There is an 80% infection history among the sexually active population.
A history of infection with one or more high-risk HPV types is believed to be a prerequisite for the development of cervical cancer; according to the American Cancer Society, women with no history of the virus do not develop this type of cancer. However, most HPV infections are cleared rapidly by the immune system and do not progress to cervical cancer. Because the process of transforming normal cervical cells into cancerous ones is slow, cancer occurs in people who have been infected with HPV for a long time, usually over a decade or more (Greenblatt, 2005; Sinal and Woods, 2005).
Although it has been proposed that HPV may induce other forms of cancer, including breast cancer, colorectal cancer and non-melanoma skin cancer, a causal relationship between HPV infection and these cancer types has not yet been firmly established.
Condoms offer at most a limited degree of protection against the initial transmission of HPV infections (Holmes 2004).
(From Wikipedia...not the most reliable source, I know, but I like it. Whatever.)
Prevention:
1. Ladies, get a yearly pap smear! Men can also get one to check for anal cancer.
2. There is a vaccine for christ's sake! "On June 8th, 2006, the FDA approved Gardasil, a prophylactic HPV vaccine developed by Merck. The vaccine protects women against initial infection with HPV types 16 and 18, which together cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. The vaccine also protects against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause 90 percent of genital warts. Women aged nine through twenty-six can be vaccinated."
3. "Ongoing research has suggested that several inexpensive chemicals might serve to block HPV transmission if applied to the genitals prior to sexual contact (Howett 2005). These candidate agents, which are known as topical microbicides, are currently undergoing clinical efficacy testing. A recent study indicates that some sexual lubricant brands that use a gelling agent called carrageenan can inhibit papillomavirus infection in vitro (Buck 2006). Clinical trials are needed to determine whether carrageenan-based sexual lubricant gels are effective for blocking the sexual transmission of HPVs in vivo."
4. Avoid smoking - "Tobacco smoking increases the risk of developing of invasive cervical cancer, as well as other HPV-induced cancers. Smoking decreases the ablility to absorb folic acid, and taking folic acid is a respected way of treating cervical dysplasia, an extremely common symptom of HPV."
Finally, one last tip...
"The fact that prostitutes have much higher rates of cervical cancer than nuns was a key early observation leading researchers to speculate about a causal link between sexually-transmitted HPVs and cervical cancer (zur Hausen 1994)."
Uh, okay. I'll head back to the convent now.
1 comment:
Don't sweat it Catherine. I had somewhat of a similar experience. It turned out to be nothing, but I'm glad the doctors took it seriously. I had an abnormal pap, and the doctor thought it might be pre-cancerous cells. They gave me the lecture about the different stages of cancer and what could happen. I was freaked out. They removed the cells and it turned out to be nothing at all. This is a very common problem for women.
If someone is sexually active, chances are they have hpv.
What is scary is that people are trying to prevent girls under the age of 18 to be vaccinated because they don't want to encourage kids to have sex. It's insane. We could put an end to cervical cancer with this vaccine, but trying to stop kids from having sex must be important.
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