What are your chances of catching HPV?

If you are sexually active, you’re probably going to catch some strain of HPV.

It is estimated that somewhere around half of all sexually active people are actually walking around with genital HPV right now, while most people will contract HPV at some point in their lives.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s usually not that big of a deal.

HPV isn’t just genital HPV, and even when it is genital HPV, it’s only the rarer forms of HPV which can lead to cancer, and those strains do not show themselves in the form of genital warts.

HPV includes common warts (hand warts), plantar warts, elbow warts, flat warts, and even some strains that don’t even cause any visible signs or lead to further health complications.

Most children will contract hand warts at some point in their early lives. Hand warts are uncomfortable and ugly, but they won’t lead to cancer, they’re easily treated, and 90% of the time, they clear up in a few weeks with or without treatment.

While they may cause unsightly and uncomfortable warts, most forms of HPV are relatively benign, and do not pose any serious health risks. The problem is that there are strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer, and that these strains usually cannot be spotted without a pap smear.

Tens of thousands of women die every year thanks to genital HPV leading to cervical cancer. The vast majority of people who contract HPV may wind up okay. Again, HPV only rarely leads to cancer. However, the risk is very real. You’re more likely to catch a cancer-causing strain of HPV than you are to get struck by lightning, so if you don’t stand under trees during a storm, don’t have sex without either using protection, or having STD tests done for both partners.

Luckily, there is an HPV vaccine available that can help prevent contracting cancer causing strains of the virus. The vaccine has been shown to be most effective when administered around the age of puberty, and is definitely worth looking into for either yourself, or any young women in your family. Yes, that may seem like an awkward subject to bring up, but let’s forget about that for a minute and face the facts: Some forty thousand women die of HPV related cancer every year. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.

So to sum all of the above up into a list of “just the HPV facts”…

You have a very strong chance of contracting HPV in your lifetime. Your odds for catching a life threatening strain of HPV are slim, but the possibility is very real, nonetheless. Contracting HPV can only be prevented by the vaccine, using condoms, and/or having STD tests conducted on yourself and your sex partner.

The chance of catching HPV is very real, but you can significantly reduce the risk by practicing safe sex. You can strengthen your immune system against HPV and genital warts infections by eating properly and exercising. Basically, just be careful, live a healthy lifestyle, and you should be relatively safe.

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_763820_17.html   

About the Author: Author: Michelle Anderson

Nutrition to reduce risk of HPV

There is no magic diet, no special fruit or vegetable that will make you impervious to HPV. There’s no way to reduce risk of contracting HPV by 100%, as even the HPV vaccine only protects against the high risk forms that can lead to cancer and so on. That said, you can make some simple changes to your diet to improve your immune system, so as to greatly reduce your risk of contracting HPV, and, should you contract HPV, your immune system will be able to rid your body of the infection that much more quickly.

In fact, let’s forget about HPV for a minute and just consider this: If you eat healthy, you will feel better.

A lot of health food people get it wrong. Eating better isn’t about living longer, it’s not about avoiding foods that will “kill you” (no food can really kill you unless you’re suffering from serious obesity or blood pressure and cholesterol problems) it’s about making the years you have available to you more enjoyable. If you eat well, you will be in a better mood, as nutrition plays a vital part in maintaining mental health. If you eat well, you’ll be stronger, faster, less tired, you’ll feel more comfortable and look better in your own body, your skin will look and feel better, your bones will be stronger, you’ll get sick less often, and you will be happier. You will live longer, as well, but the real point is that, in the here and now, you can improve your quality of life by leaps and bounds by making a few simple dietary changes.

Fruits and vegetables

Here’s the basic rule of fruits and vegetables: There’s almost no such thing as too much.

You may have heard of the supposed “superfruits” which have become pretty trendy these days, but honestly, most of them aren’t much stronger than your average orange or apple. However, if an exotic flavour is enough to get you eating more fruits, go for it.

Look for fruits especially high in vitamin C, most obviously, the orange.

As for vegetables, try just switching sugary, salty snacks out with salads. Play around with different combinations and lighter dressings until you have something you like. Salads mainly provide fiber, which can help to keep your system clean and flush out excess waste. This can be enormously helpful in improving your immune system and preventing colon cancer.

