Archive for the ‘HPV Facts’ Category

The HPV testing for precancers and cervical cancers that saves lives is over 50 per cent more sensitive than cytology testing for these conditions. Overall the sensitivity of HPV DNA testing for precancers and cervical cancers was 93.3 per cent versus only 40 per cent for cytology testing.

The Pap test (cervical cytology) is a technique used to detect changes in the cells of the cervix. The cervix is the entrance to the uterus. The Pap test is usually done during a routine pelvic exam. The Pap test is not 100% effective in finding changes. However, there are newer types of cervical cytology that have a better track record.

DNA testing is of critical importance. It is the newest way to manage a very real risk. At this point it isn’t a solution, but a more potent way to test. This is a tool that many doctors are going to start using on a more regular basis.

Annual Pap tests aren’t the gold standard anymore. With the HPV infection becoming more prevalent it is extremely important to offer this test. Detecting precancers and cervical cancers earlier will save lives. Detecting cancers before it is too late is the name of the game right now.

The ultimate goal is a cure, but until then we can’t forget that early detection gives the best chance to conquer this

HPV – Immunization – The Facts Are Simple

By Prescott Small

While abstinence is 100% effective for those that make that choice. Condoms can work but are only effective is used correctly and as long as they do not break. These solution have absolutely no benefit for those that are victims of sex crimes like rape or molestation.

It is a hard pill to swallow but 1 in 8 women are raped in their life time.

According to the National center for Victims of Crime:

• 12.1 million American women have been victims of forcible rape. In other words, 13% or one out of eight adult American women has been the victim of forcible rape in her lifetime. (National Center for Victims of Crime & Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992.)
• In 1994, 64.2% of all rapes and sexual assaults were committed by offenders who were previously known to the victim. (Ringel, 1997).

The fact is these women are often in a much higher risk group for STI’s (Sexually Transmitted Infections). Very often these victims are young girls or young women. This vaccine can at least spare them this additional risk after such a horrible violation. Then look at the facts: How common is HPV in the population? Chances are that you have already had, currently have it or will have it.

According to the CDC:

At least 50% of sexually active people will get HPV at some time in their lives. Every year in the United States (U.S.), about 6.2 million people get HPV. HPV is most common in young women and men who are in their late teens and early 20s.

As published in the April, 2005 issue of April issue of the journal Lancet Oncology

The vaccine “…human papillomavirus that are most likely to cause cervical cancer or genital warts was 89% effective in preventing infection with the viral strains and 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer, precancerous lesions or genital warts, according to a study published in the April issue of the journal Lancet Oncology.”

According to the CDC:

The FDA has licensed the HPV vaccine as safe and effective. This vaccine has been tested in over 11,000 females (ages 9-26 years) around the world. These studies have shown no serious side effects. The most common side effect is soreness at the injection site. CDC, working with the FDA, will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine after it is in general use.

So testing has been done on girls as young as 9. This is a perfectly acceptable form of prevention based on legitimate research and reputable sources. In medicine you weight the benefit versus risk. The research is showing that the biggest risk with the injection is a sore spot at the injection site, something akin to a slight soreness, probably very similar to my allergy shots. So a day of very mild almost imperceptible irritation. The other side of this coin is that there is a 1 in 8 chance that the person could have pre-cancerous cells forming on their cervix.

The prevalence of the disease if extremely widespread and can be found everywhere. Every one of you knows someone who has is, will have it or already had it. If you have ever had sex you probably had sex with someone that had it. So it will definitely meet the “requirement” to be wide spread. So the Government can easily show in court that it has a “compelling interest” due the fact that this disease is in fact wide spread.

“… the Arkansas Supreme Court in Wright v. DeWitt School District45 held that no First Amendment right existed to a religious exemption given the state’s compelling interest in mandating vaccination under its police power to protect the public health.g (238 Ark. at 913, 385 S.W.2d at 648). Significantly, the U.S. Supreme Court in Yoder referenced the Wright decision in dicta regarding cases in which the health of the child or public health are at issue, with the implication that a vaccination mandate providing no religious exemption would meet the compelling state interest test (406 U.S. at 230, 92 S.Ct. at 1540-1).”

