[Wellness] A Test to ask your OB/GYN about

["Karen Patterson" <Patterson@womens-wellness.com>]

In the Healthy Family Section of Better Homes & Gardens  April 2004 Joe
Mullich reports:

"Regular Pap smears are an important and effective way to determine who is
at risk for cervical cancer, but the test isn't perfect: False-positive
results cause lots of unnecessry worry and follow-up testing.  Now there's a
better way to test for the disease that strikes 13,000 American women every
year.  It's called an HPV DNA test and it was approved last year.  Used in
conjunction with a Pap smear, it can much more accurately predict who is at
risk for cervical cancer.  Unfortunately, it's not yet covered by most
health insureers and cost $40 to $50.

The HPV DNAtest is performed like the Pap smear-by collecting cells from the
cervix with a swab and sending them to a labv for analysis.  Pap smears are
designed to look for any cell changes that might indicate cancer.  This new
test, though, looks specifically for DNA from the human papiloma virus, the
bug linked to cervical cancer.  HPV can clear us naturally especially in
women under 30 so doctors do not recommend routine HPV DNA for that age
group.

Women who have normal finding on both the HPV DNA and Pap tests have
virtually no risk of developing cervical cancer in the next several years.
And with normal finding, neither test has to be performed for three years."


Ask your OB/GYN if you are a good candidate for this test.
Karen



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