Archive for the ‘Protection’ Category

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

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Prescott_Small
http://EzineArticles.com/?HPV—Immunization—The-Facts-Are-Simple&id=451761

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.