I can tell you from experience that the scare these precancerous cells cause are not fun. My wife went through this a few years ago. While it is really not a very big deal if caught early, that wait for analysis is fairly nerve wracking. If a simple vaccine could have prevented such a thing, It would have been well worth it.

This is a public health issue, the problem is wide spread and large numbers of Americans are at risk from this disease that we now have the power to eradicate. To put this in perspective, Approximately 20 million Americans (CDC) have this disease; that is equal to the population of the entire state of Texas.

When it comes to this disease, people need to look at the facts and not the hysteria generated by a politically motivated religious right movement that obviously has zero concern for the health of girls or women. It is amazing how much of this anti-vaccine agenda is promoted using out right lies and misinformation. What ever happened to “though shall not lie?” In fact lying and intentionally endangering the health of hundreds of thousands of people is repugnant and amoral.

More Articles on HPV

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The treatment options for genital warts are limited to topical if at all possible.

When a healthcare provider has to resort to some of the other methods he has several to choose from.

The Choices

Liquid nitrogen called Cryocautery freezes the more persistent warts every 1 to 3 weeks, until the wards are gone.

A laser treatment uses an intense beam of light, and is usually used on larger tough-to treat warts.

Electrocautery-an electric current is used to super-heat a needle which burns the wart cells and cauterizes the blood vessels. This is done with a local anesthetic. This isn’t a first line of treatment; it is used after other treatments have failed.

Surgical excision is done in the doctor’s office and it is minor surgery with local anesthetic.

Interferon injections are used for genital warts that don’t go away after they are treated with the other methods.

Treatment of genital warts doesn’t cure the infection, thought it is thought to lessen it.

Side Effects

Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is an in office procedure where your doctor places liquid nitrogen spray on warts to destroy them. This procedure is valuable because doctors can perform it even during pregnancy. Side effects include some pain at the application site and inflammation following the procedure. Repeat application is often necessary.

Laser Therapy

Your doctor can perform laser therapy at a surgical center. Patients undergoing treatment with Laser therapy for removal of genital warts need anesthesia. Condyloma tissue absorbs energy from the laser, which heats up and evaporates the wart. Usually laser therapy results in a 100 percent clearing of genital warts, but recurrence rates may be as high as 45 percent.

Excision procedures

Your doctor may also excise genital warts using anesthesia. Complications from excision include infection and bleeding. This may be an alternative for patients where large warts do not respond to chemical treatments.

Genital Wart Clearance Rates for Various Treatments

Therapy Clearance Rate (%)

Cryotherapy 63–88%

Electrosurgery 61–94%

Imiquimod 37–56% Topical

Interferon (topical) 6–90%

Interferon (intralesional) 17–63%

Laser surgery 23–52%

Podofilox 45–77% Topical

Podophyllin 32–79%

Surgical excision 35–72%

Trichloroacetic acid 50–81% Topical

Placebo or no treatment 0–56%

The Long and The Short of it

Genital warts aren’t just another short range problem. This is a one that can appear again and again. Science isn’t closer to a cure. This is something you can’t forget about.

It is important to return regularly for treatment until all of the genital warts have gone so the doctor or nurse can check progress and make any necessary changes in your treatment. Sometimes treatment can take a long time.

The majority of people whose genital warts initially disappear will get a recurrence.

In the majority of cases, the immune system keeps the virus under control and eventually destroys it a few years after the initial infection.

You can have it cut or burnt but there are no perfect treatments. Prevention prevails and there is a remarkable list of natural ways to ensure that you stay free of genital warts.  We will publish a guide with everything you need to know about natural and green ways to approach HPV infections.

Hiv-positive gay and bisexual men are at a higher risk of anal, penile and throat cancers associated with persistent HPV infection. The risk has been increasing in recent years.

