Less Invasive Tests? PAP!

Image:UrbaneWomenMag

I don't know anybody who has what can be described as a 'good' smear test story as such. Funny? Yeah, sure why not. Shocking? Yes. Embarrassing? Uh, yes. But I don't know one woman who can tell, or hear a smear test story without automatically crossing her legs. It isn't something that comes up much in polite conversation because eeeeesh! Charity PR don't seem to be able to make the entrance to the womb cute. Which is silly because, armed with my Biology AS Level I understand it to be pink. That's a lady marketing dream, no? And there doesn't seem to be much happening in way of making the test less invasive. Bar tips on demanding plastic speculums, or if it is metal, demanding it be warmed. A friend once got her labia nipped by a speculum. What can you recommend to solve that? Loose lips...Speculum nips. 

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But perhaps all this is soon to change! We already know that the Gardasil HPV vaccine given to girls aged between 12 and 13 in the UK protects against two types of HPV responsible for more than 70% of cervical cancers, as well as preventing genital warts. It doesn't mean that a smear test is going to become a thing o the past that older women sometimes shudder about. Like belted sanitary towels. But it does get a younger generation discussing smear tests and STDs, one hopes. 

For older women for whom the HPV vaccine would be costly and possibly too late there is more uplifting news. The Lancet recently published the results of a study that show screening for a virus linked to cervical cancer can give up to 70% better protection against the disease than the usual smear tests. 

The study was led by Dr Guglielmo Ronco, of the Centre for Cancer Epidemiology and prevention in Italy. They analysed data and compared two screening methods from four major European trials in England, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands

175,000 women aged 20-64 took part in the trials which lasted around 6 and a half years. The study found that invasive cancer rates were similar for both groups during the first couple of years after trials began.

 They then saw a reduction on cancers detected in the women who had undergone HPV screening. The researchers have calculated that HPV screening protected 60-70% more women from invasive cervical cancer than conventional screening alone. 

what does this mean for women who dutifully traipse to the nurse's office every 3 years or s0?

I also really hope we solve this Smeargle problem

But what does this mean for women who dutifully traipse to the nurse's office every 3 years or so to make casual conversation as they go behind the curtain to just 'pop their clothes off' before making themselves comfortable on the bed?

The director of NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, Professor Julietta Patnick, said: "These new results ... are incredibly exciting...It also finds that by testing for HPV first we could test all women every five years. At the moment we test women aged 25-49 every three years."

So, for now it just means that once you've had your scrapings taken you won't be googling 'how to make smear test less painful' for another years rather than 3. Onwards.