UnTouchableConditions
A diagnosis can feel like it has only ever happened to you. It has not. Here is what each condition is, in plain English, and the people who have talked about living with it.
Reproductive system
The organs involved in sex, pregnancy and birth.
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. See a GP if you notice a lump or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit, or any change in your breasts or nipples that is not normal for you. Other changes to get looked at are dimpling or a change in the colour of the skin, a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts, discharge from a nipple, or a nipple that has turned inwards or developed a rash. Pain on its own is not usually a symptom. These things are very common and are often caused by something other than cancer, but finding cancer early may mean it is easier to treat. It is usually treated with some combination of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy, and most people diagnosed with it are alive ten years later. Treatment is long, and the effects of it often carry on well after it finishes.
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Endometriosis
Endometriosis is where cells similar to the ones lining the womb grow somewhere else in the body — most often around the ovaries, the fallopian tubes and the pelvis, and sometimes on the bladder or the bowel. It can cause severe period pain and heavy bleeding, pain in the lower tummy or back at other times of the month, pain when going to the toilet, pain during or after sex, and exhaustion. It can make it harder to get pregnant, and living with it is linked with depression and anxiety. It is diagnosed in women and girls from the time periods start through to the menopause, and can affect anyone who has a womb. The NHS is plain that it can take a long time to identify, because the symptoms overlap with several other conditions and several different tests may be needed: an examination, blood tests, an ultrasound or MRI scan, and sometimes a laparoscopy — a camera passed through a small cut in the tummy — which is the test that can confirm it. There is no cure. Painkillers, hormone treatments and surgery to remove the tissue are used to manage it, alongside support with fertility, pain and mental health. The NHS says to see a GP if you think you might have endometriosis, if your symptoms are affecting your everyday life, work or relationships, or if treatment from a GP has not helped.
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Menopause and perimenopause
Menopause is when your periods stop for good because your hormone levels have fallen. Perimenopause is the run-up to it, when hormones have started changing but periods have not yet stopped. It usually happens between 45 and 55, though it can be earlier. The symptoms are wider than most people expect, and they are not only physical. Low mood, mood swings or depression, anxiety and irritability, and problems with memory or concentration are all on the NHS list — alongside hot flushes, night sweats, palpitations, disturbed sleep, vaginal dryness or discomfort, pain during sex, more urinary infections, incontinence, weight gain around the middle, weakening bones, headaches and migraines, aching muscles and joints, thinning hair, dry skin, lower sex drive, and dental problems. Symptoms usually last around seven to nine years, sometimes longer, and change over time. Treatments include HRT. How long to take it, and when to review it, is a conversation to have with a GP rather than something to settle from a number you heard somewhere.
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Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia is a condition of pregnancy that causes high blood pressure. It usually starts from about 20 weeks, though it can begin earlier, or in the days and weeks after the birth. The first signs are usually high blood pressure and protein in your urine — things found at a routine antenatal appointment rather than things you notice yourself, which is much of why those appointments matter. Get medical advice straight away if you have a severe headache that painkillers do not touch, problems with your vision such as blurring or flashing lights, pain just below the ribs, sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet, persistent heartburn, vomiting, or you simply feel very unwell. Risk is higher in a first pregnancy, over 40, with diabetes, existing high blood pressure, kidney disease or an autoimmune condition, if you are Black or South Asian, if you are carrying more than one baby, if it runs in your family, if you have had pre-eclampsia before, or if there is a gap of ten years or more since your last pregnancy. There is no cure. Medicines can lower blood pressure and prevent seizures, and the condition usually settles after the birth, so delivering early is often recommended. Left untreated it can be serious for both mother and baby.
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