Risky Business

There are a few factors that make an HPV infection risky business for this community. Even with the new anti-viral drug therapy the immune system is compromised when you have AIDS. With the new treatments HIV-associated cancers, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma and lymphoma have been reduced. Years have been added to the lives of people with AIDS.

People with AIDS are more likely to develop HPV-related cancers. Because of the longer survival time persistent HPV infection can turn into cancer. HIV interferes with a person’s ability to fight off viruses, bacterial infections, and fungi. It also makes you more susceptible to certain cancers and to infections that you would normally ward off. These include pneumonia and meningitis.

People with HIV have a considerably harder time eliminating HPV from their system, because of an impaired immune system.

Enhanced treatment for HIV/AIDS has improved the outcome by increasing the life span and health of individuals. People with HIV have a higher rate of precancerous lesions. For women with HIV they have a higher risk of cervical cancer.

A 1998 study found that persons with HIV had anal cancer rates 15 to 30 times that of the general population.  The opposite is also true if you have an HPV infection and have the lesions your risk is higher of acquiring the HIV virus.

Findings

Gay and bisexual men are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer. Men with HIV are more likely to get severe cases of hard to treat genital warts. Many times longer treatment is needed. The warts may increase in size and number more quickly in an HIV infected individual.

People living with HIV and others with compromised immunity are more likely to encounter HPV-related complications. Women living with HIV tend to have multiple types of HPV. This fact alone is associated with a greater risk of HPV-related disease. All people with compromised immune systems are not as likely to clear HPV-related conditions.

The first line of protection which would include condoms, carrageen lubricants, and natural immune building nutrients, all have demonstrated to be effective at lowering the risk of HPV infection.

Combating the infection in someone with a compromised immune system makes prevention all the more important in the gay community.

HPV For Men – If You’re Sexually Active You Should Know the Facts!

By Gary Bradfield

HPV for men is more common than you might think. It affects over 3 million men in the U.S. alone, and most of them had never even heard of it before. So what is HPV, and what can you do to get rid of it?

What Is HPV?

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common sexually transmitted virus that occurs in both men and women. The virus is what is behind those embarrassing genital warts that men can get on their penis, testicles, anus and groin area.

How Do You Get HPV?

The virus is spread through skin-to-skin sexual contact. It can be during vaginal, anal or even in rare instances, oral sex. A condom offers more protection, but not enough in most cases because there are still uncovered areas of the genitals that can become infected.

What Are The Symptoms Of HPV?

The most common symptom by far is genital warts that appear on the penis, testicles or anus. They look somewhat like cauliflower and may be raised or flat on the surface.

Genital warts can begin to appear within weeks or months of becoming infected. In some cases it may be years before showing up. Genital warts are almost always painless.

Is There An HPV Test For Men?

Currently, there is no HPV test for men. They do have one for women, but it is part of a cervical cancer screening and will not work for men. Some experts have claimed a Pap test for men will show whether you are infected, but there is no conclusive evidence it works.

Is There A Cure For HPV?

There is no cure for HPV, but there are treatment methods to get rid of genital warts and reduce the symptoms.

Next, go check out this website at HPV For Men. You’ll find information on how to quickly and effectively get rid of embarrassing genital warts for good by Clicking Here.

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Human Papillomavirus

HPV is the human papillomavirus, and it is a group of viruses that includes more than 100 types. More than 40 types of of HPV can be passed through sexual contact. At least 30 strains are known to cause different types of cancer.

HPV research scientists have separated HPV types into those that are more likely to develop into cancer and those that are less likely to develop into cancer.

Up to 70 percent of cervical cancer is caused by HPV-16 and HPV-18.

HPV is a viral infection spread through skin to skin contact causing irregular cell growth or warts. It mainly infects the genital area; including the vulva, vagina, cervix, rectum, anus, penis or scrotum. The low risk HPV infections can cause genital warts. The high risk HPV virus can lead to cervical cancer and other less common cancers in both men and women. The HPV strains responsible for causing genital warts do not cause cancer, and vice versa. Read the rest of this entry »

HPV Infection In Men

HPV infection in men causes numerous health problems. Most of the information in the media focuses on women. Since this virus increases their risk of getting cervical cancer.

