BREAKING NEWS! HPV Linked to Cervical Cancer!!!
This really bugs me. Have you all seen that commercial with the women that are finding out that cervical cancer can be caused by 'a virus called HPV'? The moms are like 'I'll have her checked for HPV before she goes back to school!' and all that stuff?
OK. I cannot begin to tell you how many levels this commercial bothers me on. For one thing, haven't we known for friggin' YEARS that HPV is linked to cervical cancer? I can't be the only one who knew that, they were talking about it in my women's studies class at Michigan, my grandma had cervical cancer and died, when I was 10 years old, and it was linked to HPV THEN. It was linked 10 years ago. WHY are they making a commercial about this and acting like it's a big surprise, or it's something that's been uncovered by new research or something??
And number two--HPV is not some new virus that's popped up causing cervical cancer in women--it's the Human Papillomavirus, otherwise known as genital warts. That's been around for years.
The third thing that bugs me about this--is that they fail to mention the most important thing (at least in my mind), and that is, you can't prevent HPV unless you don't have sex. Even if you use a condom, you can still get HPV. Instead of the mom saying to the daughter "I'm going to have your doctor check for HPV before you go back to school, because I love you" or whatever, mom should be saying "HPV is linked to cervical cancer, and that can kill you. HPV is a disease that there is no cure for, but will oftentimes go away on it's own. But instead, it could linger, and give you cancer, and you could die. If you don't have sex, you won't get it, but if you do, you might get it. Even if you use a condom. So be careful, and choose your sex partners carefully--make sure he's worth the risk." Something like that.
Because everyone knows HPV can lead to cervical cancer. To me, the scary part, is that you are at risk for getting it every time you have sex--even protected sex.
I guess it's good that they are telling people. Maybe they should make more commercials that tell you smoking can cause cancer, too. Maybe people don't know that yet, either.
posted by ElliottPreciousPants @ 8:25 AM
8 Comments:
i remember talking to you about this in college, when they randomly left a message on my answering machine from UHS saying that I had an abnormal pap. basically, the lady told me over the phone that i had an awful sexually transmitted disease (which it turned out i didn't) and likely had cancer (which it turned out i didn't). WTF! i thought women's studies didn't make nearly a big enough deal out of it- this is a viral thing that can KILL women, is carried by a large (some say only 35%, you can find studies up to 75%) proportion of men in the general public, and is easily transmitted- like you said- even with condoms. it can also be transmitted in perfectly monogamous relationships, since it doesn't usually cause symptoms in men, and can be around for a DECADE. Imagine if women gave men a disease that caused penis or testicular cancer! It would be the #1 item on the agenda for all health research. ugh. off my soapbox.
the reason they are putting it on tv now is that there's a vaccine for it. which is a great stride forward. you're not eligible for the vaccine if you've ever had an abnormal pap, even if the pap was false positive.
the people who are against the vaccine are the same ones who oppose over the counter plan B, over the counter birth control pills, and advocate abstinance-only sex ed, especially for girls. all of those tactics for getting girls to remain chaste have been shown to fail. repeatedly.
and yeah, you're absolutely right that there is no good test for HPV, which is what i asked for in 1998 or whenever when some lady told me i "obviously" had an STD. paps miss up to 50% of HPV infections, and while they now have a dna testing assay for it (which they did not in '98), you have to sample the specific part of the cervix (or vaginal wall or other places i'm sure you don't want me to type) where the infection is. so you can go in to get viral dna for testing, miss the infection site completely, and get a negative test when an infection is present. it's pretty awful, and people are not up in arms enough on the topic. tv commercials will definitely raise awareness, which is good, it's just a shame that it had to be motivated by the desire of drug companies to make more money on their vaccine.
here's my quick encouraging everyone to give time, money, or voter support to planned parenthood, NARAL, or other groups that support women's rights to protect themselves and determine their futures without undue influence! more than ever, our government is threatening women's rights- not just abortion laws, but the whole continuum of equality we hold dear (sorry- i get all excited about this stuff- i'm done now).
We missed the cutoff point for the vaccine by just a little bit, which is so irritating. I think you can get it up to the age of 26. Grrrr.....
Arrrghh!! See, this gets me all fired up too!
And all those things that you said are all parts of the things that bother me about this commercial! I'm pretty sure that in the one I saw, they don't even MENTION the vaccine. Which they should. But the information they give is so--argh! OK, if there are people out there that don't know that HPV can contribute to cervical cancer, then good. Now they know. But they aren't giving enough facts in the commercial!
And yes, part of my frustration comes from that time back in the day Melissa, when you got that phone call and we talked about it, and the procedures they had available that may or may not help at all--it's so frustrating!
The vaccine thing is awesome. The deal is, that since there is no sure fire test yet to determine HPV, then they would HAVE to give it out to girls as young as that to make sure it's effective. It doesn't mean that 9 year olds are going to go out and have sex, it's just--it's just--protecting your children is the right thing to do.
