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Preventing Cervical Cancer
Take the Pledge to Get Pelvic Exam
Click here to view this story as it appeared in the Morganton News Herald (Includes additional graphics and information) in pdf format.
BY LEA WALLS
FOR THE NEWS HERALD
Every year, about 10,520 women in the United States get cervical cancer and about 3,900 women die from it. In other countries, cervical cancer affects approximately 500,000 women each year. In some parts of the world, it is still the most common cancer in women.
Cervical cancer screening saves lives. All women who are sexually active or are at least 21 years old are encouraged to have an annual Pap and pelvic examination. The tragedy of any woman dying of cervical cancer is the fact that most cases are preventable.
Pap tests help find changes before cancer starts and are effective tools in the battle against this killer disease.
TAKE THE PLEDGE
Why not make the following pledge?
“Yes, I will do my part to prevent cervical cancer! I pledge to get a gynecologic exam each year and ask my health care provider about cervical cancer screening. In doing so, I understand that I am doing my part to prevent cervical cancer.”
Go to the above Web site www.cervicalcancercampaign.org/pledge/index.aspx and they will send you an annual screening reminder e-mail or postcard.
WHAT IS CERVICAL CANCER?
Cervical cancer begins in the cervix, the part of the uterus or womb that opens to the vagina. Before doctors started using the Pap test in the 1950s, cervical cancer was the leading cause of death from cancer in women.
In the United States, the Pap test saves the lives of 70 percent of the women who might have died from cervical cancer without the test. Recent advances in screening and work on a vaccine is continuing the effort to wipe out cervical cancer.
WHAT CAUSES CERVICAL CANCER?
A virus called the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes almost all cases of cervical cancer. HPV is a common sexually transmitted virus that usually goes away by itself. Most people with HPV never even know they have it.
There are two types of HPV-”low risk” and “high risk.” Some low risk HPV infections can cause genital warts. Sometimes, if the high-risk type of HPV does not go away on its own, it may cause abnormal, or pre-cancerous, cells to form.
If these abnormal cells are not found and treated, they may become cancer. While there is no treatment for the HPV virus, there are treatments for cervical changes that HPV can cause.
WHAT IS NEW IN RESEARCH?
The new screening options including liquid-based Pap tests and the test for high-risk HPV are important developments for women and their physicians. The liquid-based Pap test is a new way to process Pap test results. Instead of smearing the sample on a glass microscope slide, the cervical cells are placed in liquid in a small bottle.
Research has shown that liquid-based Pap tests can be more accurate than the conventional way of preparing the slides because blood and mucous are removed, making the cells easier to see. Pap testing using the liquid-based method of slide preparation is somewhat more expensive, and not all clinics have this option available. Other clinics use only the liquid-based method.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved a new way to test for cervical cancer in women 30 and older. The new test combines a FDA approved HPV test and a Pap test.
Together these tests help physicians find the cancer-causing or high-risk HPV, along with screening for pre-cancer changes in the cells. Women under the age of 30 should not get the new combined test. HPV testing is not helpful in this age group.
Lea Walls is Blue Ridge HealthCare’s director of Women’s and Children’s Services.
What should you do?
- Take the pledge and have regular screenings
- Realize that almost all women will have HPV at some point and few develop cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is rare, but almost always preventable
- Know your family history
- Continue Pap tests after your hysterectomy, unless otherwise advised by your physician
- Stop smoking since exposure to cigarette smoke is associated with increased risk
- Practice safe sex and know your sexual partner
- Do the on-line cancer risk assessment at www.wcn.org
- Visit www.cervicalcancercampaign.org to learn more
The second largest employer in Burke County, Blue Ridge HealthCare serves a four-county area and includes Grace and Valdese hospitals, Blue Ridge Home HealthCare, Grace Heights and College Pines Health & Rehabilitation Centers, Grace Ridge Retirement Community, Phifer Wellness Center and a number of physician practices.
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