Sexually Speaking by Ruth K. Westheimer & Amos Grunebaum & Pierre Lehu

Author:Ruth K. Westheimer & Amos Grunebaum & Pierre Lehu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2011-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

Cervical Conditions

During the gynecological visit, a Pap test is usually performed. Cells from your cervix are scraped off and studied. It can be confusing to figure out the results of a Pap test. The system most widely used in the United States is the so-called Bethesda system. Above is a table with the various findings and their meanings.

Bethesda System for Pap Smears

Name Meaning

Negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy No sign of cancer or other cell anomaly

Atypical squamous cells Unusual cells but not precancer or cancer

Atypical glandular cells Abnormal cells that are of glandular origin

Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions Very few cervical changes and HPV infection

High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions Precancer

Squamous cell carcinoma Cancer

If your result is normal, that means you have no abnormal cells on the cervix. An abnormal Pap test can mean there is an infection, precancerous cells, or other changes. Most abnormal results do not necessarily mean that there is cancer but instead indicate other changes. If you have an abnormal Pap test, you may need to have it repeated sooner, or you might need an additional test called a colposcopy, with a small cervical biopsy. Many times cell changes will disappear, or else there is treatment available to make sure the abnormal or precancerous cells don’t become invasive cancerous cells. Normally, years will go by before the precancerous cells may become cancerous, although this can happen in less than a year. Most women who have invasive cancer of the cervix were not screened within the previous year, however, so going to the gynecologist for a Pap test does protect you from this type of cancer.

Most women with cervical cancer have few, if any, symptoms; that is why a regular Pap test is so important. The more advanced the cancer, the more likely that symptoms will become apparent, but advanced cervical cancer rarely, if ever, happens in women who have regular Pap tests. Among the possible symptoms of cervical cancer are abnormal bleeding, including bleeding between menstrual periods or after sexual intercourse, douching, or a pelvic exam; an increased vaginal discharge; pelvic pain, which can range from a dull ache to sharper pains and can be of short duration or long lasting; or pain during urination or in the bladder (usually this is a sign that the cancer has spread to other organs).

Again, it bears repeating that these symptoms could all signify some other medical condition or nothing at all, so don’t go assuming that you have cancer if you exhibit any of these symptoms. On the other hand, don’t ignore them, either, but go see your gynecologist to find out the actual cause.

Because cervical cancer has been shown to be linked to HPV (human papilloma virus), which is a sexually transmitted disease, the time to begin testing is when you first become sexually active. A woman who is twenty-one and not yet sexually active should also go to be tested, because a small percentage of all cervical cancers are not associated with HPV.

One statistic to remember with regard to

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.