Posted on 11/06/2002 6:41:58 PM PST by hocndoc
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_10158.html
Oral sex isn't safe sex, especially for women, Montreal conference told
Canadian Press
Thursday, October 31, 2002
MONTREAL (CP) - Engaging in oral sex doesn't mean practising safe sex - and that's especially true for women, a Montreal public-health physician warned Thursday at a national conference. Dr. Marc Steben, an expert on infectious diseases, said that women are at heightened risk of contracting the human papilloma virus through oral sex.
There are different strains of the virus, HPV for short, and they are considered the most common of sexually transmitted diseases.
One strain causes genital warts, while HPV 16 can lead to cervical cancer. In rare instances, HPV 16 has been linked to cancer of the tonsils, the tongue and the esophagus.
"We've heard from Bill Clinton that oral sex is not sex, or that it doesn't carry consequences, but we know now that the human papilloma virus can be transmitted by the mouth during oral sex," Steben told reporters.
Steben made the comments after a presentation in Montreal at the 74th Congress of the association of Canadian French-language doctors.
It's estimated that 30 per cent of women under the age of 30 have contracted HPV. Furthermore, one in three North American adults - men included - will have contracted the virus at one point during their lives.
The vast majority of people carrying HPV don't show any symptoms and are not even aware that they might be infected. For women, a Pap smear can detect the presence of HPV.
Steben urged more women to get Pap tests, even those over the age of 35.
The Pap test can detect dysplasia, or pre-cancerous cells. Dysplasia is not cancer, but it might turn into cancer over several years if untreated.
A study published this month in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that a group of Ontario women 45 to 49 had the highest prevalence of carcinogenic HPV.
Up to 98 per cent of those who contract the virus are able to get rid of it within two years, Steben said. Still, those who do get rid of it can get re-infected with a different strain during sex with another partner.
Steben recommended that if women engage in oral sex, they require that their male partner wear a condom.
(Montreal Gazette)
When will we hear women's groups screaming bloody murder that cervical cancer is a STD, and risk is directly related to promiscuity, especially the promiscuity of the man????(The risk goes up more directly with increased partners for the man, less directly for the woman.
Stop and think: the reason women have yearly pap smears is because of promiscuity!!
The veterinarian said our black lab has this and I'm pretty shocked.
It' not like we ever left her alone.
There's that Bill Clinton legacy again. Those Democrats must be so proud of him.
What can I say? Thanks for the laugh, I needed it tonight!
Yeah...but you couldn't beat my Hot Rod.
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