Human Papilloma Virus or HPV as it is commonly known is much more prevalent than many people think. It has been estimated that approximately 80% or even more of the female population will have some form of HPV by the time they reach the age of 50.
However, the real issue is whether these women know that they have it and this becomes increasingly more important as the more deadly strains of this can lead women who have it being susceptible to cancer if they leave the virus untreated.
There are about 100 known strains of HPV and of these 30 can be sexually transmitted. Today in the USA the CDC are producing adverts which is spreading the word that women should be checked for HPV in order to reduce the risk of them contracting cervical cancer if they leave HPV untreated.
However, it should also be remembered that most forms of HPV are in fact harmless and will eventually go away on their own without any treatment being necessary. But should a woman test positive time and time again for HPV then this is where the problems and worries will start. Unfortunately most of the time the genital form of HPV goes undetected because it is primarily a symptom less virus, which causes no alarm bells to ring in the person who has contracted it and unfortunately results in it not being treated by a doctor.
However, occasionally a woman may find that she has small bumps in her genital area and this can be a sign of the virus. Normally the HPV bumps will appear as small, fleshy, pink wart like bumps. The only other way of detecting if a woman has HPV is to have a PAP smear. By ensuring that a woman has a regular PAP smear this will help to prevent cervical cancer caused by HPV. An abnormal PAP smear test will show that a woman has HPV and thus it can then be treated and reduce the risk of the onset of cervical cancer.
There are other advances now being made in the treatment of HPV and one of this is a immunization vaccine that it is said helps to stop certain types of the virus in its tracks. This was a huge discovery for the medical world, especially as it is estimated that approximately half of the cervical cancer cases that have been diagnosed are linked to a certain strain or strains of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus).
Although the vaccine is still considered to be in the experimental stages and many ethics and moral committees are continuing to debate whether this vaccine should be given to young girls when it becomes available for general public use are still ongoing.
But the fact remains that the deadly strain of HPV causes about Fifty Percent of all the cases of cervical cancer which have been diagnosed over the years and there is a strong argument to suggest that this vaccine should be provided to all those that require it. But in any case such a emotive subject will always be a subject for discussion and debate by all sides. However, unfortunately the vaccine is not infallible and women should still continue to be tested on a regular basis for any form of the harmful HPV strains as this vaccine does not actually protect against every strain of the virus that will potentially cause an abnormal cell growth in a woman and thus lead to cancer.
It has been estimated that roughly 15,000 women each year are diagnosed with cancer of the cervix and over 4,000 die each year for the disease. But hopefully with the new advertisements now being shown on TV in the US and women being made more aware of the importance of having regularly PAP smear tests, then the US should be at least on its way of making every woman in the country aware of this silent and deadly disease in the future.
Tags: abnormal pap smear, cancer, cervical cancer, hpv is, human papilloma virus, pap smear, pap smear test, pap smear tests, papilloma, papilloma virus, silent killer, woman, women
