HPV infection prevention and treatment
Cervical cancer is one of the most common gynecological malignancies, and there are currently about 530,000 people in the world who suffer from cervical cancer every year, and the incidence of cervical cancer in China ranks second in the world. Dr. Howson, a scientist at the German Cancer Research Center, discovered and confirmed that HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) is the culprit of cervical cancer, making cervical cancer the first cancer to be identified as having a single and clear cause. Today, let's take a look at the HPV virus, the causative cause of cervical cancer. What is HPV?
HPV, Chinese called human papillomavirus, is a small ring-like double-stranded DNA virus. Its family is huge, with more than 160 parts. About 40 types are associated with genital tract infections, of which about 20 are associated with cancer.
How does HPV spread?
HPV is mainly transmitted through direct contact, including broken skin, mucous membranes, sexual contact, and childbirth. A small number can also be transmitted indirectly through exposure to virus-contaminated items. Therefore, in addition to the cervix, HPV also parasitizes other parts of the body, such as the mouth, throat, esophagus, skin and anus.
Is HPV infection equivalent to cervical cancer?
Many women who are found to be infected with HPV will think they have cervical cancer, but this is not the case. The incubation period for HPV infection is generally 3 to 6 months, and there are also months or even decades. Up to 75% of women have been infected with at least one type of HPV in their lifetime, but the vast majority of HPV infections are "transient" and can be suppressed or cleared by their own cellular immunity, and only about 1%-4% of HPV-infected people will gradually develop cervical precancerous lesions or cancerous lesions. Therefore, HPV infection is like a "cold" in the cervix, and there is no need to talk about "toxic" discoloration.
But it is precisely because of the existence of HPV infection that it will gradually develop into a cervical precancerous lesion or cancerous risk, which forces us to pay attention. At the same time, cervical HPV also has the characteristics of occultity, complexity, refractory and other characteristics, many patients do not have obvious symptoms at the beginning, after the incubation period can be manifested as a large amount of underband, white or yellow, viscous or thin texture, or odor, or with itchy. In traditional Chinese medicine, cervical HPV infection falls under the category of "belt disease" and "yin itch".
What should I do if I am infected with HPV?
At present, there is a lack of effective treatment for the removal of cervical HPV, and patients with high-grade cervical intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) with HPV infection may be infected even if they undergo lesion resection. In order to improve the negative rate of cervical HPV infection and prevent its recurrence, more and more scholars advocate the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, which not only embodies the treatment principle of traditional Chinese medicine to correct and dispel evil, but also embodies the treatment idea of the theory of evil in traditional Chinese medicine.
How is cervical HPV prevented?
Professor Lang Jinghe, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a well-known expert in obstetrics and gynecology, once said: "Cervical cancer can be prevented, and the key is to prevent HPV infection. "Therefore, regular HPV and cervical cytology screening is an effective measure at present.
Primary prevention, the use of cervical cancer vaccine, there are currently bivalent, quadrivalent, and nine-valent vaccines available in the clinic.
Secondary prevention is routine screening and management of cervical cancer, usually for joint screening, that is, cervical HPV and TCT screening, joint screening can detect more than 90% of cervical cancer lesions and cervical cancer, if necessary, colposcopy and cervical biopsy, cervical cone, for the discovery of precancerous lesions in a timely manner.
Tertiary prevention is the treatment of diagnosed cervical cancer, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
In addition, maintaining good, healthy living habits, healthy sex, etc. are all ways to prevent HPV infection.
Source: Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Author: Wang Xinyan