Testing beats cancer
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Cervical cancer has been declining, and testing is part of the reason. Screening and follow up treatment can prevent the disease or find it early. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researcher Meg Watson:
“Beginning at age 21, women should get a Pap test every three years. At age 30, women can choose to continue – or can have a human papillomavirus, or HPV test along with a Pap test, and extend their screening intervals to every five years.”
HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
Watson says most women can stop getting tested after 65 or after a hysterectomy. She says women should check with their doctors on specifics. Watson says yearly screening is no longer recommended.
A study on cervical cancer is in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.