What do you know about HPV???

This week I decided to take some time to discuss HPV with some of the 50+ OBGYNS that I work with at the hospital. I wanted to see if their experience could give me some insight into the "reality" of the disease vs. some of the common misinformation. Interestingly, what I found seems to corroborate the stories of the women in the videos I posted. Almost without exception, the OBGYNS shared stories of women with perfect pap smear histories who, once given the HPV test, discovered they had a problem. Because the HPV test specifically detects the 4 strains(out of more than 100 HPV types)that cause cervical cancer, it is an important screening tool. The results of this test led them to examine these patients more extensively. Some found early cervical cancers that would have gone undetected until a later (and more difficult to treat) stage. They also thought it was important to know that most women with a healthy immune system actually clear the disease from their bodies themselves. This is why having regular pap smears with HPV testing is important. Having a negative HPV test does not necessarily mean that you have never been exposed to HPV. It may mean that at the time you were tested, your body had already cleared the infection. And since there are over 100 types of HPV, you could have(or have had) one or more of the types that give you no symptoms at all. The other most common piece of information they shared with me is that even though HPV is labeled as an STD, it can be passed from person to person simply by skin-to-skin contact. This means you don't necessarily have to have sex to contract it. I think this fact in and of itself is important in debunking the "shame" associated with the label "STD". Overall their feelings on the topic were the same as mine... Shame, embarrassment, or fear should never stand in the way of your good health. The reality is that you can make all the "right moral decisions"(however you define that) and still contract HPV, so never let that deter you from being screened and treated appropriately. HPV does not define the kind of person you are.... Don't let it define your health either.

For more information on the HPV test from its official website, click on the quiz below.

Take this HPV MYTHS vs. FACTS QUIZ from thehpvtest.com to find out how much you really know about the "taboo std".
http://www.thehpvtest.com/Myths-Facts/Myths-Facts-Quiz.html