All About Ovarian Cancer

Management of ovarian cysts should be done carefully so as to avoid any subsequent effects. Ovarian cysts as a subject have been on the minds of women for quite some time. Often they are not problematical, it just means everybody needs to know what a cyst is to be able to then avoid much of the worrying.

Ovarian Cyst and Ways of Management

In general it is wise to make a few comments about overall methods for ovarian cyst management. The first one is that for women who are not taking oral contraceptives, who have a cystic structure which is no bigger than the size of an apricot, who are still at a reproductive age, and who suffer no pain, then conventional medical tracking and treatment will be enough. Note that the pain might be a factor triggering necessary surgical intervention.

Septation may be seen in pathologic cysts, meaning the development of partitions of tissues. Different compartments of fluid can then be ascertained. Growths in the tissue may well also be developed in pathologic cysts, which then roughen the walls. Another name for these growths is excrescences. Doctors often use the technique of ultrasound in order to understand the situation of the cysts and to measure its dimensions precisely. However in physiologic cysts, neither septations nor excrescences are present. It is in the case of pathologic cysts that surgical operations may be required.

Second alternative

For a non-malignant cyst, conventional surgery may be a choice. This may also allow a patient to keep the ovary concerned. In this case the operation is termed an ovarian cystectomy. Any techniques of surgery should in general keep any injury to tissues at a minimum. Also important are the precise control of any bleeding and the possibility of employing adhesion barriers. Regrettably, the development of pain or painful “adhesions” may be the result of surgical operations on the ovaries. Other side effects may be infertility, or excessive sensitivity when having intercourse.

Laparoscopic methods may be used for such an ovarian cystectomy. This means using small cuts rather than conventional surgical techniques. It is an approach that avoids leaving marks on the body, reduces pain and allows for more rapid recuperation. If one of the ovaries has been seriously impacted in the cystic process but the other has stayed intact, then advice may be given to simply take out the affected ovary.

Third alternative

There is a possibility of using endometriosis to see if a cyst has been the result of a collection of old blood. This is typically for a woman who has already given birth to her children and represents a case called chocolate cysts or endometria. Surgical intervention is usually necessary rather than optional in order to resolve the problem forever, when endometriosis is present elsewhere in the pelvis as well. According to the kind of disease, the patient’s age and possible other pelvic complaints, removal of the ovary and hysterectomy may be the right move. Surgery is also required for ovarian cancer. The justification for this is that patients have a low rate of survival otherwise.

Needle Aspiration and Possible Factors

About six percent of women contract ovarian cysts after the menopause. Information exists to indicate that in the majority, the cysts are benign or functional. Factors such as menopausal status, age, and the size and type of a cyst will then indicate the appropriate management of such ovarian cysts. Needle aspiration of ovarian cysts is then the best option compared to either laparoscopic or classical surgical operation when the cysts are considered to be functional. The physician should therefore take action in order to prevent the case of cancer that statistically affects 61 out of 100000 women whose ages are around 68.

Nonetheless, in people’s minds several interrogations have arisen concerning the success rate and use of needle aspiration. Note that needle aspiration can be done with local anesthetic only, which gives it an advantage compared to other types of surgical intervention. A patient does not need to go to hospital for this solution.

Diagnosis

The priority first of all is to understand if a cyst is benign or not. Identification of this state is done by identifying the presence or not of vegetations. Concentrations of CA 125 were proven to be normal in approximately 70 percent of women who it seems had ovarian cysts, which indicates that their cysts were benign. The research on this was done some years back. For tumors that were malignant, there were stronger concentrations of serum that were identified. Ways to find this out today include ultrasonography, clinical examination and identification of CA 125 serum concentrations. Clinical examination is the least effective way, as some 30 to 65 percent of ovarian tumors are typically not found. Vaginal sonography is more satisfactory. In this case in as much as 96 percent of all cases, the prediction of benign tumors is accurate.

Ovarian Cytology

Reliability still has to be proven for ovarian cytology. Nonetheless, it has been proven that in responding to the situations of de Brux, such as instant fixation so as to avoid double configuration and interruptible cells, that this technique can in fact be effective.

Final alternative

There is always the risk of side effects and problems linked to either medication or surgery. A holistic treatment using only natural components is the best one that you can follow in order to completely remove problems of ovarian cysts. Having read this information on ovarian cyst management, it is still necessary to understand that it is the underlying problem that must be solved for any lasting remedy. Until this is accomplished, the problem will persist.

Mary Parker is a medical researcher, certified nutritionist, health consultant and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Ovarian Cysts No More- The Secrets Of Curing Ovarian Cysts Holistically”.

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The treatment of ovarian cysts will depend on the kind of symptoms that have been noted and the level of pain that the sufferer may be in. The different kinds of cysts are also a major factor in deciding how treatment will be done. The way that ovarian cysts are treated will typically be related to whether or not the sufferer is postmenopausal.

