2nd Hand Sex

Cervical cancer is preventable and curable. Yet, it is estimated by the CDC that over 9,700 cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in 2006 in the United States alone and that at least 3,700 women die from cervical cancer in this country annually. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer for women and as many as 500,000 women develop cervical cancer each year. The culprit is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world and the most common in the United States according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Human Pappilomavirus or HPV.
There are more than 100 different types of HPV and most of them are harmless. About 30 types of HPV are transmitted sexually. High-risk types of the virus can lead to abnormal Pap smear results and cervical cancer. Low-risk types of the virus can also lead to abnormal Pap smear results and to genital warts. With regular screening and Pap smears, cervical cancer can be prevented and treated. The virus is the most common cause of cervical cancer.
It has been around for a while. Cases have been documented in medical records as far back as the times of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. In the 1800's, researchers suspected that cervical cancer was a sexually transmitted infection because they noticed that nuns and virgins did not contract cervical cancer while wives of husbands who traveled a lot [and probably played around a lot] along with second wives of husbands whose previous wives had died of the disease had a much higher chance of contracting it.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 50 percent of sexually active men and women "acquire genital HPV infection at some point in their lives." Approximately 20 million people in the United States are currently infected according to the CDC. Many HPV infections have no signs or symptoms so a carrier may transmit the virus from partner to partner without knowing it. By the age of 50, 80 percent of women will have acquired sexually transmitted HPV at some point in their lives.
Most HPV infections go away on their own. The body's own immune system can deal with and eliminate many types of the virus, and most HPVs do not lead to cancer. A high-risk HPV is a necessary but not sufficient cause. Of those women who do develop abnormal cells on the cervix, most can be treated without developing cervical cancer with early detection. Cervical cancer is a slow moving cancer, and regular Pap smears are effective in early detection and prevention. Also, it is a combination of factors that can contribute to the development of cervical cancer from diet to lifestyle to the presence of other STDs like herpes, chlamydia, other infections or a compromised immune system.
It's true that thanks to better screening methods and regular check-ups, the number of cases of cervical cancer has significantly declined in the United States over the past several decades. And now that there is a new vaccine available for the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer and clinical trials show that it's working, the number of cases should continue to drop dramatically. The FDA approved the vaccine in June. However, the vaccine called Gardisil has only been approved for girls and women up to the age of 26. Unfortunately, women who do not have regular access to good healthcare are still at a higher risk for developing cervical cancer despite better screening methods which really should be available to everyone.
But this isn't just a problem for women to deal with. Men have to take some responsibility too, and how about starting with responsible sex? Don't expose someone else to a disease unnecessarily. It just ain't right. People should be straight up when sharing their sexual history with eachother, and take care not to put each other and other people at risk. Being honest and practicing safe sex can save lives. More than 70% of Americans had never heard of this sexually transmitted virus that causes cancer until recently, and most men have no physical symptoms. Well, everyone should hear about it and try and do something about it.