Posted by in Health, Healthy Living and Fitness, Home | 0 Comments

January Is Cervical Health Awareness Month

 

january-is

 

Cervical Health Awareness Month

Cancer is certainly the disease of our modern times and it deserves our attention to the fullest extent. January has been nominated by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) and the National Cervical Cancer Coalition as the Cervical Health Awareness Month. The initiative targets to encourage women of all ages to get screened for cervical cancer and receive the HVP (human papillomavirus) vaccine.

There are many ways for each one of us to help. As usual, spreading the word and raising the point in your groups and communities can enforce a faster spread of knowledge and determine a better awareness on the subject. Local and national media could play a major role in the fight if enough coverage on the subject is included in their broadcast. And the best way to reach to the audience and penetrate indifference is to focus on personal stories of women and families that battled HPV or cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is a condition in which an abnormal growth of cells is initiated at the cervix level. Those cells have the potential to invade and spread to other parts of the body. In almost all of the cases, the source for the cancer is infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). Cervical screening and biopsy can make a precise diagnosis, excluding other possible causes.

It is very important to acknowledge the numbers behind cervical cancer epidemiology. Almost 80% of all cervical cancer cases occur in developing countries, pinpointing once again the importance of early screening and prevention trough vaccination. In developed countries, cervical cancer has become a routine check during medical examinations and HPV vaccination reaches to become mandatory for women over a certain age. Cervical cancer accounts for 8% of the total number of cancer cases affecting women, coming just second after breast cancer.

In a recent survey conducted in the US only around 50% of women interviewed knew what cervical cancer was. It is somehow frightful to know that there is still a lack of vital information about basic human health, in an era when information is just there to reach for it.

The good news about cervical cancer is that it is one of the most preventable types of cancer. The number of deaths from cervical cancer are decreasing in countries were Papanicolaou test has become the standard method for detecting cervical abnormalities. Being a form of cancer evolving over time, just one test is not enough to guarantee safety. At least one check per year is recommended.

There are a few things every women should know about cervical cancer and screenings for identifying it. Cervical cancer can go without major symptoms, allowing enough time for the cellular modifications to occur. Symptoms like bleeding and pain can be misinterpreted with any other medical condition involving the reproductive system and could be easily ignored. If they occur after a sexual contact, between menstruations or after menopause, a visit to the medic is mandatory.

A woman having multiple partners and being more sexually active is also more likely to be infected with HPV. Unfortunately, using condoms do not provide 100% protection. Genital HPV is transmitted easily through intimate contact with the skin of the genital area. This includes touching, oral sex, or sex with a partner of the same sex. HPV infection is very common, and every 8 in 10 women will be infected sometime during their lives. Often, the virus will be eliminated naturally by the body. Most women avoid the PAP test believing that is painful or very unpleasant. Depending on your capacity to relax or not, the test can be also difficult for the medic perform it. Learning how to take long breathes can help you relax, reduce the time of the procedure and enable a more easy harvest of the tissue.   Rarely, however, an abnormal test means you have cervical cancer. Often, the meaning of cell abnormalities identified is that the harvested cells of the cervix are different than normal cells. If not treated, these lesions may progress to cancer over the years. All women with an abnormal test should be carefully supervised by the physician. The gynecologist will highlight the necessary steps for the prevention of cervical cancer.

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>