It’s much easier to think yourself invincible. Or immune or safe or pure. You don’t sleep around and you always use protection. But that doesn’t eliminate your risk of contracting STDs. Especially HPV.
Ten thousand women in the U.S. get cervical cancer each year. And 3,600 of those women will die from the cancer. Ninety-nine percent of those cancer cases are caused by some form of HPV.
January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Women don’t have to continue to die from cervical cancer if they take the right measures.
Eighty percent of women over the age of 50 have contracted human papilomavirus at some point in their lives. Many never even knew it. And many of them probably unknowingly passed the virus to their sex partners.
In 2006, a vaccine arrived which prevents this disease. Young women ages 9 through 26 are able to get the vaccine that guards against the strains of HPV that the Center for Disease Control says most commonly cause cervical cancer and genital warts. It is recommended that all girls ages 11 and 12 get the vaccine because the vaccine, called Gardasil, is most effective for people who have not yet been sexually active. This is because it does not cure HPV or provide protection if the woman has already been exposed to one of those strains.
However, it is still advised that all women in this age group are vaccinated because it is unlikely that one would have already been exposed to all four strains the vaccine protects against.
For those outside of the vaccine’s age limit, there is no good way to protect against getting HPV at some point. There are more than 40 strains of the virus and condoms do not necessarily prevent contracting it because it can be passed on through genital contact. Therefore, couples usually share the virus.
Men cannot get tested for it, although only in rare cases does it cause them health complications, the CDC said, such as penile cancer and anal cancer. The biggest dangers of HPV however, affect women.
While most people will have HPV at some point in their lives, it is usually asymptomatic and the body can usually clear it naturally within a few years.
Other good news is that cervical cancer can usually be caught before it forms by getting annual pap test. Cervical cancer has a distinct pre-cancerous look and can be treated before it develops. If cancer has already formed but is caught early, it can be treated with surgery or chemotherapy and radiation with a high success rate. Doctors say that most of the cases of cervical cancer they see are in women who waited five or ten years in between pap tests.
There are many dangers we cannot control in life, but we should be proactive about reducing our risk of danger where we can. Encourage the women in your life to get their yearly pap test and always practice safer sex. Have your partner get tested for STDs before becoming sexually active with him or her. Even condoms do not prevent the transmission of all STDs, and many people unknowingly carry diseases.
Life is precious. Protect it.
Alexandra Caldwell is editor of the Clearwater Beacon. Send her an e-mail at acaldwell@tbnweekly.com..