Women in pre-menopausal condition

It is possible for cysts to disappear by themselves after one or two months without any external action. For pre-menopausal women, surgery would not be the first decision in terms of a remedy. Sometimes and because of the cyst, an ovary may even twist around inside a woman’s body, which then blocks the blood supply or can cause the cyst to rupture in the ovary. These are emergency medical instances that usually require immediate surgical operation. Because of this, if a cyst appears benign under a sonogram and does not cause discomfort to the patient then observation for about two months is the management technique. If after treatment the cyst is still present and is also causing serious pain to the sufferer, then surgery will be necessary.

Fundamental surgery as a treatment of ovarian cysts

Preliminary surgery for an ovarian cyst may be to take out and drain a cyst or it might be to take the ovary out completely. The doctor may also recommend the removal of the entire ovary if the nature of your cyst and your age mean that you are more at risk from ovarian cancer. If the doctor thinks cancer may be the case then the cyst must absolutely remain unbroken so as to stop possible malignancy from other cells going into the abdominal cavity. In this case and to avoid ovarian cancer, the doctor will suggest that the entire ovary be taken out. Sometimes even though a cyst is very big, it can be taken out leaving the surrounding tissues to mend with minimal additional surgery. However cysts that are very big can destroy the ovarian environments and lead to the entire organ needing to be removed.

What is the impact on a woman of having an ovary removed

For women after menopause, any surgery involved in the treatment of an ovarian cyst will often involve both ovaries. Removal of both ovaries has little effect on the well being of women after menopause, because the ovaries no longer make either estrogen or progesterone. A loss of libido or sexual desire after the removal of ovaries has been indicated by some post-menopausal women. Treating with small doses of testosterone is typically the solution recommended. Depending on the size of the cyst, then only a single ovary may need to be ablated. Your fertility is not affected significantly if you are pre-menopausal, because one ovary can generate enough hormones and eggs for pregnancy to occur. However both ovaries may need to be removed if cancer is suspected.

The recommendation may be to remove both ovaries if the doctor finds any cancerous tissue. Of course, the doctor will discuss this case with the sufferer before any surgery is done. The ovary to be removed is tested quickly for cancer cells for women before menopause.

Surgery using Laparoscopy

The medical name for taking a cyst out of the ovary is a cystectomy. The cyst can be described as a small container filled with fluid. Opening the cyst by using a laparoscopic instrument means that the fluid can aspirated before carefully removing the cyst itself. The patient can leave the hospital 1 full day after the treatment and is typically able to resume professional work after fourteen days of rest. Treatment for ovarian cysts involves surgery using laparoscopy. A laparoscope is used to do the surgery, meaning an instrument with a camera that is inserted via small cuts at the pelvic bone into the abdomen. The patient recovers more quickly and there are only very small cuts left in the patient’s skin when surgery is done in this fashion.

Surgeons are careful to preserve the eggs that are healthy by leaving as much healthy ovarian tissue as possible during surgery. Although one treatment for ovarian cysts, surgery such as this is not without risk. In some instances, if the cyst is too big, the ovary must be removed which means that there is destruction of all normal ovarian tissue. However with the use of a holistic program to tackle the underlying reason for ovarian cysts, you can get an effective treatment without secondary effects.

Mary Parker is a medical researcher, certified nutritionist, health consultant and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Ovarian Cysts No More - The Secrets Of Curing Ovarian Cysts Holistically”. Mary has written dozens of holistic health articles and has been featured in ezines and print magazines, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide.

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Dr Christiane Northrup has some interesting insights into the emotional and energetic issues associated with ovarian cancer. Whilst it is impossible to generalize emotional and energetic responses, she highlights the issue of rage in ovarian cancers. She describes the ovaries as being ‘female balls’ which means they relate to an active participation in the world in a way that expresses our unique creative potential, as women, on an individual basis.

She says: “…we as women must be open to the uniqueness of our creations and their own energies and impulses, without trying to force them into predetermined forms. Our ability to yield to our creativity, to acknowledge that we cannot control it with our intellects, is the key to understanding ovarian power.” (p187, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom)

She relates the issue of rage as deriving from being in an abusive relationship - not necessarily physically abusive, though of course this could be the case. And it may not necessarily be a personal or intimate relationship. It could be with work, societal, or even spiritual. But it embodies a way of relating and dealing with something or someone, where the woman involved feels controlled by the situation and does not believe in her ability to change it, or herself. It is a denial of her innate power and self-sovereignty. A denial of a woman’s innate dignity, creativity, spirituality, and complexity.

Interestingly, Dr Northrup notes that ovarian cancer is linked to a diet high in fat and dairy food. Dairy products in Oriental medicine, are associated with the liver meridian. Meridians are energy conduits, and though they have a specific anatomy, they are not equated necessarily with the organs of the same name, as understood in conventional western medicine. The emotion associated with a liver meridian that is out of balance, is rage and anger.

Oriental medicine believes that diseases start in our energetic body first, and then progress to the physical body. And certainly not all women who have a high fat and high dairy diet develop ovarian cancer. Dr Northrup suggests that women take care of their ovaries and uterus by reclaiming and expressing whatever this deep creative energy is for them. She suggests taking the time to do this daily.

A recent scientific study has also found that drinking two cups or more of tea a day can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 46%. This study was done in Sweden over a 15 year period. Sweden is a country where there is a higher risk of ovarian cancer, as are other countries with a high dairy consumption (Denmark and Switzerland).

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