KissMeGoodnight
Article Series: Birth Control
What Are My Birth Control Options?
Birth
Control and Cervical Cancer
People who are not ready to raise a family
or don't want to have anymore kids should practice birth control.
For those who use birth control pills, you should be alarmed
by a new study that shows that women who have taken it for
a long time are at risk for developing cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer happens to about 15,000 Americans. Of that
number, a little over a third will die from this disease
while the rest can be treated thanks to its early detection
using Pap tests.
Women get cervical cancer from an infection known as the human
papilloma virus or HPV through sexual intercourse. Most of
the time, the body is able to fight it but researchers have
discovered that more than half of the test group that has used
oral contraceptives for more than 5 years are at risk of this
disease.
You won't see any symptoms during the early stages of cervical
cancer. This will only be seen later on as you experience continuous
vaginal discharge that may be bloody, brown, pale, pink and
foul smelling. It is also possible that there is abnormal vaginal
bleeding when you have a period, after intercourse or during
post menopause. Another possibility could be heavier and longer
lasting periods.
The researchers who conducted the study did not really explain
why or how pills increase the risk of this form of cancer.
It merely said it did and when other people read the findings,
the only conclusion they could think of was the fact the since
the women in the study were on the pill, this made them more
sexually active.
There is nothing wrong with being sexually active but if you
have multiple partners, there is a chance that one of them
could be a carrier of this kind of sexually transmitted disease.
But there are those who disagree with the findings. Other
studies have shown that the practice of birth control especially
the use of pills decreases the chances of women from ever being
diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
To be safe, women are advised to undergo regular screenings
like the Pap test. Women under the age of 30 should go to the
clinic annually while those who are older should have this
done every two to three years.
Birth control methods also have other
risks aside from cervical
cancer. These include high blood pressure, liver tumors, breast
cancer.
The more
common side effects that you will encounter are nausea,
breakthrough bleeding or spotting, breast tenderness, mood
chances, decreased sex drive, weight gain, vaginal discharge,
cervical changes and gallbladder disease.
But not all birth control methods available do have side effects.
Abstaining and outercourse which is the opposite of intercourse
are still considered to be the most effective as the sperm
never meets the egg.
For those who can't control their urges and want to get physical,
they can rely on the condom since the only possible problems
could be skin irritation and if your sexual partner is allergic
to the latex version.
Until private companies are able to develop a better birth
control pill or device that does not have side effects or increase
the risk of cancer or any other disease, these are things that
both men and women have to live with when they want to get
some action.
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KissMeGoodnight.com
: 2008
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