You’ve probably heard of pap smears before, but you may not realize how important they are for women to keep up with. Starting once you hit your 20s, women need to keep up with getting their pap smears every three years as a way of screening for cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix that can be prevented by pap smear screening and an HPV vaccine. If not diagnosed and treated, cervical cancer can spread to other parts of the body and become deadly. The American Cancer Society estimates that by the end of 2021, in the United States, about 14,480 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed, and 4,290 women will die from cervical cancer. While cervical cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the eighth most common cancer in American women, the good news is there are preventative measures such as pap smears that can detect the earliest signs of it.
There are various risk factors of cervical cancer, one of which is having HPV, a sexually transmitted infection. Another risk factor is smoking, which increases your risk by weakening your immune system and body’s ability to fight off infections. The harmful substances absorbed in the lungs through smoking are carried through the bloodstream to other parts of the body.
Long-term use of oral contraceptives is one more risk factor important to pay attention to. There is evidence that shows taking oral contraceptives for a long time increases the risk of cervical cancer. The risk of cancer goes up the longer a woman takes oral contraceptives, but the risk goes back down again once stopping and eventually returns to normal. Women without any of these risk factors rarely develop cervical cancer. However, it’s important to know that while these factors do increase the risk of developing cervical cancer, many women with these risks do not develop the disease.
If you’re not familiar with pap smears, don’t fret, but ask your gynecologist about it at your next appointment. It’s usually not until a woman’s early 20s that they start getting them. Essentially, the pap smear is a test used to find pre-cancer cells in the cervix before cancer develops. This is why it’s so important to stay on top of getting them done, because if you catch signs of it early, then it can be easily treated. On the other hand, if you miss the signs and don’t get tested then it can be way more serious and dangerous. Pap smears help detect precancerous cells or early cervical cancer when it’s most curable.
If you are at least age 21, you should start cervical cancer screening regardless of if you are sexually active or not. Assuming your pap smears come back normal, you only need to get them every three years until the age of 65. However, if any abnormalities are detected, you may need to get them more frequently. This is largely because your chances of developing cervical cancer peak in your 30s and again in your 50s.
Many women may be uncomfortable or scared of getting their pap smear, especially for the first time, but it’s worth the benefits and is very important for your health to continue getting them.