I am sure you guys could tell this from my post, but you must know that it doesn't irritate me that they are talking about HPV and cervical cancer on TV--you know that's not it. The problem is, at least for me, that's not specific enough. Lots of people know that. Tell them how it's transmitted, tell them how common it is, tell them that they need to be careful, because once you have it, it might never go away. Tell them there's no test to tell you for sure if you have it.
Like Melissa said--women's studies didn't make a big enough deal about it--that's how I feel about this commercial. They aren't making a big enough deal about it.
If they are trying to scare people, well, good, because it is scary and it's real. I guess my issue is that the fact that it can cause cancer just isn't scary enough--there are more scary things that should be out there, and they are all the things that you guys mentioned, like the frequency with which it's carried, the fact that there are no good tests, and that it's so easily transmitted. Like HIV and AIDS--people are very afraid of that, because it can kill you and never go away. People talk all the time about transmission and frequency of the disease. Well, HPV might never go away and it might kill you too--but instead of the facts, like 'There is no good test' and "Condoms don't neccessarily prevent this", they tell us "Wow, HPV, whatever that is, can be transmitted to you, however that's done, and then you can get cancer and die".
I just don't think it's good enough. They are well intentioned, and I guess like Melissa and Kari eluded to--on the bright side, at least they are getting something out there about it to increase awareness.
There should be more to it though. It's important for people to realize that condoms don't prevent this.
Sareet--I didn't know you weren't eligible for the vaccine after age 26! What a bunch of crap! Do they think you are just much too exposed at that point or something? What if you are a 26 year old virgin--maybe you can get it then? Maybe a 30 year old virgin could still get it?
HIV kills men too- not just my feminist soapbox, but that's why people are afraid of that. as long as it only kills women who are awful enough to sleep around (you don't get HPV from blood transfusions), that's sort of ok with everyone. well, not with me.
I didn't think of that aspect. And you are right--people think that way. As a matter of fact, my brother and I had an argument a couple years ago, because one of the girls he worked with had HPV (and for whatever reason, told everyone about it) and he was telling me how it was so nasty, because she had to have parts of her cervix cut away several times and they were telling her she might not be able to have kids and stuff. After telling me how nasty it was, he was like "But you know, if she's going to be a big enough slut to sleep with that many guys that she gets herself a nasty disease, then she deserves what's coming to her!!"
I was horrified, and totally pissed off (not the first or the last time I've been horrified and pissed off at my brother--he's also a Bush supporter) and we got into a big argument. I was like, how can you even say that? For one thing, all she has to do is sleep with one guy and get it. For two things--even if she is sleeping with tons of guys--who the hell do you think is on the receiving end of that, trying to get some??? MEN, you fool! I'm so sick of this thing where men pressure you into having sex with them, and then if you give in--you're a slut. Men jump through an awful lot of hoops to get you to sleep with them, and then if something goes 'wrong' (like you get pg or you get an STD) when you tell them about it, more times than not I think, they are like "How could YOU screw up and have this happen?" Or "You have an STD?? Oh my god, you must be a total slut, because there's no way you got that from me, you probably gave it to me! (despite the fact that I have maybe never been tested for STD's, and pressure girls to have sex without condoms too)". OK, so none of that has ever happened to me. And I'm not saying ALL men do that kind of thing, obviously. But you hear it all the time. I know people it has happened to.
And it really pissed me off that my brother said that, because contracting an STD DOES NOT mean you are a slut. It means you trusted the wrong guy, or you didn't know enough about protection. Or maybe you are lazy. But STD does NOT = slut.
We watched a few minutes of the teen choice awards last night on TV, and Nelly Furtado and Timbaland won for best video or something for the song, 'promiscuous'. When they accepted their award, Nelly Furtado made a point of thanking everyone who voted for them and a few other people, and then told them all that if they are going to have sex, remember to use a condom. And then Timbaland said "And don't be promiscuous". Nice. Good. I thought that was a good message, especially since the program was aimed at teens.
Melissa, you are right though. Makes me so angry!
With HPV, it's not even about trusting the right partner or practicing safe sex. You could be 100% careful by grilling all your partners before hand and requiring they get tested for every available std test before you have sex with them, and using a condom correctly...but the point is, there's no way to test for HPV in a guy so really where does that leave us? Screwed. (pardon the pun)
I do think the whole age limit on the vaccine is b/c it doesn't work if you've been exposed to HPV already. And now I wonder how you know if you've been exposed if you've never tested positive for it - and we all know how unreliable tests are for it.
i started trying to explain to andy what a relief it is to me that other women are outraged by this. i thought i was just being kind of out there, as usual, and it's really reaffirming to know that this is one of the things that really does suck, should change, and should indicate change for other stuff.
I said, "imagine if girls were walking around with a sexually transmitted virus that they couldn't be tested for and didn't get symptoms from, but when passed to you, made your junk rot off."
He got pale and said, really defensively, "hey, we're probably sorry. i didn't know!"
which was cute. then reminded me of the commercial- i didn't know... i didn't know...
Post a Comment
<< Home