Essay on Chronic Diseases

Submitted By OLiveMarichino1
Words: 822
Pages: 4

Chronic Diseases

Cervical cancer is what forms in the tissues of the cervix (the organ connecting the uterus and the vagina) it is usually a slow cancer that may not have symptoms but can be found with regular pap tests (a procedure in which cells are scraped from the cervix and looked at under a microscope). Cervical cancer is almost always caused by human papillomavirus infection (HPV).
Doctors usually cannot explain why one woman develops cervical cancer and another does not. Women with certain risk factors might be more likely to develop this kind of cancer.
Risk factors such as smoking cigarettes can increase the risk of cervical cancer among women infected with human papillomavirus infection. The risk of cervical cancer can be reduced by getting regular cervical screening. Another way to reduce the risk is if you get the vaccine before becoming sexually active. But you still will need to get regular screenings, even with the vaccination. Early cervical cancer usually do not cause symptoms, when the cancer grows larger women may notice abnormal bleeding that occurs between regular menstrual periods or bleeding after intercourse. Other symptoms of cervical cancer include increased vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, and pain during sex.
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer, this is because of the Pap smear test. While some cases of this cancer cannot be prevented, there are many things a woman can do to reduce risk of developing it. As I stated before getting a regular Pap smear test, this can detect cervical changes early before they turn into cancer. Limiting the amount of sexual partners you have also helps, and quitting smoking or avoiding second hand smoke. And if you are sexually active use protection, if you do not it also increases your risk for other diseases like HIV and other sexual transmitted diseases which can increase risk factors for developing cervical cancer. It is very important to follow up on abnormal pap smears. The last thing that you can do to decrease your risk factors is to get the HPV vaccine, if you are under the age of 27 you may be able to get the vaccine it prevents high risk strains of HPV in women. The vaccine is most effective when given to young women before they are sexually active.
Over all the primary risk factor for developing cervical cancer is the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is a common sexual transmitted disease that is spread through sexual, skin to skin contact. And all women should get there regular cervical screenings. Because you might not have any symptoms at all and if it goes untreated for too long it could end up being fatal. This can occur in men also but there is no medical screening test that can determine if a man is infected with HPV. In summary cervical cancer; malignant cancer of the cervix uterus or cervical area. It may present itself with vaginal bleeding but symptoms may be absent until the cancer is in its advanced stages, which has made cervical cancer the focus of intense screening efforts using the Pap smear.

Reference
WWW.CANCER.GOV. (2011/2012).