Summing it all up...

Cancer will at touch all of us and some point in our lives.  Some of us will become intimate with the disease and battle it ourselves, while other will experience the disease thru family members and friends.  Cervical cancer in particular is the second leading cause of death among 20 and 39 year old females in the United States (ACS, 2013).  Even with the availability of vaccinations and testing mechanisms awareness about HPV among young adults is still lacking. 

The human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of the most commonly sexually transmitted diseases yet, 32% of young adults do not know HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, 33% of college students have not heard of HPV, only 27% of young adults are aware of the prevalence of HPV (Brewer and Fazekas, 2007; Anhans, Goodman, and Goldie, 2007).  Additionally, 86.3% of young adults are unaware that they could be carrying the HPV virus and not even know it (Trad, Reardon, and Caraveo, 2013).

While these facts are troublesome, it is my hope that my blog on cervical cancer has increase your awareness of the disease, provided you information on detection and prevention, as well as the importance of talking about the disease.  It is only thru educating ourselves that we will be able to try to stay one step ahead of a disease that has taken the lives of some many of those will love and care for.

References:

American Cancer Society.  (2013).  Cancer facts & figures.  Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/ documents/webcontent/acspc-042151.pdf

Anhang, R., Goodman, A., & Goldie, S. J.  (2004).  HPV communication: review of existing research and recommendations for patient education.  CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 54, 248-259.  doi: 10.3322/canjclin.54.5.248.

Brewer, N. T. & Fazekas, K. I. (2007). Predictors of HPV vaccinr acceptability: a theory-informed, systematic review.  Preventative Medicine, 45, 107-111.  doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.005.013

Trad, M., Reardon, R. F., & Caraveo, D. (2013).  Understanding HPV and the future implications of contracting the virus.  Radiologic Technology, 84, 457-466.  Retrieved from http://www.radiologictechnology.org/content/84/5/457