HPV FACTS

Men it turns out have a fair amount of risk. There is the pervasive idea that HPV poses minimal treat to men’s health, while it could dramatically affect women’s lives, it can affect men’s in a smaller dose. The question is how many people does HPV have to affect to receive and cultivate an interest?

HPV is probably as common in men as in women. It is not as easily diagnosed in men as in women. Genital HPV is mainly passed to men through vaginal and anal sex, the same way it is in women.

There is no approved test available to detect HPV in men. While women have the Pap test, there are no tests to detect HPV-related cancers in men.

HPV infection in men can increase a man’s risk of getting genital cancer. Cancer of the penis is not a common cancer. However, anal cancer is now almost as common in men and women who have anal sex as cervical cancer was in women before the introduction of the Pap test.

ANAL CANCER

Anal cancer is on the rise in both sexes. Research by author Lisa G. Johnson PhD, statistical-research associate in Fred Hutchinson’s Public Health Sciences Division, found the incidence rates of anal cancer have increased significantly in the past 30 years, jumping 160 percent in men and 78 percent in women.

This number can also be expressed as 1 in 624 men and women will be diagnosed with cancer of the anus, anal canal, and anorectum during their lifetime

In a study led by epidemiologist Janet Daling, Phd, a member of Fred Hutchinson’s Public Health Sciences Division, tested for the presence of human papillomavirus or HPV in both blood and tumor tissue. It also measured livestyle factors associated with the disease such as smoking, sexual orientation, number of partners and history of anal penetration. Having anal fistulas (abnormal openings) also increases the risk.

“We found that infection with HPV is necessary in most if not all cases of anal cancer, as close to 90 percent of the tumors studied were positive for the virus,” said Daling, a pioneer in studying the link between HPV and anogenital-cancer risk.

GENITAL WARTS

Like women, men do not have symptoms with HPV unless it is the type that causes genital warts. These warts can appear around the anus, on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thighs.

Genital warts are the first symptom that you may get with low-risk HPV strains that cause warts.

Genital warts can go away on there own, and it takes awhile for all warts to appear. If you start treatment as soon as they appear you may need other treatments later on.

HPV CONSIDERATIONS

ORAL CANCER

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), published a study that links papillomavirus (HPV) to an increased risk of a kind of oral cancer seen more often in men.

The study shows that men and women who reported having six or more oral-sex partners during their lifetime had a nearly nine fold increased risk of developing cancer of the tonsils or at the base of the tongue. Of the 300 study participants, those infected with HPV were 32 times more likely to develop this type of oral cancer than those who did not have the virus. This type of oral cancer is more prevalent in men.

According to John Hopkins’ researcher Dr. Maura Gillison, who worked on the study: “When you look at the cancers associated with HPV in men-including penile cancer, anal squamous cell carcinoma, oral cancers-it’s very close to the number of cases of cervical cancer that occur in the U.S. in women every year. We need to adjust the public’s perception…that only women are at risk.”

Men are both carriers and recipients of the HPV virus, and currently have some of the same risk as women. Men can’t afford to be complacent about HPV infections. Their risk may be different, but to assume that there is no comparison to a women’s risk is unfounded.

To find out more information about HPV Virus in Women, you can follow this link.

HPV Virus in Women

HPV virus symptoms in women aren’t always present. The virus that causes cervical cancer HPV is one that can stay with you for life. This is a virus that is never truly dormant. In a healthy person your immune system can do a very good job of fighting it off and keeping the virus at bay. Once the infection takes hold, it can cause cells in your cervix to change. This change can be detected by having a pap smear.

Here is the problem with the HPV virus in women, the HPV strains that are known to cause genital warts and cancer are capable of replicating too quickly for the immune system to keep up with.

HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO KNOW

You need to know as much as you can. This virus is dependent on its host to grow and spread. Before there are abnormalities on a routine pap smear it is clear that you need to arm yourself with a no nonsense approach to taking care of your sexual health.

Because not everyone infected with HPV will develop symptoms, this is a virus that comes in under the radar. Most women with the low-risk types of genital HPV never know they harbor the virus. If symptoms do occur they include genital warts, and precancerous changes, and in some cases cancer.

Genital warts can grow inside and around the outside of the vagina, on the vulva (the opening around the vagina), the cervix, groin, and in or around the anus. Genital warts can grow in the mouth or throat of a person who has had oral sex with an infected person.

You need to be aware of all possibilities, because the first clue sometimes is an abnormal pap test. If this occurs there is a DNA test that detects many of the high-risk types of HPV, to help screen for cervical cancer. Women can have HPV with a normal pap test; changes on the cervix may not appear right away.

MAKING WAVES

Women have to be the ones to make all the right moves. Managing the HPV virus is more complicated then avoiding it. The gap between the perception of this virus and the processes that unfold once infected is game changing.

Everything will hinge on making the best choices. Women may bear the brunt of this virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) have approved the HPV test that can identify 13 of the high-risk types of HPVs associated with the development of cervical cancer.

Making waves will be the women’s job, because there is currently no test to determine if a man is infected with the virus. HPV virus is transmitted through sexual, skin-to-skin contact with an infected person; penetration is not needed to pass along the virus. Condoms only cover so much, and the areas left exposed do often come in contact with the vagina and surrounding areas.

SOLUTIONS REMAIN ELUSIVE

The vaccine is new, and not everyone has access to it. The jury still is out on how long it is effective, and the overall track record. It is expensive and women will be the one on the receiving end of the vaccination. The vaccine for boys hasn’t become a best seller.

What this comes down to; managing risk will be up to the fairer sex. It will mean that all precautious will still leave some uncertainty. However, the decision to proceed with caution, and explore some alternative health enhancing means to help you sleep tight is what may give you the edge.

HPV, An Action Plan

HPV needs an action plan with a methodical approach. While the emphasis is on both cure and prevention little has been accomplished. With all the technology in the scientific community we have not seen any real results. At this point in time HPV is not easy to diagnose or treat.

With no cure in the pipelines it is up to the individual to pursue a prudent cost of action.  No one in the medical community has seen the need to prioritize either the treatment protocol or prevention aspect.

This is like being ready set and never going. The challenge is the perception of HPV being a common everyday STD. Gauging the reach of HPV and the perils of exposure have now being examined  by both the pharmaceutical and medical establishment.

HPV RESEARCH

HPV research shows that there are many factors that can change the risk of acquiring an infection. Of course the one factor that is always present in sexual behavior.

Other interesting studies showed that smoking increased the risk of infection, and condom use didn’t significantly reduce the risk. There is enough debate on this to make it practical and wise to use a condom.

There have collaborated studies that linked a diet high in fruits and vegetables a mitigating factor in reducing the virus in both frequency and duration.

The take away advice from all the studies is to limit the number of sexual partners, frequency of sexual contact, use condoms, have regular pap smears, and stop smoking.

It is suggested that women increase the length of time they know their partner before initial intercourse. Since the infection is undetectable in men, and there is no way to test for it you can’t bank on this as a solution.

ALPHABET SOUP

The consequence of all the studies is that there is very little practical assurance that you can avoid the infection, or deal naturally with any of the consequences.

What seem to be the key factors are to limit the frequency of sexual contacts, and be on the lookout for symptoms. This is a new challenge since this may have worked at one time; it no longer is the mode of operation. It can be difficult to get this generation to embrace the challenge.

The fact is seniors aren’t playing it safe. Heterosexual women 50 and older stop using protection because pregnancy is no longer an issue. The physical changes of menopause put them at a higher risk for sexually transmitted diseases.  After menopause, estrogen levels decrease. The tissues in the vagina become thinner, drier and more fragile.

