Sheeva,
ok.wait. stop. I dont mean to be rude, but if you want to make a public service announcement you need to know the whole truth!! The most common cause of cervical cancer is HPV, it is NOT the only cause. Virgin women have been known to have cervical cancer, and it was not caused by HPV!!
My OB/GYN told me this and I have been directly involved in sex ed classes for schools and a health education facility in my community. The reason they think that women who are virgins for life, i.e., nuns, etc., have still contracted the disease is because they contracted the HPV from their mothers during birth. At this point, the opinion of specialists is that HPV is the only cause of cervical cancer.
I'm very sorry you are having to deal with this, during an already very difficult time. There is no guarantee that your orgasms will not be as good, but wouldn't it be worth giving up some of that to be able to see your kids graduate, dance at your children's weddings, or see the birth of your grandchildren? None of us have the assurance of being around for those events, but if we can improve the chances, I think it would be worth trying.
Brigid
HPV can be found in a growing proportion of patients with cervical cancer, approaching 100%, but is not yet found in every patient with disease. Other factors, such as herpes simplex virus type 2 infections, cigarette smoking, vaginal douching, nutrition, and use of oral contraceptives, have been proposed as contributing factors. In the first half of the 20th century, Peyton Rous and colleagues demonstrated the joint action of tars and Shope papillomavirus to consistently induce squamous cell carcinomas in rabbits. Using the Rous model as a prototype, one might hypothesize that some cases of cervical cancer arise from an interaction between oncogenic viruses and cervical tar exposures. Cervical tar exposures include cigarette smoking, use of tar-based vaginal douches, and long years of inhaling smoke from wood- and coal-burning stoves in poorly ventilated kitchens.
MedGenMed Hematology-Oncology
Multifactorial Etiology of Cervical Cancer: A Hypothesis
Posted 11/30/2005
Chlamydia infection. Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection of the reproductive tract. It may or may not cause symptoms. This infection can be detected during your pelvic examination and Pap smear. Recent studies have found that women whose blood test show past or current chlamydia infection are at higher risk for cervical cancer than those who test negative.
Heredity. Apparently, genetic makeup and other factors are also part of the complex interactions that cause cervical cancer. Studies suggest that women whose mother or sisters have had cervical cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves.
Smoking. Cervical cancer is also more common among women who smoke. It has been debated whether smoking causes cervical cancer on its own but believe that it may heighten one's vulnerability to other illnesses, such as viral infections. Researchers have found substances from tobacco in the cervical mucus of smokers. These substances may be toxic to the cells of the cervix and contribute to the development of cervical cancer.
Other. Women whose immune system is severely suppressed by other diseases, by treatments, or by organ transplants are more vulnerable to cervical cancer, as are women whose mothers took diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant (DES is a drug once prescribed to prevent miscarriage but is no longer marketed). Women who are obese or who use birth-control pills may be at slightly increased risk.
Age. Cervical cancer is most common in women between the ages of 50 and 55 and almost never occurs in girls younger than 15. The message: Get regular Pap smears as soon as you become sexually active or starting at age 18 and continue until you are at least 70, if not longer.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Infection with the AIDS virus makes women susceptible to cervical cancer because the infection damages the immune system’s ability to destroy cancer cells early. In women infected with HIV, the usual slow progression from a precancer to cancer state might be faster than it normal.
HPV. The most important risk factor for cervical cancer is infection with the sexually transmitted infection called human papilloma virus. It’s believed that this virus interferes with the functioning of substances that keep cervical cells from growing out of control and becoming cancerous.
There are more than 100 different types of HPV. The ones most people have heard of cause genital warts. Other types cause warts elsewhere on the body. Only certain types of HPV increase cervical cancer risk. They are called “high-risk” types of HPV. They include types 16, 18, 31, 33 and 45, and others. The genital HPVs are passed from one person to another during skin to skin sexual contact. Most women with genital HPV do not develop cervical cancer because their immune system can fight the virus. HPV infection can cause changes in the cells which then can be picked up on a Pap smear. Recently, some doctors have started testing for HPV at the time of a Pap. If a high-risk type of HPV is found in women with an abnormal Pap smear, doctors are more inclined to do a colposcopy (look at the cervix directly with a specialized microscope). What puts you at risk of HPV infection?
* Having intercourse at an early age.
* Having many sexual partners.
* Having unprotected sex
like i said. HPV is a huge cause, but it is not the only cause. I am also involved in health education. There are many different factors that can affect the human genome.Cancer Its awesome and mind boggling sometimes. You cant say that anyone one way is the total and absolute way.
I say again, to the fact that I may lose my uterus, for whatever reason.
"I will, but I wont like it, and I am still going to grieve the loss of my body parts. Thank you for being kind and caring enough to give me words of encouragement."
