Horse Circle

HPV

Today I went to a gynecological appointment with a 70 year old woman. She needed to have a biopsy done because of an irregular PAP test. She wasn't sure about what the procedure entailed, ie: if she needed to be sedated, if she could drive herself home, etc. It turns out she has HPV (human papillomavirus). Obviously I have heard of HPV before. It has been in the news a lot lately because of a vaccine they have made for it, but how much did I really know about it?

Well, first let me say that I am a little bit pissed off. This is a woman who was married for nearly 50 years. Her husband died 7 years ago and she has not been sexually active since. After the biopsy, the doctor came in and told her she had a sexually transmitted disease. (albeit this is accurate, I wonder about the doctors discretion in blurting this out matter-of-factly) She was , of course, shocked and stunned, and then the doctor proceeded to ask her if she was sure she was not sexually active and if her husband had been faithful to her. What was this doctor thinking? Did she have all the facts about HPV?

I came home and looked it up. I urge everyone to do the same, whether you are male or female... If you are male, you have a mother, sister, girlfriend, or wife and you need to know more about this, if you are female, ditto. This is a virus that 74% of sexually active people have. It isn't a need to be alarmed. Most of the time it is benign and will clear up on it's own. It is, however, the leading cause of cervical cancer. Men and women alike can get this, and it often shows no symptoms or signs. What the doctor didn't tell this woman is that it can lie dormant for weeks, years, or even a lifetime before it is found. This means that her husband could have contracted it before they were married. She also didn't tell her that cervical cancer is pretty rare, even for people who have HPV.

They don't automatically look for HPV on your yearly PAP exam but if you tell your doctor or clinic ahead of time that you want the HPV test, they can do it with the same sample of cells from your PAP exam. Every woman should do this at their next appointment and every man who has a woman in their life should urge her to do this also. Here are two sites to go to so that you can learn more about this.

American Social Health Association - HPV Resource Center

STD Facts - Human papillomavirus (HPV)