Nicola ClemmitCervical Cancer Prevention week needs York’s help to raise awareness. Running from 22nd to 28th January, Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, run by the European Cervical Cancer Association (ECCA), generates awareness of this preventable cancer.
Cervical cancer gained much press following Jade Goody’s diagnosis of the disease in 2008. Despite such a distressing public battle and courageous awareness campaign of the disease, in 2011, according to www.femalefirst.co.uk, 20% of women in the UK failed to attend cervical screenings when invited. On top of this, only half of girls offered the HPV vaccine had the vaccination. With over 2,800 women diagnosed every year, and nearly 1000 of those women will die from the disease, do you want to take the risk?
Despite the relatively advanced grip we have on cervical cancer in comparison to other cancers and the recent increased media exposure of the disease, awareness of cervical cancer is unacceptably low among women.
Let’s begin to rectify that here and now with some key facts you need to know.
A HPV vaccination is available to females under the age of 18 and it is the best way to help protect yourself against developing cervical cancer. The immunisation prevents two strains of HPV (human papilloma virus) which causes infection which then causes cervical cancer cases.
As the HPV vaccination does not protect against all cervical cancers and it is therefore vital that all women attend cervical screenings. Cervical screenings, or smear tests, are offered to all women over 25.
The same as any illness, the earlier cervical cancer is diagnosed the better, so what are the symptoms?
In the early stages of this usually slow-growing cancer there sometimes are no symptoms, which increases the importance of the HPV vaccine and regular screenings. However the NHS note some recognised symptoms are:
- Unusual bleeding – vaginal bleeding is the first noticeable symptom of cervical cancer. Bleeding at any other time, other than your expected monthly period, is also considered to be unusual.
- Post menopausal bleeding.
- Pain or discomfort during sex
- Unusual vaginal discharge.
If you experience any of these possible early symptoms visit your GP. There are other explanations for these symptoms so don’t think the worst, but you owe it to yourself to get checked out and stay safe and healthy.
Symptoms increase as the disease becomes more advanced. The NHS advise that if the cancer spreads out of your cervix and into surrounding tissue and organs, it can trigger a range of other symptoms, including:
- Constipation
- Blood in your urine
- Loss of bladder control
- Bone pain
- Swelling of one of your legs
- Swelling of one or both kidneys, which can become misshapen due to a build-up of urine, and cause severe pain in your side or back
- Changes to your bowel and bladder habits
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Tiredness and lack of energy
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To give you an idea of the importance of cervical screenings, 6.9% of all women screened in England, around 248,000 a year, will test positive for abnormal cells in their smear test. These abnormal cells are not cancerous but given tme (often years) they may develop into cancer. Often these abnormal cells return to normal by themselves.
The good news is cervical cancer is largely preventable and if caught early, survival rates are high.
This week is vitally important to all women. It’s essential that we raise awareness of a disease that we can conquer, a disease we can easily prevent. There are too many cancers out there that have held us captive for way too long, cervical cancer doesn’t and isn’t, with the correct preventative methods, one of these.
Let’s spread the word about our power over this disease and keep battling to defeat all the rest.
