By William Oyo-Ita August 2015
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth that appears at different parts of the female ovaries. The early symptoms include pains in the pelvic region, pain in the lower side of the body, frequent and urgent urination, pain during sexual intercourse and regular loss of appetite.
Here are few early steps to take in order to prevent ovarian cancer:
The use of oral contraceptives or birth control pills can help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 40 to 50 percent. Ovarian cancer risk is particularly decreased after five years of use, the longer oral contraceptives are used, the greater the protective benefits. Consume Doctor’s prescribed birth control pills only.
To aid in ovarian cancer prevention, You should eat eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet, reduce meat and alcohol consumption. Engage in regular exercise three times weekly to maintain a body fat percentage that is within the accepted range.
Tubal ligation is a surgical procedure in which the fallopian tubes are ligated or tied to prevent pregnancy. It is a permanent form of birth control. The risk of ovarian cancer is decreased in women who undergo tubal ligation after childbearing. Tubal ligation or hysterectomy is a surgical process whereby the womb is removed and it may stop carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) from reaching the ovaries after they enter the body through the vagina.
Ovarian cancer risk is 30 to 60 percent lower among women who have been pregnant versus those who have not. Ovarian cancer risk is lowered if the first child is born before a woman reaches 30 years of age, and risk continues to decrease with each successive pregnancy. Breastfeeding (which begins when estrogen and progesterone levels drop after childbirth and ovulation is suppressed) also offers protection against the ovarian cancer.
Eating of healthy meals can actually help you prevent ovarian cancer. Always include onions, fish, tomatoes, vegetables and fruits in your daily meals. Onions help reduce ovarian cancer, although they can be strong on the breath, they are packed with natural cancer fighters, like apigenin, anthocyanin, myricetin and quercetin. Red onions are more potent than yellow or white onions, in terms of the amounts of cancer fighters. They also have more flavor. But don’t boil onions; boiling them reduces their cancer-fighting properties by about 30%. The best way to eat them is raw or sautéed with a little oil in a pan.
You can undergo ovarian cancer screening if you are at high risk of developing it due to family history or inheritance of a particular faulty gene.