Water

It sounds like a lot, but try to drink about a gallon a day. Water doesn’t contain vitamins or anything, but it works as a sort of lubrication for your body and basically improves all facets of your biological functions.

Protein

You do need protein to keep your immune system and your skin strong to help fight off HPV infection. Try to avoid red meat, though. Something to keep in mind, pork is actually one of the safest, healthiest meats available. It gets a bad name, and certainly, bacon is probably the worst food you can eat, but it digests more easily than beef and is less greasy. If you can get more protein from beans or fish, that’s even better.

Exercise

Nutrition only goes so far. You can have a perfect diet, but if you don’t keep yourself active, your immune system won’t be strong enough to deal with an HPV infection quickly and effectively. Stay fit. If you can make time for some daily situps and pushups, great. If not, at the very least you should take a walk every day.

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_829571_17.html

How to avoid passing HPV on

Count yourself lucky for having been born in such extraordinary times. We still haven’t found a way to cure every single disease, and there is no cure for HPV, however, the rate of progress is improving dramatically, and with modern science, we’re discovering more and more ways to, if not kill HPV off for good, we can at least take steps to prevent contracting HPV, and to prevent passing it on.

There is a bit of a misconception that HPV is an entirely sexually related disease. Just to get this clear: It is not. HPV includes genital warts, but there are literally dozens of different types of HPV. To put it simply, all warts are caused by HPV, and there are some forms of HPV that don’t actually show any visible signs on the surface of the skin.

Most forms of HPV are merely uncomfortable or unsightly, warts are a form of tumour, but they are generally benign tumours, meaning, ugly as they are, they’re of no risk to your life or long term health. However, a few types can lead to cancer or other major complications.

If you’ve spotted an unsightly wart on your hands or feet, or your doctor has informed you that you have been infected with HPV, you’ll need to take measures to treat the hpv symptoms, of course, but you should also take measures to prevent passing it on.

Common warts or hand warts

Because of the protein “shell” surrounding an HPV cell, HPV can lay dormant for longer than most viruses even on non-absorbent, dry surfaces. If you’re dealing with hand warts, just make sure to spray down surfaces such as countertops and doorknobs with disinfectant and keep a generally sanitary environment at work and at home.

Luckily, most common wart hpv treatment options will have you putting a band-aid or other medical adhesive over the infected area, so as long as you wash your hands and reapply the bandages as needed, there’s not too much risk in passing on common hand warts.

Plantar warts

Unless you’re swapping socks with your friends, plantar warts are kind of hard to pass on in your normal routine.

If you go to a gym or health club and use communal showers, just make sure to wear rubber shower sandals. This is generally recommended whether you’re dealing with plantar warts or not, as you can keep from contracting HPV and foot funguses, as well.

Venereal HPV

There’s a misconception that if you don’t see any warts, you can’t pass HPV on. This is not true though. Not only can you pass venereal types of HPV on when there are no symptoms, there are also venereal HPV types which have no visible symptoms, but can lead to cervical cancer and other complications nonetheless.

In this day and age, you have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the many, many options for safe sex out there. The only form of safe sex that has much potential to prevent HPV, though, is using a condom. There is no cure for genital warts or HPV in men or women.

Know the sexual history of every sexual partner you become involved with, no exceptions. Unless you and your partner have both had HPV tests conducted and you know for a fact that you are both clear, use a condom every time. Condoms take only a few seconds to apply, and it just isn’t worth the risk to go without.

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_690436_17.html

What are your chances of catching HPV?

If you are sexually active, you’re probably going to catch some strain of HPV.

It is estimated that somewhere around half of all sexually active people are actually walking around with genital HPV right now, while most people will contract HPV at some point in their lives.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s usually not that big of a deal.

HPV isn’t just genital HPV, and even when it is genital HPV, it’s only the rarer forms of HPV which can lead to cancer, and those strains do not show themselves in the form of genital warts.

HPV includes common warts (hand warts), plantar warts, elbow warts, flat warts, and even some strains that don’t even cause any visible signs or lead to further health complications.

Most children will contract hand warts at some point in their early lives. Hand warts are uncomfortable and ugly, but they won’t lead to cancer, they’re easily treated, and 90% of the time, they clear up in a few weeks with or without treatment.

