Respond to each student with 200 words and include a question
Cervical Cancer
Women start routinely getting Pap smear (also called Pap test) when they turn 21 as a screening device for cervical cancer. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends no screening for females under the age of 21, cytology alone for females ages 21 to 29, and cytology every three years, hrHPV testing every 5 years or cotesting of both every 5 years for females between the ages of 30 and 65. However, women who are at high risk of the disease do not fall under these guidelines and instead must receive more intensive screening. A pap smear involves using a small brush to collect cells around and on the cervix, then viewing under a microscope to find out if they look abnormal. Risk factors for cervical cancer are HPV infections, giving birth to many children, smoking cigarettes, using oral contraceptives, and having a weakened immune system.
For areas of diminished health care access, self collection of cervical cells for HPV testing can increase engagement in cervical cancer screening protocols. A study in Guatemala provided access to alternative programs like self collection and emphasized the need for improved interventions of cervical cancer for women in undeserved populations.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) have in place cervical cancer screening guideline to detect and treat begin tumor in the cervix. Those guidelines exclude women under the age of twenty-one, as well as those older than sixty-five. It is believed that the risk of developing cervical cancer is low hence performing a screening is not beneficially to those groups ages. Individuals at high risk of cervical cancer such as the immunocompromised, those expose to diethylstilbestrol, diagnosed with precancerous cervical lesion as well as those that have a hysterectomy with a removal of their cervix are also not included in the guideline.
It is recommended to women between the age of twenty-one and twenty-nine to get a cytology screening ( Pap smear) every three years while .Women between the age of thirty and sixty-five are recommended to get either a cytology every three years, primary HPV testing every five years or co-testing every five years.
