« Importance of Eating Properly as we get Older | Home | Diagnosis - Staging and treatment Of Cervical Cancer »
Protect Yourself from Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, and the 13th most common cancer in women in Australia. But regular Pap smears and a new vaccine can prevent many cases.
Background
Cervical cancer is one of the good news cancer stories in Australia. Since the introduction of routine Pap smears and a national screening program, the number of deaths from cervical cancer annually has more than halved, demoting cervical cancer to the 13th most common cancer in women in Australia. At the moment, one in every 183 Australian women will develop cervical cancer by the age of 75.
Where is the cervix? It’s the lower part of the uterus that extends into the vagina, often called the neck of the womb. The cervix connects the uterus to the vagina, and is important for producing moistness to lubricate the vagina and holding the baby in the uterus during pregnancy.
Causes
Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers where we know what causes it, and that’s through infection with a sexually transmitted virus called Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV.
Studies have shown that up to 80% of adults will at some point in their lives be infected with the HPV virus. So why do some women get cervical cancer and others don’t?
Part of it comes down to which type of Papilloma Virus you’re infected with. There are over one hundred types, about 40 of which infect the genital tract. Some of these cause genital warts, and around 15 types have the ability to cause cancer, including the main types HPV-16 and HPV-18.
Even if you do become infected with a cancer-causing type of Papilloma Virus, you won’t necessarily develop cervical cancer. More often than not, the infection disappears after losing the battle with your immune system.
What’s responsible for whether your immune system can beat this virus or not? Scientists aren’t sure, but there are some known risk factors that may influence whether you go on to develop cervical cancer or not.
Your age Cervical cancer is most common in women over the age of 50. Precancerous changes on the cervix occur most commonly between the ages of 30 and 50.
Smoking Some studies suggest that smoking increases the risk of cervical cancer fourfold. Why? It may be because smoking introduces chemicals into the body that damage the cells of the cervix and make cancer more likely to develop.
DES DES (diethylstilboestrol) is a hormonal drug that was prescribed up until the early ’70s to prevent miscarriage. Daughters of women who took DES when pregnant with them may have an increased chance of developing cervical cancer.
Symptoms
One of the problems with cervical cancer is that early changes (pre-cancers and early cancers) rarely cause symptoms, which is why it’s important to go for regular Pap smears (but more on that later.)
Symptoms often develop only when the cancer becomes invasive and invades nearby tissue. When this happens the most common symptom is abnormal vaginal bleeding, or bleeding between periods. This can include blood spots or light bleeding.
Other symptoms include:
- bleeding after intercourse;
- pain during intercourse;
- unusual vaginal discharge;
- vaginal bleeding after menopause;
- excessive tiredness;
- leg pain or swelling;
- low back pain
There are other conditions which can cause these symptoms, but you should go get checked by a doctor regardless. If you ignore symptoms you run the risk of the cancer progressing to a more advanced stage which may impact on the effectiveness of any treatment you might need.
Our next article covers Diagnosos, Treatment and Prevention
Our thanks to Markye Steffens ABC Health & Wellbeing for this great information CLICK HERE