While they may cause unsightly and uncomfortable warts, most forms of HPV are relatively benign, and do not pose any serious health risks. The problem is that there are strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer, and that these strains usually cannot be spotted without a pap smear.

Tens of thousands of women die every year thanks to genital HPV leading to cervical cancer. The vast majority of people who contract HPV may wind up okay. Again, HPV only rarely leads to cancer. However, the risk is very real. You’re more likely to catch a cancer-causing strain of HPV than you are to get struck by lightning, so if you don’t stand under trees during a storm, don’t have sex without either using protection, or having STD tests done for both partners.

Luckily, there is an HPV vaccine available that can help prevent contracting cancer causing strains of the virus. The vaccine has been shown to be most effective when administered around the age of puberty, and is definitely worth looking into for either yourself, or any young women in your family. Yes, that may seem like an awkward subject to bring up, but let’s forget about that for a minute and face the facts: Some forty thousand women die of HPV related cancer every year. We cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand.

So to sum all of the above up into a list of “just the HPV facts”…

You have a very strong chance of contracting HPV in your lifetime. Your odds for catching a life threatening strain of HPV are slim, but the possibility is very real, nonetheless. Contracting HPV can only be prevented by the vaccine, using condoms, and/or having STD tests conducted on yourself and your sex partner.

The chance of catching HPV is very real, but you can significantly reduce the risk by practicing safe sex. You can strengthen your immune system against HPV and genital warts infections by eating properly and exercising. Basically, just be careful, live a healthy lifestyle, and you should be relatively safe.

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_763820_17.html

HPV Testing for Women

Women, get a pap smear and an HPV test at your next opportunity. Do not put it off or deem it unnecessary.

Sorry if we seem a bit militant on this front. All men have to worry about when it comes to HPV is the problem of dealing with an ugly infection. In women, HPV can be fatal.

It is estimated that cervical cancer affects 473,000 women every year, killing 253,500 women. Most of these cases are directly linked with genital HPV.

To put that in perspective, breast cancer kills about 519,000 women a year. Breast cancer gets a lot of media attention because of its high casualty rate, but efforts against HPV and cervical cancer have not enjoyed the same amount of attention, and this has led many women to neglect regular testing.

The major problem here tends to be the misconception that HPV means genital warts
. Several strains of HPV can lead to genital warts, but the types that can lead to cervical cancer do not show any visible symptoms whatsoever, and can only be effectively identified by a pap smear.

In that few men have ever died of HPV related conditions, men can more easily get away with saying “I trust my partner, I’m safe”, but this is not an option for women. Remember that when you have sex with a new partner, you are having sex with everyone they have ever had sex with. Your boyfriend or husband may have been tested negative for HPV, but, again, the types of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer show absolutely no visible signs, and would be nearly impossible to detect in men.

Apologies for the “preachy” tone being employed here, but the fact remains that there are no safe bets when you’re betting with your life. You cannot be one hundred percent certain that you’re free and clear until you’ve been tested.

Are pap smears inconvenient, uncomfortable, and embarrassing? Of course they are, but they save lives.

As for the visible HPV types, the types which result in genital warts, here are the steps to take when considering being tested…

1- Self inspection

When you have a chance, during a shower, before bed, whenever you can, check yourself for any abnormal bumps or lesions on or around your genitals. If you see even the slightest thing out of place…

2- Talk to your doctor

It may wind up being nothing, but you won’t know for sure without your gynaecologist or physician’s input. If it does wind up being HPV…

3- Take the appropriate steps

Don’t sleep on it, just get your hands on something from the pharmacy right away. Catching HPV early means you can nip it in the bud, so act fast.

Beyond that, just remember that testing and treating HPV is important, but not as important as preventing HPV. Always practice safe sex, always use latex condoms with a new partner, and check yourself regularly to make sure you’re safe. In short, don’t take any chances with your health or your life.

Michelle Anderson - About the Author:

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV. We are dedicated to helping you. For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV Treatment.

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/hpv-testing-for-women-986314.html

HPV Testing for Men

One of the first things you need to know about HPV testing for men… is that you need to be tested before you can be certain.

