The enemy is not any politician. The enemy is ignorance of HPV. It causes cancer because it can hide in the body for 40 years, kill man or woman in short order with the aggressive form of uterine (and other) cancers it proliferates. How do we know there are not other factors? Groups of celebate persons never get uterine cancers nor those of the throat it causes. Kids tested in 2007 proved that few of them have ever even heard of HPV, much less know what happens to them later in life if they get it. Oh yes, sometimes it doesn't wait until later in life to welcome in a malignant cancer into the body.
What is HPV?
The Human Papillomavirus is a diverse group of DNA-based viruses that affect the skin and mucous membranes of humans. There are more than 100 types, some cause harmless warts.
Then there is a group of 13. Known as high risk types, because they have been found to cause cancer of the cervix, as well as penile, anal and oral cancer. High risk types 16 and 18 accounting for 70% of those cancers.
HPV Quick Facts
- Any type of sexual contact can transmit HPV
- HPV has been found in semen
- HPV can cause oral, anal, penile and cervical cancer
- Oral contraceptives have been found to be a cofactor in HPV's progression to cancer
- HPV can lay dormant in the body for years
- Condoms are not full protection against HPV
- A diet lacking specific nutrients can contribute to HPV related cancer
- HPV has been found in saliva
- The "Gardasil" Vaccine protects agains 16-18-6-11
- Men exposed to HPV are at risk of cancer
- There are over 13 high-risk type HPV's
The "Gardasil" Vaccine
First of all, the vaccine does not treat an existing virus. Being vaccinated against HPV protects you against strains 6-11 (Low Risk types, which cause genital warts) and 16-18 (high-risk types, which cause cervical cancer). Even if you are infected with one or more of these types, get the vaccine to prevent the others. Lets be very clear, "Gardasil" vaccine covers only four strains, there are 11 more high-risk types.
Now on the subject of mass vaccination of girls starting at age 13. Is it a good thing? The answer is yes. In fact, it's quite obvious we will need to vaccinate boys as well, when testing is complete. The only way to control this virus is by treating both male and female.
There will always be people who oppose vaccinations, as well as those who support. This should not be a political issue. Some people suggest that vaccinating girls will entice them to become promiscuous.
This is absurd and insults the intelligence of our young people. Yes, there is a certain care free attitude in our early years, but to suggest young women have no common sense is going too far. The teen of "today" is well aware of many STDs including HIV. Unfortunately, most young people have no knowledge of HPV. In fact a 2007 survey of 100 college students, who were asked STD related questions, showed that most had never even heard of HPV.
For the first time in history there is a cancer vaccine. The choice to be vaccinated is yours. Only you can make that decision.
Please remember this is only a synopsis of what I considered the most important things to know right away about HPV. General understanding of this is at the dozen or so pages of information at the first link I posted as well as
here. If you learned even one fact from what I posted above, please read the rest. I don't know if it will change your mind, but you could save a life or two just by knowing how very important it is to be papillovirus-free for life, and how important immediate treatment is for this type of a disease. Dying of a cancer so aggressive and malignant as some of the more hyper bugs of the 100 HPV viruses that are known could come from not treating the disease. People who have the untreated disease are known as carriers. Reinfection, like the initial infection takes only one incident.
That is one of silliest things I've ever heard. At first I thought you were joking, but now I see you are not. That's like saying that because the National Organization for Women is against something, that means that all liberals and Democrats are against it. Do wingnuts become more radical the older they get?
