Cervical Health Awareness
January is National Cervical Health Awareness month yet while it's not as well "advertised" as well as say, October's breast cancer awareness month, women's health also encompasses this body part. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to address some cervical health issues in hopes of raising a little more awareness, so that action can be taken.
Cervical health has greatly improved in the last 40 years due to screening practices (a simple pap smear, most times), however, the "Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results" study estimates that more than 11,000 women will be diagnosed and over 4,000 women will die from cervical cancer this year. Abnormal cervical cells, most commonly caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), can lead to cervical cancer, so screening is imperative for sexually active women.
In November of 2009, pap smear guidelines were changed to recommend less frequent screenings because HPV effects can take one to three years to even be detected. Not being tested every year saves the cost of screening, avoid unnecessary procedures and still detects cervical cancers effectively.
WEGO Health has a handful of resources for cervical cancer that I encourage you to check out if you're antsy to learn more!
Look soon for cervix basics, cervix problems, how-to's on keeping your cervix healthy and hopefully a cervical cancer survivor story or two!
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© 2012 Created by Susan M..
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