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Studies have shown that each year 15,000 women learn that they have cervical cancer while 4,000 die from it. Cervical cancer can be detected with a Pap smear. Cervical cancer is a disease that, if it is caught early, can be eradicated 100 percent. Finding problems early Pelvic exams and Pap smears should be included in every woman's routine physical exam: 1) starting after puberty, 2) after becoming sexually active, 3) presence of abnormal vaginal discharge. The pelvic exam not only detects problems in the reproductive organs, it can help diagnose sexually transmitted diseases and other problems in the pelvic area: in the bladder, rectum, or intestines, for example. The Pap smear, if done regularly, can detect abnormal cells in the cervic before a cancer develops. The test was developed by Dr. George Papanicolaou, in the 1920's, but it wasn't fully accepted until the 1940's. Since then, deaths from cervical cancer have dropped almost 70 percent. In recent years, however, cervical cancers have increased in younger women - certain strains of the human papollomavirus (genital warts), a sexually transmitted disease, may be the cause. For a Pap smear, the doctor takes scrapings of cells from three areas: 1) the vagina, 2) the endocervix, where the cervix and the lining of the uterus join; and 3) the exocervix, the opening of the cervix. The specimens are then transferred to a slide and should be sprayed immediately with fixative. This keeps them from being damaged or from drying out before they reach the laboratory, where they are stained and examined under the microscope for abnormalities. In conclusion, for a complete pelvic exam, your physician should: - Ask you for a complete medical history (including your family history).
- Examine your external genitals and urethra.
- Examine your vagina and cervix (using the metal or plastic speculum), collect the three specimins for the Pap smear, and take other specimens as necessary.
- Do a bimanual examination of the vagina, cervix, uterus, ovaries and rectum. (In a bimanual exam, the doctor gently palpitates the organs both internally and externally, using both hands).
The pelvic exam should be gentle and painless - your doctor should inform you of each step during the process. After the exam, when you are dressed, the doctor should discuss the results of the exam with you and answer your questions. When the lab tests are done, your doctor should inform you of the results by telephone or letter. At any point, if you don't understand something, ask your doctor to explain it to you and this is also a good time to discuss with your physician natural hormone replacement therapy, for women that have already tested be prepared and bring your saliva test results with you. If you have not used saliva testing, this is a wonderful time to discuss it with your physician. - Keep in mind that cigarette smoking is an important factor, smoking cigarettes increases your risk for cervical cancer. Remember when you are smoking that you are bathing your cervix with cancer-causing chemicals.
- Watch your sexual activity because the more partners that you or your partner has had the higher your risk is for cervical cancer. Practice safe sex!
- Finally, eat a well-balanced diet and use a formulated dietary supplement to help prevent cervical cancer. In a study of more than 450 women at the University of Alabama found that women who did not regularly eat a diet rich in folic acid were at a higher risk of cervical dysplasia than women who did.
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