When there is less moisture the acidity in the vagina is reduced, the number of protective bacteria that are normally there decrease. The possibility of infections taking hold increases.

ACTION PLAN

The dilemma that presents itself to the public is now what. Looking over our shoulder we can see where we have been, but what we need now is a resourceful strategy for the future. All the signals say that there aren’t many practical solutions.

Other than being vaccinated, there seem to be few alternatives to safer sex. In the alternative solutions community actually there are some hopeful trends. From nutrition, to healthy living to some new products made with carrageen from sea vegetables, we may have what we need to prevent HPV infections.

On this blog we will cover everything for our reader that puts pleasure and protection on the front burner.

Myhealthysexlife is the place to go for some up to date information with tips for action to both save your health and sex life.

Natural Protection From HPV

This is a topic that must be explored, since medical solutions are few and far between. There is some very interesting data that shows there are some natural approaches that are helpful.

Reviewing the Basics

STRESS

Scientist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia tested 74 women, all diagnosed with cervical dysplasia (precancerous cervical lesions), for an immune response to HPV 16, one of the strains of human papillomavirus thought to be a major cause of cervical cancer. At the same time the women were asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed stressful events in the last six months.

HPV 16 and HPV 18 are known to cause the vast majority of cervical cancers, and newer studies show that HPV 16 is linked to oral cancer. In the oral cavity HPV16 manifests primarily in the (posterior) regions such as the base of the tongue, the back of the throat in the mouth, the tonsils. HPV16 and HPV18 are also responsible for other squamous cell carcinomas, particularly of the anus and penis. However, HPV16 is the biggest causative agent of cervical cancer. It also can cause vulvar, and vaginal cancer.

What was observed; stress was associated with a poor immune response to the HPV 16 infection. Women with higher perceived levels of daily stress were more likely to have an impaired immune response.

“We observed that stress was associated with deficits in immune response to HPV 16,” said Carolyn Y. Fang, the study’s lead investigator.

HPV expert Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, stated, “It is unusual to see psychology and immunology in the same study, and this is very interesting. It is clear that almost all sexually active men and women get infected by HPV but very few have cancer. We already knew that nutrition may play a role. It seems likely that immune responses to HPV are influenced by stress, too.”

Chronic stress impairs not only the ability of the immune system to relocate immune cells but also the ability of those cells to do their job of recognizing and responding to the pathogenic agent.

NUTRITION

There are other factors such as; such as consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and other viral infections like HIV or herpes that increases ones at risk of contraction the HPV 16 infection. This shouldn’t be surprising since stress, tobacco, and alcohol depletes stored nutrients.

FINDING THE BASICS

Finding the basic protection means looking no further than your immune system.

Better food choices, with a healthy lifestyle seems to offer some protection.

Top notch nutrients improve your chances of both avoiding and clearing the HPV infection.

Folic acid depletion increases a women’s risk for cervical dysplasia, which can progress to cervical cancer. A deficiency of selenium weakens the immune system, which can result in increased risk for viral infections and cancer.

Stress depletes many essential nutrients. Essential ones such as vitamin C, the B vitamins especially B5 and B6, potassium, zinc, protein and essential fats become deficient.

Research suggests that women with higher levels of lypcopene are able to remove HPV faster from their bodies. Women with low levels of lycopene can take 11 plus months on average to remove the HPV infection. Women with higher levels did so in 8.5 months on average.

Lycopene is found in tomatoes and tomato products, watermelon, pink grapefruit, papaya, and pink guava. Other micronutrients with antioxidant properties have also shown some benefit in limited studies to either decrease the length of an HPV infection or provide some protection.

NATURALLY DILIGENT

There are many people searching the internet looking for natural ways of preventing and eliminating HPV symptoms. Taking responsibility for your general health can go a long way to improving your chances of avoiding the infection, and mitigating the symptoms.