Category Archives: Health Facts

New cervical cancer screening guidelines from the U.S. Preventative Task Force suggest that women between the ages of 30 and 65 should receive a pap smear at the same time they’re tested for HPV, or human papillomavirus.

In other words, if the HPV test comes back negative and the pap smear returns a normal test result, the medical guidelines indicate that women should wait five years before receiving both tests simultaneously again.

Although the U.S. Preventative Task Force already released a rough draft of the cervical cancer screening guidelines back in October of 2011, those guidelines were incomplete since the Task Force admitted that it had too little information to assess the benefits and potential dangers of HPV testing.

Since then, a Dutch study found that women over 30 who test negative for HPV and receive a normal pap smear test are at a very low risk for cervical cancer over the following three to five years. Researchers also believe that women under the age of 30 should not receive HPV tests, since individuals in this age group can normally clear an HPV infection using only their immune systems.

Dr. Leo Twiggs, a gynecology professor at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said that he’s pleased to see HPV testing added to cervical cancer screening guidelines. According to Dr. Twiggs, HPV tests represent a “more precise way” of identifying the presence or absence of cervical cancer.

According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sexually active women are not receiving screenings for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), as often as they should. The announcement comes at a time when many Americans are concerned with contracting other STDs such as HPV, human papillomavirus, and the appropriate medical procedures for their prevention and vaccination.

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease that can be contracted by both men and women. However, woman that contract chlamydia can cause serious, permanent damage to their reproductive system, making it difficult or even impossible to get pregnant in the future. Chlamydia can also cause a potentially life threatening ectopic pregnancy, a pregnancy that occurs outside of the womb.

Individuals are at risk of contracting chlamydia by having anal, vaginal, or oral sex with an individual who already has chlamydia. In fact, if you are with a male sex partner you can still contract chlamydia even if he does not ejaculate. For individuals that have had chlamydia in the past and were treated, you can still contract the disease if you engage in unprotected sex with someone who actively has chlamydia.