If you have any degree of sexual experience, getting tested is a good idea. You can’t just inspect yourself, trust that you don’t have anything, and forget about it. HPV can remain dormant for years, decades, even a lifetime without showing any symptoms, but can still be contagious. In women, it is the types of HPV that actually have no symptoms that can lead to cervical cancer.

Luckily, most genital HPV types are harmless. In fact, it’s estimated that anywhere from one third to one half of all sexually active adults have contracted a benign form of HPV at one point or other. However, this isn’t the case with all HPV types, so it’s important to get tested.

Should I get Tested?

The first question would probably be… how would you know if you need to be tested?

Well, if you’ve ever had sex before, you should get yourself tested, and get tested again after every encounter with a new sexual partner.

This is sort of a blanket statement. What if you’ve only had one sexual partner in your entire life, and you can verify that your partner only had one partner before you?

Genital HPV is generally only spread through actual sexual intercourse, and not say, toilet seats or what have you, so wouldn’t a clean sexual history make it a safe bet that you don’t have HPV?

No. You’ve no doubt heard that when you have sex with a new partner, you are, in effect, having sex with everyone they’ve ever been with. This is how STDs spread, from one sex partner to another, to another, to another. Unless you have detailed test results from your partner, your partner’s previous partner or partners, and their previous partners, you can’t be one hundred percent sure.

How do they do the Test?

Getting tested for HPV as a man is easy. Women have to undergo the discomfort of a pap smear, so count yourself lucky and just go ahead and go through with it already.

HPV testing in men is done with a simple visual check. Your physician may spot the genital warts on sight, or may use acetic acid to identify warts and HPV related lesions. The acid causes the abnormal tissue to become white.

HPV testing for men can be a little tricky when the infection is in its early stages. You can have HPV and not know it, simply because the test didn’t prove anything. For this reason, you absolutely must practice safe sex. You might think you’re safe, when in fact, you are not. Always use a condom, and see your doctor at the first sign of anything that might, in fact, be the early stages of an HPV infection.

More important than getting tested or treated is simply preventing HPV in the first place. Do not have sex without a condom unless you can be certain that you and your partner are both clear and free, simple as that.

 

Michelle Anderson - About the Author:

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV. We are dedicated to helping you. For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/hpv-testing-for-men-962800.html

Hpv Symptoms – Exploding The Myths

Perhaps the most important point to note about HPV symptoms is that in many cases there are none!

Both men and women can carry one of the strains of HPV that results in genital warts, or worse still, cervical cancer, yet show no signs or symptoms whatsoever. Yet they can be pursuing an active sex life and unwittingly passing on the virus to one sexual partner after another.

In fact, the most prevalent strains of HPV that have been linked to cervical cancer are the least likely to show any symptoms for many years. Between 3000 and 4000 women die every year from cervical cancer, which is often treatable if caught in its early stages. Medical researchers believe that this number is so high because most women have no idea they have cervical cancer until it’s too late.

Remember that every time you have sex with a new partner, you are having sex with all the partners they had before you and all the partners those partners had…ad infinitum.

So before you swear off sex for the rest of your life, let’s look at some of the misunderstandings and myths surrounding HPV.

The Truth About HPV

* Around 250 individual strains of HPV have been identified, but only a few of them lead to the most problematic medical conditions – genital warts in both males and females and cervical cancer in females.
* Genital HPV is only transmitted by sexual contact, or in a very small number of cases, by oral sex with a partner who is already infected. You CAN’T catch HPV from a toilet seat or from sitting where someone else who has HPV has been sitting.
* If you discover you have genital warts, it doesn’t necessarily follow that your current sexual partner is the one who gave it to you. In most cases, the strains of HPV that cause genital warts can lie dormant in your system for many years before a breakout occurs.

A more realistic scenario is that you are the one who has unknowingly been passing on genital warts to your sexual partners while you’ve been blissfully unaware of its existence and at some future time they are going to blame their current partner for passing on the virus when, in fact, it was you.

* Contracting HPV does not mean you are promiscuous. You only need to have one sexual encounter to become infected with the virus. Obviously, the more you engage in frequent and unsafe sexual practices, the more likely you are to eventually come into contact with HPV or any one of a number of other sexually transmitted diseases.

