Infertility

The freak-out: Beth Miller, a 27-years old elementary school teacher, has always dreamed of becoming a mother. And though she admits she’s been careless about using birth control, she’s never been pregnant. That, combined with the fact that she’s always had highly irregular periods, has her fearing that she may be infertile. “At one point, I hadn’t had my period in four months, which made my doctor suspect that I was going through early menopause,” says Miller. Although tests have confirmed that Miller does in fact ovulate, “my doctor still doesn’t know why my periods are the way they are, so I continue to worry about whether I can conceive,” she says. And Miller isn’t alone. Many women in their 20s have started stressing over their fertility after watching baby boomers struggle with the issue. The reality check: While irregular periods can be a symptom of infertility, it’s not enough to go on. The good news is that the rate of infertility in young women is very low – 7 percent in women ages 20-24 and 9 percent in 25- to 29- year-olds. “If you’re in your 20s, you probably don’t need to worry about infertility,” says Richard Paulson, M.D., director of the fertility program at the University of Southern California medical School.

But the single smartest thing a young woman can do to protect her fertility is to practice safe sex: Contracting and STD, such as Chlamydia, can damage your reproductive system by causing scarring, which may lead to tubal blockages that prevent an egg from being fertilized. Super- safety measure: If it will quell your concerns, purchase an over-the-counter ovulation test to check your fertility.

BRAIN TUMORS

The freak-out: Rachel Carlson suffered from horrible headaches most of her life, but the 26-year-old editor considered them more annoying than life threatening – until a chance remark made by her doctor. “My family insisted I see a neurologist, and though he thought stress the cause, he happened to mention that there was a 2 percent chance that my headaches were caused by a brain tumor,” says Carlson. ‘That’s a tiny percentage, but I fixated on it. “Fortunately, an MRI ruled out that scary scenario, though Carlson still has a nagging fear that a brain tumor is in her future. The reality check: It’s unclear what causes brain tumors – they’re very rarely inherited, and there’s little research to suggest that exposure to environmental toxins causes them. And the likelihood of getting a brain tumor is very small – one person in every 20,000 gets one each year, and many of them are treatable. But if you have symptoms, such as severe headaches, fatigue, and disorientation, you should see a physician. Bear in mind that those problems could be caused by 101 other, says Henry S. Friedman, M.D., A physician with the Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, including migraine, tension, and sinus headaches.

And headaches aren’t the only panic provoker; ever since studies linking cell-phone use and brain cancer made headlines a few years ago, wireless young women everywhere have been overanalyzing their exposure. If you’re one of them, take heart: “No data proves that there’s a relationship between cell-phone use and brain tumors,” says Dr. Friedman. Super-safety Measure: If you still want to reduce your exposure to cell-phone radiation, “avoid using your phone where the signal strength is weak, because the phone will have to increase its radiation power to get reception, “advises John Moulder, Ph.D., a specialist in cancer and radiation at the Medical College of Wiscounsin.

SKIN CANCER

The freak-out: As luck would have it, the day after Suzanne Green, a 25-year-old fashion stylist, read an article on skin cancer, she found two new moles on her body. “I’m convinced that one or more of my moles has turned cancerous. It’s all I can think about,” says Green, who spent her teen years sunbathing on the beaches of her native California, slathered in baby oil. “I know I should really get them checked out, but I’m scared the dermatologist will flip out when she hears I haven’t been checked by a doctor in five years. “The advent of tanning beds in the 1980s spawned a generation of tanning addicts – the darker the better. As a result, many of those young women now fear they’ve done irreversible damage to their skin and are bracing themselves for the fallout. The reality check: The hard truth is, Green, like most women, has cause for concern. Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, is the most common type in women ages 25 to29. (Basal cell and squamous cell cancers, which are more common than melanoma, have considerably higher cure rates). And enemy number one is – you guessed it – the sun, which is responsible for 90 percent of skin cancer cases.

But don’t beat yourself up over baking in the rays as an adolescent. Instead, from now on, vow to seek shade during the sun’s most intense hours – 10a.m. to 2 p.m. – and wear sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15 all year-round. Alan Kling, a New York City dermatologist, also recommends doing a thorough head-to-toe self-exam regularly. As you can check out each mole, beware of warning signs by following the rules of A, B, C and D: Asymmetry; irregular borders; changes in color, and changes in diameter. Other telltale signs include spots that continually itch, hurt or bleed. Super-safety measure: have a spot check examination by a dermatologist once a year.

from Cosmopolitan June 2000