HPV in women
HPV in women is a serious subject. Every year 13, 000 women in the United States will hear the diagnosis that they have cervical cancer. Cervical cancer can be prevented through early detection and treatment of abnormal cell changes that occur in the area of the cervix prior to the cancer developing in most cases. The cell changes are caused by the HPV virus.
To help stop the effects of HPV in women, there’s now a test for the virus being offered that can be used with the Pap test starting at the age of 30 or of any age when the Pap test alone has found abnormal cell changes. The HPV test is capable of finding any of 13 different types of HPV in women, which most commonly lead to cervical cancer. These types of HPV can lead after several years to the cell changes that may need to be treated so that cervical cancer does not occur. This test is painless as only a few surface cells are collected.
HPV in women is very common. Most women and men will be infected with HPV at some time in their lives. There are around 100 types of HPV. Some HPV types only infect certain areas of the body while others cause mild to serious conditions. HPV in women might only affect the genital area or cause warts. Other types of HPV might cause cells to change as it does in cervical cancer.
The types of HPV in women that are found in the genital area are usually passed on during sexual contact. HPV types that cause warts in other places like the feet or hands don’t cause genital warts and have nothing to do with the cell changes that cause cancer.
HPV in women is such a commonly a transmitted virus that the likelihood of getting some type of HPV infection at some point in a person’s life is estimated to be 75 % or more. This means everyone who’s sexually actively has a better than even chance of being exposed to the HPV virus, but it is important to remember that HPV in women causes only a small number to develop the cell changes that lead to cervical cancer.