HPV | Changing teenagers' futures in a heartbeat

I was recently struck by how easy it is for teen sex to change in a heartbeat the future of young women without a teenager even knowing what has happened until it is too late.

I've written extensively about the dangers of teen sex and the rampant increase in incidence of HPV infection. HPV is the STD that keeps on giving, spreading exponentially when an infected boy or girl has sex with others. There are three strains of HPV that cause virtually all cervical cancers.

Here's a story about how cervical cancer changed one woman's life forever. She is a survivor of cervical cancer caused by HPV. She had it twice. Now she is unable to conceive or carry a child. She and her husband will be fortunate indeed if just one of the remaining cryo-preserved embryos that they saved before her treatment allows them to have children.

Here's what Michelle Whitlock wrote in MAMM, a magazine about Women, Cancer, and Community. Read it and pass it on! You could save lives. You could help others prevent what occurred to Michelle.

That Girl

A young survivor asks that we get over the stigma of cervical cancer so the dialogue can begin

By Michelle Whitlock

"When I started having sex, I didn't know anything about what causes cervical cancer. That's largely because cervical cancer is clouded with a stigma due to its association with a sexually transmitted disease called human papillomavirus, or HPV. Many survivors are too ashamed and embarrassed to share their stories.

"When you mention HPV, people immediately think you have genital warts, or assume that you slept around. There's this sense that women with cervical cancer caused their own illness when actually it's ignorance that's the main culprit. It's estimated that more than half of women will carry a sexually transmitted strain of HPV at some point in their lives. Many of those strains do not have any symptoms, and you can contract them by having sex one time with a single partner, even if you use a condom (though condoms do decrease your risk). I didn't know any of that."

You can read the rest of Michelle's story here.

Pass it on! 

Read this blog's archives of recent articles on HPV, its prevalence, the HPV vaccine, and related topics here.

Comments

[Jeanne M Hannah]

Mariah,

One should always read a comment in context, not stopping before the comma and expanding material. As here:

"I've written extensively about the dangers of teen sex and the rampant increase in incidence of HPV infection. HPV is the STD that keeps on giving, spreading exponentially when an infected boy or girl has sex with others. There are three strains of HPV that cause virtually all cervical cancers."

There was no joking going on here. This is serious business. STDs are spread exponentially. To get a vivid illustration, you might look at the centerfold of the book "Epidemic: How Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids" by Dr. Meg Meeker. http://tinyurl.com/yc2lk7j

Anyone having sex needs to realize that the other person may be carrying STDs from many, many people. The reality and the danger of HPV is truly scary. Jeanne M. Hannah

[Mariah]

"HPV is the STD that keeps on giving", how immature nd ignorant of you to make a joke out of a potentially fatal disease. It's little sayings like these that make STD's a joke, increase stigma surrounding them, and keep people from dicussing them. Shame on you.

[Kiara]

Nice post. Keep going with such topic. You have chosen a very good topic to discuss here. It will be very beneficial for many of the people who does not or have little knowledge on this topic. Today STD's are one of the most common disease among the peoples. So we should discuss and share our knowledge and aware others on this.
Thanks,.