Bladder Cancer Symptoms In Women

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Bladder cancer is malignancy arising from epithelial lining of urinary bladder. Bladder cancer symptoms in women are much rare in comparison to men. Men are 3 times more prone to bladder cancer than women. The function of bladder is to store the urine until you are ready to excrete it. The growth of cancer cells in the bladder is mainly triggered by smoking which is the major cause of most of the cancers. If you are exposed to certain harmful chemicals or had bladder cancer before then you are more susceptible to bladder cancer. In fact, bladder cancer is the most recurring cancer with about 70% recurrence rate. Other risk factors include birth defects, frequent bladder problems like infections and age. If the meat and animal fat content in your diet is high then you may suffer from bladder cancer. Bladder cancer in women are more dangerous than men because the diagnosis is done at a very later stage, til then the tumor grows and possesses more severe complications.

Bladder Cancer Symptoms in Women:

• Hematuria:  It has been observed that blood in urine is the first Bladder cancer symptom in women. You may also notice change in the color of urine. This is caused as a result of damage of the inner lining of bladder due to which red blood cells accumulate in the bladder and then comes out with the urine. Blood becomes discolored or cloudy.
• Abdominal Pain: Bladder is located at the lower abdomen region as a result of  increase in the size of tumor you may suffer from abdominal pain. The inflammation caused due to this causes pain in the surrounding areas as well, you might suffer from back pain.
• Painful Urination: Women suffering from bladder cancer complain of  intense pain during urination. You may feel burning sensation in the urinary tract while urinating. The pain may be caused due to infections and stone in the urinary tract as well.
• Frequent Urination: The function of bladder is to store urine but due to presence of tumor it is unable to function properly and the constant irritation in bladder causes frequent urge to urinate. It becomes very annoying when you have to visit toilet frequently in workplace.

Bladder Cancer Treatment:

Bladder cancer symptoms in women can easily be curbed if detected early and the treatment starts in initial stages when the cancer cells have not spread to other parts. Doctors generally take help of biopsy, CT scan, ultrasound, blood test and physical examination to diagnose bladder cancer. Treatment of bladder cancer includes surgery and radiation therapy along with immunotherapy and chemotherapy. In radiation therapy external radiations are used to destroy the tumor while in surgery the tumor is taken out of the bladder. Immunotherapy strengthens  our immune system to fight against the cancer while in chemotherapy medications is used to kill the cancer cells.