Only 15 to 25 percent of the victims ultimately survive clinical findings disclosed during the last decade or so indicate that ovarian cancer  be nearly so deadly if proper attention is paid to its Early warning signs and if the Best available therapies Are routinely As things Early symptoms of ovarian cancer Are usually ignored or dismissed As proper diagnosis is not made until the cancer is in a relatively advanced there is some evidence that it May take As Long As eight years for an ovarian cancer to reach this obvious phase of holding out the Hope that one or More Early detection tests now under study May significantly reduce the deadlines of this As for often it is not As aggressive As it might so it is that each year thousands of women fail to get the therapies that offer the Best chances for one Factor in this failure to act assertively both in diagnosing and treating ovarian cancer May be the growing reluctance of surgeons to operate on lest they be accused of performing unnecessary sur in recent a number of gynaecological proce dures have been found to be knowing More about cancer its possible diagnosis and treatments can help women protect themselves and guide them to appropriate which for some May mean periodic Check ups that go beyond the usual Pelvic examination even preventive removal of the ovarian cancer is a disease whose characteristics can be confusing and sometimes for because living habits and longer life expectancy Are putting More women at risk of devel Oping ovarian the number of women it kills in the country is the death rate has tripled in the last 40 at the same new therapies Are improving survival it is the leading cause of gynaecological can cer but it is much less talked about and less Well understood than cancers of the uterus and which afflict More women but Are far less who is at High risk although the precise cause or causes of ovarian cancer have not yet been recent studies have identified various fac tors that May play a role in promoting or preventing its ovarian cancer is primarily a disease of older women the risk starts rising at age 40 and peaks at age with most cases being diagnosed among women in their but the stage for its development is undoubtedly set much earlier in a woman perhaps the most significant Factor is the number of months in a woman reproductive lifetime that her ovaries release the less she the lower her several studies have shown that taking birth control pills reduces the risk of developing ovarian can cer years the longer the Pill was the greater the which seems to persist for up to 10 years after the pills use is women who Bear their first child before age 22 or who have lots of children Are less Likely than others of developing ovarian although it is still unclear whether it is the age at which the first child is born or the number of children a woman has that is the True protective women who have never had children face a higher risk than those who have Given there is some evidence that oestrogen replacement therapy after menopause increases a woman perhaps because the hormones can encourage the growth of gynaecological diet is another Factor that May influence a woman risk Over a period of Many a study by Daniel Cramer and associates in Boston indicated that those who developed ovarian cancer typically consumed far More animal fat and less vegetable fat than other comparable women who were free of the another which did not detect a relationship Between ovarian cancer and dietary nonetheless found that among younger cancer diets were typically Low in fiber and Beta carotene Vitamin a from vegetables and in people who depend More on Plant foods tend to consume less animal fat and More Vitamin a and Coffee alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking do not seem to be linked to an in creased risk of ovarian a number of studies have indicated that expo sure to the principal ingredient in Talcum increases the this May be because talc is usually contaminated with particles of which Are know cancer promoting in any experts recommend against the use of cosmetic powder in the genital area or on diaphragms and a woman family history is also if ovarian cancer has afflicted More than one close blood she is More Likely than other women to develop the disease if your Mother and her sister or your sister had ovarian you should be watched even More closely than other women for possible signs of the in some women with Long family histories of this cancer Are so concerned that they choose to have their ovaries removed while these organs Are still Many specialists strongly recommend that when such women have finished childbearing and Are under going Pelvic surgery for some other their ovaries should be removed at the same if the uterus is the women can safely take replacement hormones to reduce the symptoms of menopause caused by the diagnosis is common medical Wisdom holds that in its Early stages ovarian cancer produces no but Many when questioned report having had gastrointestinal symptoms that were ignored or dismissed As unimportant for months before their cancers were Hugh a gynaecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in new York who is recognized worldwide As an expert on the urges All Middle age and older women who develop symptoms of indigestion a feeling of fullness after Small amounts of belching or heartburn to have themselves checked promptly if no cause is to be examined by a gynaecologist for possible ovarian can another group of women who warrant close examination Are those who completed menopause two or More years earlier but Are found to have ovaries As Large As those in premenopausal a Normal sized ovary in a postmenopausal woman is Abnor Barber any postmenopausal woman who starts bleeding vaginally should be checked for the possibility of in addition to a Pelvic which Barber recommends be done following an the diagnostic workup might include an ultrasound kid Ney and Chest xray surgical exploration through a Small abdominal getting the Best according to Vincent Devita director of the National can cer Institute in ovarian cancer tends to be under treated because it is what Devita Means is that the surgery performed As the first line of treatment often does not go far enough to detect the presence of cancer in tissues other than the As a surgeons May not realize that the disease has already spread they May fail to suggest further treatments for their it is extremely for the surgeon who operates on a woman with ovarian cancer to be very familiar with this disease and All the abdominal Sites to which it is inclined to within the limits imposed by the woman presurgical the operation should be As extensive As Possi including the removal of tissues such As the Omen Tum a fat pad that hangs Down from the Large intes Tine and the sampling of cells from the diaphragm and other tissues for careful microscopic detection of cancer cells anywhere other than in the original tumor makes a woman a potential candidate for pos surgical treatment with anticancer which Are nearly always Given in Erma Bombeck in Reading the paper i realized How organized we have As my eyes scoured the i saw where the Der depression Glass round table was the pms pre menstrual syndrome support group was having a the read respond Early and control hypertension was staging a program and a stand Start taking a new discipline meeting was open to the pub if theres a theres a group to solve i have the feeling if you have a within hours you could put together a slate of National an a a million budget and chapters in 37 probably no one has become better organized than the ranks of men and women who Are in or out of for some its a condition that needs a lot of support to get through parents without partners originally started As an organization of widows and now the membership is diverse and includes divorced men and women and single parents by what brought All this to mind was an invitation my husband and i received to become members of the Goose and a society for the preservation of first wives and first husbands their motto is Fidelity and frivolity and their membership is up to 217 in 21 the District of Columbia and two foreign their Creed is they intend to remain committed spouses because they believe that such committed couples have More live longer and Are More pro their meetings Are social events in which the sole purpose is to celebrate their Good Fortune in hav ing chosen mates on a they asked if we would like to attend a fall affair in new York in sure it Doest mean what it sounds right on the heels of that invitation came a letter from another group second wives of America de manding Equality this group is less social and More concerned with the Lack of rights for the second they want some Laws changed or at least some the inequities the mans Home is his Castle is a myth according to wife 1 can Latch on to a second family wife 1 can break a she can collect a disproportionate share of the divorced fathers net in As to the second wife has to dispense discipline in two doses one Normal for the children of their Union and one kid gloved for the they Are seriously thinking of a splinter group child abused the membership has grown at an astonishing rate for possibly because there Are Remar ridges each also the current divorce rate for first marriages is nearly 50 percent and second families have a divorce rate of nearly 65 Ive always Felt guilty for not joining after Reading through All the Only group i can relate to is the depression Glass it would be Nice to meet someone More depressed than i c los times Syndicate