There are at least 200 types of HPV. Some of these are harmless, some causes warts and some are quite deadly causing cancer of the cervix to women or cancer of the anus to men. Warts can also develop from simple bumps in the affected area to cancerous tumors.

Numbers says it all

When American women get to reach the age of 50, 80% of them have contracted a strain of genital HPV at least once in their life as studied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HPV is the most common sexual disease.

Among the 200 types of HPVs, nineteen of HPVs are considered high – risk or cancerous. Examples include HPV Type 1 that causes plantar warts and HPV type 16 causes throat cancer. Female are more vulnerable to cancer causing HPVs more than men. In fact, a study in the year 2002, eleven thousand American women is diagnosed with cervical cancer each year while a total of four thousand of these diagnosed women die each year.

American young women who uses condom consistently during intercourse had 37.8% prevalence rate of HPV. Those who do not use condom have 89% prevalence rate. 20 million are currently affected with HPV while six million cases are recorded every year across the nation.

The Culprit

The Papillomavirus has many viruses under its belt such as the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that causes warts and other cancerous deseases involving the reproductive system of men and women. This is a very contagious virus that can be transmitted through sexial contact in the genitalia and the anal region.

It causes genital warts that may eventually lead to much other complicated illness such as cancer. Seventy percent of cervical cancer is caused by genital HPV that started off as warts inside the cervix. This is an asymptomatic disease which means it will start of without any symptom at all until the illness get serious and severe.

Treatments

Anyone who has HPV will eventually have a weaker immune system. There are no known proven and effecticve cure yet. However, as there are so many types of HPVs, the treatment or remedy will differ on the type and severity of the case.

The only way to detect HPV is through Pap smear. In fact, 70% of people who have HPV do not have Pap smear on a regular basis. Condoms do not guarantee a hundred percent protection form HPV but using condoms especially to those who involve themselves with multiple sexual partners are encouraged to use it.

HPV also causes warts. They are seemingly harmless bumps but do not wait until it multiplied and literally covered the entire surface of the skin. HPV that involves the reproductive system should be treated immediately because it can take ten year before you know something’s wrong with them that when you find it, it can be severe. So seek and follow the doctor’s directions.

As much as we want to raise awareness on breast cancer, it helps that we learn as much as HPV by watching the the video below