Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Hi, thank you for coming back for the latest edition of Beyond Primary Care’s blog-Human Papillomavirus. In Beyond Primary Care blogs we highlight healthcare news, advice for medical conditions, and how membership for care works! Beyond Primary Care is an insurance free, membership based family medicine clinic. Beyond Primary Care is the highest rated Direct Primary Care clinic serving patients in Ann Arbor and throughout Washtenaw, Livingston, and Wayne counties giving families and employers peace of mind about healthcare costs by providing affordable and accessible primary care services.
The primary purpose of the blog is to introduce healthy lifestyle concepts and answer common questions we receive from patients that we believe are important. We want to start discussions that will help educate, benefit, and improve your well-being.
In this blog post, we want to educate our patients and any prospective patients about the Human Papillomavirus.
HPV
We previously wrote about sexually transmitted diseases (STD), but felt HPV is so important it deserved its own topic conversation. Human Papillomavirus is a mouthful… we will stick with HPV. It is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States. There are many, many different strain variants of HPV; estimated over 150. Most men and women will contract some type of strain at some point in their lifetime.
Doctors typically group HPV into two categories, “Low Risk” and “High Risk.” Low risk HPV can commonly cause genital warts. High risk HPV commonly causes abnormal pap smears, precancerous changes to the cervix, and even cancer.
For the vast majority of adults, the immune system will fight off the infection and you may never know you had it. Yet, there are times HPV doesn’t go away and it can cause serious health complications, including cancer.
How is HPV spread?
HPV is considered a sexually transmitted infection. It is spread from direct contact. Therefore, vaginal, oral, or anal sex can lead to the transmission of HPV.
Genital Warts
Genital warts are typically caused by the ‘low risk’ strains of HPV. Warts are small lesions that grow on the skin and may appear flat, they may be elevated with stems, or cauliflower-like bumps. Often times, genital warts are painless but can be tender.
Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is important. Every year, nearly 13,000 women living in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cervical cancer. Further, more than 4,000 women will pass from cervical cancer- even with screening and treatment.
Cervical cancer is typically caused by the ‘high risk’ strains of HPV. While there is no cure for the HPV virus, females should engage in cervical cancer screening on a regular basis.
There is no routine screening test for other cancers HPV causes.
Testing for HPV
There is a lot people can do to get screened for sexually transmitted infections including HPV.
For women over 21 years old, routine screening every three years is recommended. For women over 30 years old, who have not had a high grade abnormal pap in the last two years, the stand of care is to check a pap smear AND high risk HPV.
Note: while screening is vitally important, it shouldn’t be treated as an alternative to vaccination.
HPV Vaccine
With the HPV vaccine, parents and individuals have a powerful tool to prevent most of these cancers from ever developing. The goal of the vaccine is to boost protection against common HPV strains and decrease cervical cancer occurrences. At Beyond Primary Care, we recommend Gardasil, a FDA-approved vaccine for both girls and boys between the ages of 11-26.
Thank you for reading
Dr. Jeff O’Boyle with Beyond Primary Care
