by K Lochery

Created on: March 24, 2009

People worldwide are all coming into contact with cancer, whether it be within themselves or within a friend or family member. It really does pay to be knowledgable about such a disease in todays society, especially with all types of cancer being on the increase. For women, specifically, there are a couple of cancers which dominate and one of those is cervical cancer. The good news is, the causes and treatments of cancer, in all types, for both male and female, are being studied and new techniques for diagnosis, treatment and learning how to prevent and what causes them are coming about every day.

Cervical cancer is very often in the media, for one reason or another, and most recently, the cause of cervical cancer has dominated the headlines. Studies have shown that cervical cancer is caused by a virus - the human papillomavirus, or HPV for short. One hundred percent of cases of cervical cancer are caused by this virus, and there are now vaccines available. However, these have brought about controversy over when these vaccines should be administered and to whom.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs only in women and it happens in the lower part of the womens uterus - the cervix. HPV, the virus that causes it, is a term that is used to describe a family over over one hundred different strains of virus that fourty of which, affect and infect the sexual organs. The strains of this virus that aren't dangerous have symptoms, and a common one is that of genital warts. However, the strains that are dangerous, as in the ones that cause cervical cancer, can be spread from person to person without any knowledge from either party. It can be spread through sexual contact, and both the male and the female can be carriers of this virus without even knowing!

There has been two new vaccines on the market recently that have been proven to prevent the types of HPV that cause cervical cancer. These vaccines, when given early enough, can protect you from the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer and therefore greatly reduce the chances you have of getting it. It has been considered, however, that the vaccine can take up to five years to become fully effective, and therefore needs to be administered at a young age, before sexual maturity. Some studies have shown that women need to be as young as twelve for these vaccines to be effective.

The best way in which a woman can protect herself from cervical cancer is through regular pap smears. Yes, you can opt in for the HPV vaccine, but as with a lot of medicines and innoculations, it is not one hundred percent effective and there is always the chance that you don't get the vaccine early enough for it be fully effective. To make an complete decision about the way you choose to deal with cervical cancer is difficult, but by educating yourself with as much information as you can, either by way of leaflets, websites or talking to your Doctor, then you can be assured that you will make the right decision!

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