Pap Smear News and Research

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The Pap test, also called a Pap smear, checks for changes in the cells of your cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens into the vagina (birth canal). The Pap test can tell if you have an infection, abnormal (unhealthy) cervical cells, or cervical cancer.

Vinegar may easily detect cervical cancer

Vinegar may be more useful than realised. Its could offer the ability to find precancerous lesions in the cervix and potentially save thousands of women’s lives say researchers.

8 Jan 2012

HPV test outshines Pap smears for detection of early cervical cancers

A new trial involving nearly 40,000 women in the Netherlands showed that testing for the human papillomavirus, or HPV allowed doctors to detect abnormal cervical cells earlier and prevent more cases of cervical cancer than administering pap smears alone.

18 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Entrenchment on Capitol Hill; Medicaid's woes; Presidential mistake on Berwick

Last week's failure of the budget super committee, despite its super powers, is only the latest breakdown in an attempt at compromise in Washington. Politicians keep trying to fashion failsafe solutions to the capital's uncompromising mind-set, without understanding that there is no external escape from an environment that rewards those who stand tenaciously on their principles and demonize their opponents. Members of Congress need to change their minds about compromise, or voters will need to change the members of Congress.

1 Dec 2011

Polarized filter may improve ability to detect precancerous changes, reduce unnecessary biopsies

The same filtered light that enables sunglasses to reduce glare may improve a physician's ability to detect early signs of cervical cancer, reducing unnecessary biopsies and surgery.

30 Nov 2011

Ovarian cancer patients with many folate receptors benefit from new therapy

A new strategy that takes advantage of ovarian cancer's reliance on folate appears to give relapse patients extra months of life with few side effects, researchers say.

29 Oct 2011

Patients with HIV are not being screened enough for cancers: Study

According to a latest study finding presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America 49th Annual Meeting, patients with HIV were less likely to have routine screening for breast, cervical and colon cancer compared with patients without HIV.

26 Oct 2011

Pap test the best for cervical cancer screening

The Pap test - a lab exam of cells scraped from the cervix, the gateway to the uterus - is an effective way to screen young and middle-aged women - and it's only needed once every three years, say scientists advising the government.

20 Oct 2011

Experts recommending fewer cancer screenings

New cervical cancer screening guidelines are the latest example of this emerging cautious view.

20 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 19, 2011

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Capsules, Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: "Medicare might fare better than other health care programs if the congressional super committee fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package and automatic cuts kick in, but even 2 percent is a big problem when it comes on top of other recent hits, warn Rick Pollack, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, and Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans."

19 Oct 2011

VHI releases report on HMO quality and satisfaction

Open enrollment is fast approaching for thousands of HMO members in Virginia. Every year during this period, members have the option of selecting a health plan by comparing plan benefits and monthly premiums for the upcoming year.

29 Sep 2011

Vinegar may easily detect cervical cancer

Vinegar may be more useful than you realise. It has the ability to find precancerous lesions in the cervix and potentially save thousands of women’s lives say researchers.

28 Sep 2011

IUDs may protect from cervical cancer

According to the results of an international study, coil contraceptive devices might protect women against developing cervical cancer even though they don't stop the infection that commonly leads to the disease.

14 Sep 2011

Women being screened too often for cervical cancer

Researchers based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that many primary care doctors would bring women back for cancer screening annually - while recommendations generally call for a three-year wait after normal tests. This translates to higher costs to women and the healthcare system, as well as a risk of unnecessary treatment for false-positive test results - with very little additional cancer-catching benefit say experts. Lead author Katherine Roland said, “There's really no advantage to annual screening compared to screening every two or three years.”

18 Aug 2011

Australian youth mostly ignorant about sexual health

The survey found that most of the young people do not know about Pap smears, sexually transmitted infections and how the contraceptive pill works.

18 Aug 2011

Carcinogenesis is just another form of speciation, proposes new theory

Cancer patients may view their tumors as parasites taking over their bodies, but this is more than a metaphor for Peter Duesberg, a molecular and cell biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

27 Jul 2011

HPV vaccine shows success in young Australian women, study says

"A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, triggered by the human papillomavirus (HPV), has helped reduce the number of teenage girls developing abnormalities in their cervix by as much as 50 percent in a study in Australia," according to a report published Friday in the Lancet, Reuters reports.

18 Jun 2011

Affordable preventive care options available for all California women

All women, regardless of their health insurance coverage, can find affordable preventive care options in California, according to Californians for Patient Care, an independent nonprofit that connects consumers to affordable care.

7 May 2011

More women using ‘morning after’ pill

Figures have revealed that the rate of women using emergency contraception in 2006-08 more than doubled, compared with the rate in the previous four to six years, before the pills were approved for use without a prescription. This comes from a study from the Guttmacher Institute.

29 Apr 2011

Merck receives Health Canada approval for GARDASIL to treat HPV in women upto age 45

Today, Merck announced that Health Canada has extended the indication of GARDASIL in women up to the age of 45. Merck's HPV vaccine is now approved for girls and women nine through 45 years of age for the prevention of cervical cancer, vulvar and vaginal cancers, precancerous lesions and genital warts caused by the Human Papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16, 18. Previously, GARDASIL was approved in girls and women nine through 26.

26 Apr 2011

Roche's cobas HPV Test receives FDA approval for cervical cancer screening

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the cobas HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Test which identifies women at highest risk for developing cervical cancer. This test will help physicians make early, more accurate decisions about patient care, which may prevent many women from developing this deadly disease.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 20 Apr 2011