Charity warns women ‘sitting on’ bleed symptoms
A charity has warned women are “quite literally sitting on symptoms” after a poll suggested 80 per cent would not get an unexpected vaginal bleed checked immediately despite it being a possible sign of cancer.
Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of women surveyed said they were not taught at school how to spot when something is wrong with their periods, the research for The Eve Appeal showed.
While 85 per cent of respondents said they feel comfortable talking about periods with their family and friends, 80 per cent said they would not immediately seek medical attention for abnormal vaginal bleeding, the poll found.
Abnormal bleeding is a key symptom of three out of the five gynaecological cancers – womb, cervical and vaginal.
Together, these affect 12,750 women each year, The Eve Appeal said as it launched its Go Red campaign for September to raise awareness of those types of cancers.
The charity said that, while abnormal bleeding is easy to spot, it is often not investigated.
Dr Sue Ward, consultant obstetrician and g ynaecolo - gist of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, called for more “open conversations” among people about women’s health, saying it could be life-changing.