Cervical cancer

Most cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus, abbreviated as HPV.
HPV is one of the most common sexually transmitted disease. There are different types HPV; some may cause genital warts while other may result in cervical cancer. There is currently neither effective treatment nor complete cure for those whereby HPV infections have taken root and triggered cancer. It may take months or even years for HPV to be clinically detected from the onset of infections and by the time a woman is confirmed down with cervical cancer due to HPV infection it is usually already in the advanced stage and too late to do anything. I still vividly recalled one of my parents’ colleagues, a lady teacher who used to be vibrant died due to cervical cancer. She was like gone in a couple of months after being confirmed of cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer tends to occur in midlife. The advent of medical science and increase awareness among the public about cervical cancer has help to reduce the number of fatalities. Early screening can help to find a change in the cervix before it develops into cancer. Pap smear test remains of the most economical and effective means to check for signs of cervix infections.

The widespread availability of vaccine Gardasil seems like a Godsend answer for young women below the age of 26 all over the world with regards to increasing protection against cervical cancer. Gardasil vaccine is not cheap; it cost something like Singapore dollars 500 dollars for the full course injections. Gardasil is not without its serious side effects though. Some of the side effects include dizziness, vomiting, fever and in some serious cases even death. It is absolutely fallacy to assume that Gardasil or any like vaccine is safe sex vaccine.

There is no such thing as one hundred percent effective & guaranteed immunization treatment against cervical cancer. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure thus it is important to avoid any sexual activities that may increase the risk of HPV infections. Put in another way, avoidance is better than treatment. It is important to adopt healthy hygiene in our daily life, avoid engaging in any unsafe sex activities such as having multiple sexual partners, be it hetero or bisexual and more importantly to go for regular pap smear test once you reach midlife and beyond.