Breast Cancer and Young Women

Recent studies found that women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age are more likely to experience difficulties with certain symptoms and side effects than those women who were diagnosed when older. Most of us who have had breast cancer realize that the side effects last a lot longer than the therapies, but young women often report more long-term side effects than older women. A new study found that of young women surveyed, about half of them had continuing post-treatment fatigue, trouble sleeping, loss of interest in sex, and other long-term issues.
Compared to their older peers and young, undiagnosed women, the study found that young women with breast cancer had more depression, fatigue, attention problems, sexual problems, anxiety, sleep difficulties, body image problems, and the fear of recurrence.
The study concluded that these factors put young women treated for breast cancer at greater risk for quality-of-life problems over time.
In the another study that compared women who were 40 or older at diagnosis to young women, the young women experienced more moderate to severe drowsiness, hair loss, and trouble with personal relationships due to side effects.
Young women were more likely to be referred to specialists, especially for emotional and nutritional services. The researchers found that long-term effects only significantly impacted quality of life in the older women.
These studies identified certain side effects that are more likely to continue long-term if you were diagnosed with breast cancer before age 45.
It doesn’t matter if a woman finished treatment months or years ago, or is in on-going therapies, there is help for many of the discomforts of long-term side effects and improve your quality of life