Because most women have no symptoms of ovarian cancer in its early stage, it is easy to miss a diagnosis of the disease when it is most treatable and most curable. Untreated or advancing cervical cancer is often fatal.
Symptoms of cervical cancer often do not appear until late stages of the disease. These symptoms are vague and mimic symptoms of many less serious conditions, such as bloating, indigestion, gas, weight gain, gastroenteritis, constipation, urinary tract infection, and pregnancy....more about Ovarian Cancer »
For a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Ovarian Cancer:
The other diseases for which Ovarian Cancer is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
Causes of Ovarian Cancer may include these medical conditions:
Related medical mistakes may include:
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Unnecessary hysterectomies due to undiagnosed bleeding disorder in women: The bleeding disorder called Von Willebrand's disease is quite common in women, but often fails to be correctly diagnosed. Women with the condition tend to have heavy periods, since they actually have a bleeding disorder. Severe afflictions may result in the women receiving a hysterectomy unnecessarily, when the underlying cause has not been identified. See the introduction to Von Willebrand's disease and bleeding disorder.
Alzheimer's disease over-diagnosed: The well-known disease of Alzheimer's disease is often over-diagnosed. Patients tend to assume that any memory loss or forgetulness symptom might be Alzheimer's, whereas there are many other less severe possibilities. Some level of memory decline is normal with aging, and even a slight loss of acuity may be noticed in the 30's and 40's. Other conditions can also lead a person to show greater forgetfulness. For example, depression and depressive disorders can cause a person to have reduced concentration and thereby poorer memory retention.
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease, it can also occur from a side effect or interaction between multiple drugs that the elderly patient may be taking. There are also various other possible causes of dementia.
Rare type of breast cancer without a lump: There is a less common form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer. Its symptoms can be an inflammation of the breast tissue, such as with a breast rash with redness and warmth, but not necessarily a physical breast lump. This type of breast cancer should be considered as an uncommon possibility for certain types of breast symptoms.
Tremor need not be Parkinson's disease: There is the tendency to believe that any tremor symptom, or shakiness, means Parkinson's disease. The reality is that there are various possibilities, such as benign essential tremor, which is mostly harmless. see the various causes of tremor and misdiagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Spitz nevi misdiagnosed as dangerous melanoma skin cancer: One possible misdiagnosis to consider in lieu of melanoma is spitz nevi. See melanoma and spitz nevi.
Rare diseases misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease: A rare genetic disorder is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease for men in their 50's. The disease Fragile X disorder can show only mild symptoms in the early years, and Parkinsons-like symptoms around age 50. See misdiagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Interstitial cystitis an under-diagnosed bladder condition: The medical condition of interstitial cystitic is a bladder condition that can be misdiagnosed as various conditions such as overactive bladder or other causes of pelvic pain. This condition can cause chronic pelvic pain or symptoms of urinary incontinence, similar to overactive bladder. Millions of patients may be misdiagnosed - an estimated third of the 9 million women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) or 4.5 million of the 17 million women with overactive bladder syndrome do not respond well to treatment, and may have interstitial cystitis rather than their given diagnosis. In other words, about 6 million US women may have misdiagnosed interstitial cystitis. See interstitial cystitis or overactive bladder, or incontinence.
Misdiagnosed weight-related causes of infertility: A woman's weight status can affect her level of fertility. Although obesity or overweight can in themselves reduce fertility, there are other weight-related or associated medical conditions that further reduce fertility. Some of these hidden causes include COPD, diabetes, thyroid disorders (overactive thyroid or underactive thyroid) and metabolic syndrome. See also other causes of infertility.
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
The following medical news items are relevant to misdiagnosis of Ovarian Cancer:
Ovarian Cancer is a condition that can possibly be deadly if misdiagnosed...more »
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Ovarian Cancer or confirming a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Ovarian Cancer may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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