So the logical solution is to always practice safe sex, particularly when you have a new sexual partner. Not only will a latex condom prevent you from the symptoms of HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases, it will help avoid unwanted pregnancy.

* Undergoing HPV treatment for genital warts is NOT a cure. Even if the warts have disappeared, you still carry the virus which means you can infect your sexual partner at any stage now or in the future.
* The HPV vaccine is believed to prevent all the recognized strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer in women. However, it doesn’t guarantee to prevent cervical cancer in girls or women who have been sexually active prior to being vaccinated.
* The jury is still out on whether uncircumcised men are more likely to carry the virus. While a number of studies have produced statistics which suggest the partners of uncircumcised men are at greater risk of contracting the strains of HPV which lead to cervical cancer, many medical researchers believe the statistics are flawed.

Every individual is at risk of being exposed to HPV and displaying HPV symptoms. The most effective ways to protect yourself are by practicing safe sex and by knowing and understanding as much as possible about HPV, HPV symptoms and HPV treatments.

Michelle Anderson - About the Author:

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV Treatment.

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/hpv-symptoms-exploding-the-myths-1826882.html

Hpv Men – The Proof You Need Protection

Genital human papilloma virus (or HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Statistics indicate that up to 90% of males and females come into contact with HPV at some point in their life if they have been sexually active. And in many of these cases, they unwittingly pass it on to their partner.

But the good news is that the vast majority of the 250 recognised strains of HPV cause no symptoms, signs or illness and our immune system works to destroy the infection with no side effects. However, medical researchers have isolated 15 strains of the virus that can lead to serious health risks.

When it comes to the consequences of HPV, men are relatively fortunate because the most serious strains of HPV can lead to cervical cancer and death in women. Every year around 3000 to 4000 women die from cervical cancer, and in 70% of these cases, the cancer is directly related to HPV.

What are the Dangers of HPV?

In the vast majority of cases, men can become infected with HPV and show no signs or symptoms. However, simply showing no symptoms of infection doesn’t mean that you aren’t carrying one of the strains of HPV that can lead to cervical cancer in a woman. You just don’t know it.

So it pays to have regular check-ups with your medical practitioner every time you begin a new relationship. This may sound over-the-top and unnecessary, but how would you feel if you learned that you inadvertently passed on one of the deadly strains of HPV to your partner that resulted in cervical cancer?

Fortunately, genital HPV won’t kill you if you are male, but it can be very embarrassing, painful and unsightly if you contract one of the strains of HPV that results in genital warts.

Remember, every time you have sex with a new partner, you are having sex with every partner she has ever had and every partner they have ever had… scary, huh?

What are the Symptoms of HPV?

If you have detected any abnormalities including scaly or itchy patches or growths in your genital area, you need to get checked out immediately. HPV testing for men is a relatively simple procedure.

Genital warts tend to appear in clusters, like miniature cauliflowers. They can be quite small in size or spread across a wide area from your genitals through to your anus. The area surrounding the warts is often painful and the warts are often itchy.

If you are diagnosed with genital warts, your physician can recommend topical HPV treatments that relieve the symptoms until the infection has passed.

How to Prevent HPV Infections

You may have the genital warts virus and simply not know it. Even if you’ve never had an outbreak of genital warts, but particularly if you have, the strain of HPV that results in genital warts or a number of other serious conditions, including cancer, may be dormant in your system.

So always practicing safe sex is mandatory if you want to protect yourself from HPV and also so you can prevent spreading the infection to your partner. The risk that you could unwittingly pass the strains of HPV that lead to cervical cancer in women cannot be stressed enough.

To avoid coming into contact with HPV, men need to wear a latex condom when having sex. Not only does a condom help protect you from unwanted pregnancy, it also prevents you from catching HPV, as well as preventing you from passing it on. And HPV is only one of a number of sexually transmitted diseases that can infect you. None of them are pretty and all of them will have a dramatic impact on the state of your sexual health with all your future partners, for as long as you continue to be sexually active – and for most of us that means the rest of our lives.

 

Michelle Anderson - About the Author:

HPV Health is dedicated to bringing you the most current information on HPV.  We are dedicated to helping you.  For more information on symptoms and treatments visit HPV.

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/hpv-men-the-proof-you-need-protection-1796360.html