Eleven Warning Cancer Signs Women Usually Ignore

Women are notorious for being very particular when it comes to the health needs of their family members. However, they tend to get lax when matters pertain to their own health, because they usually put themselves last. Apart from this careless attitude, many women are ignorant about certain health conditions. This is especially true in case of cancers. Many women believe that cancer is a disease of the old and hence, often ignore the early warning signs of the disease.

Many a time, even if a woman does notice these signs, she will quickly develop an attitude of denial — "I'm probably overreacting", or "it's probably nothing". For them, cancer is a disease that affects others; they believe they are immune to it, or would at least very much like to believe that. Because of this attitude, the condition is often diagnosed when it is too late for treatment.

Remember that many cancers are completely curable when detected and treated early. However, if they metastasize to other organs, the prognosis no longer remains good. Therefore, it is imperative to recognize the early warning signs of cancer. Some of these early cancer signs which every woman should be aware are discussed below. 

Unexplained weight loss

Which woman would not like to lose some weight? But if your spontaneous weight loss is drastic, say around 10 pounds in a month even though you have not been exercising or dieting vigorously, instead of rejoicing, sit back and think. Unexplained weight loss is a reason enough to go and see a doctor.

Experts say that one of the biggest reasons behind unexplained weight loss is cancer. The doctor may check your thyroid or run scans of different areas to rule out other causes and ascertain whether a diagnosis of cancer can indeed be made. On the upside, if you get the all clear, you will also be able to stop worrying.

Changes in the breast skin

This is one sign that women usually do not miss. However, most of them think that breast cancer usually presents as a lump in the breast tissue. So even when they notice some changes in the overlying skin of the breast or the nipple, they tend to ignore these sudden changes. But doctors would like to tell you that any redness over the skin of the breast persisting for more than two to three weeks may be indicative of a rare but very aggressive form of breast cancer, namely one called inflammatory breast cancer.

Similarly any discharge from the nipple or change in its position should not be taken lightly. In some cases, breast cancer also presents as "orange peel skin", with deep pits like the skin of an orange.

Any non-menstrual bleeding

Bleeding in between your menstrual periods, especially if your periods are normally on time, should ring an alarm bell in your head. Similarly, any vaginal bleeding, once you have attained menopause, should alert you. It could be a sign of endometrial cancer which should be treated at the earliest possible opportunity for the best prognosis.

Similarly, presence of blood in your stools should also be reported to the doctor immediately. It could be something as simple as hemorrhoids or it could be an early warning sign of colorectal cancer — so as always, better to be safe than sorry.