Doppler Is Not only for Predicting the Weather

Doppler is Not Only for Predicting the Weather

Marlene Wise

COM/172

September 15, 2014

Paula Brobst

Doppler is Not Only for Predicting the Weather

With over 15,000 women in the United States being diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, one would believe there is a better way to detect this killer before it is too late.  Ovarian cancer is a disease where cancer cells form inside the tissue of the ovaries.  There are no basic or routine tests done to help diagnose; therefore most women are diagnosed in advanced stages with little or no time to receive treatment and overcome this monster.  Records show that in 2011 approximately 69% of women diagnosed with this terrible disease died due to late detection.  With the death rate that follows ovarian cancer, there should be a regular screening process set in place for women.  

What is Ovarian Cancer?  The ovaries, which are attached to the walls of the uterus, located near the end of the fallopian tubes, are made up of three kinds of cells.  These three different types of cells; the epithelial cell, the germ cell, and the stromal cell can turn into a different type of tumor, most of which are non-cancerous or benign and rarely spread outside of the ovaries.  The epithelial tumor forms on the outer layer of the ovary, causing most of the ovarian tumors.  The germ cell tumor starts from the Ova, which is the cell that produces the eggs in the ovaries.  And the stromal tumor is developed from the cells that produce the female hormones estrogen and progesterone and is located within the tissue that holds the ovary together.  These tumors are normally treated by removing either the portion of the ovary that contains the tumor or removing the ovary itself.  Cancerous or malignant tumors have been known to spread to other parts of the body and be deadly.  

The detection of ovarian cancer and the death rate that goes along with it are very concerning.  It is hard to believe that in the age of medicine today, this killer is not detected, in most cases, early enough to save women’s lives.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2011), the rate in which women are detected with, or dying from, ovarian cancer varies by race and ethnicity.  Caucasian women have the highest rate of ovarian cancer, followed by Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, African American, and finally American Indian/Alaska Native women.  However, the death rate is slightly different; Caucasian women have a higher death rate, followed by African American, then Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and finally American Indian/Alaska Native women.  The death rate, of course, is higher for those women who are diagnosed with advanced stages.  Only about 20% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer is detected in the early stage.  With this statistic, 94% of these women live for up to five years longer after being diagnosed (American Cancer Society, 2014).  This information proves that an acceptable process for ovarian cancer screening should be in place for all women because of the many different ways it appears to manifest itself in women of all race and ethnicities.  This killer has no prejudice when it comes to attacking and taking the life of a woman.  It is blind and can careless who it attacks, the First Lady of the United States, Pastor's wife, a mother of three, or a single women, no one women lives without the fear of ovarian cancer.