Why Women Shouldn’t Ignore Bloating

(KPRC) A British survey is shedding a scary light on how many women dismiss bloating as a warning sign of cancer.

Luz Pena said she experienced bloating for two years, but she thought it must be something she was eating.

“I tried ways to eat better,” she said “Then I started eating and I would feel full, like I just have two or three pieces, and I was like, ‘No I’m not hungry anymore.'”

According to a survey by cancer charity, Target Ovarian Cancer, half of women agreed they would change their diet before seeing a doctor. Only a third of women would see a doctor when they experience a major symptom of ovarian cancer, according to the charity.

The problem for patients like Luz is, her symptoms were telling her she had ovarian cancer.

“This is a disease that has a ton of symptoms, they’re just easy to blow off,” Dr. Shannon Westin, an MD Anderson Cancer Center gynecologic oncologist said.

Ovarian cancer symptoms, bloating, feeling full quickly, extreme fatigue, are mild but persistent, he said.

Westin said if you feel this way, it doesn’t always mean you have cancer, but almost all ovarian cancer patients have had those symptoms.

“It’s very common to hear that they were having these symptoms for a year, two years, they tried to change their diet,” Westin said. “If I have a patient that is having something for more than two weeks, then I’m concerned. Then, I want them to come in and get an evaluation.”