It pains me to keep learning that some young women are being tricked by unscrupulous people because of “celiac disease” and are being over-treated and even unnecessarily harmed. So should we care about our cervix or not? The answer is yes! After having sex, women should certainly care about their cervix. The first thing that can go wrong with the cervix is cervical lesions or even cervical cancer, followed by cervicitis. People don’t want to get either cancer or inflammation. So let’s talk about if you protect your cervix. The term “celiac disease” has been widely popularized, so I won’t go over it again, but it’s important to say it three times: there is no such thing as “celiac disease”, there is no such thing as “celiac disease”, there is no such thing as “celiac disease”, there is no such thing as “celiac disease”. The actual cervical cavity is a very important part of the cervical cavity. Anyone who tells you in the future, “You have celiac disease and need immediate treatment.” You can walk away with your feet up. First, let’s review the history of cervical cancer prevention and treatment: cervical smears started to be used clinically in the 1940s and became popular in some countries in the 1960s and 1970s, and the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer started to decline. 2005, the China Cancer Research Foundation prepared the Guidelines for Cancer Screening and Early Diagnosis and Treatment in China, which recommended that any woman who has had sex for more than 3 years or who is 21 years old or older should have cervical cancer screening. Women should be screened for cervical cancer. What exactly is a cervical cancer screening test? It is actually a thin, specially shaped piece of wood. After the doctor takes this piece of wood and turns it a few times around the opening of the cervix, the cells scraped from the piece of wood are applied to a glass slide and the cervical smear is sampled. The sample is then placed in the bottle where the scrapings are fixed and sent to the pathology department, where the results are awaited. Such a small test, which costs about $30, can reduce the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer, which shows that pathology results are very important for the prevention of cervical cancer. What is TCT, short for Thin Layer Cell Test? Unlike cervical smear, the thin wooden slices become plastic brushes and glass slices are not needed. After brushing the cervix, the cells obtained are washed directly into the liquid and sent to the pathology department for production. This one has more cells taken at the end than the cervical smear and the results are more accurate, but because the price is around $140, it cannot be done as a screening test so far. Both tests are collectively referred to as cervical cytology and are acceptable. The principle of screening is: for the first screening, once a year, and if it is normal for two consecutive years, once every three years for the next three years, until the age of 65. What about cervical cancer is more likely to occur in those people? Research has proven that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the cause of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. Even after adjusting for HPV infection, smoking is still an independent risk factor for cervical cancer. Some other identified risk factors are: early sexual activity (younger than 16 years old?) , having multiple sexual partners (>10?) with yourself or your partner , multiple births (greater than or equal to 7?) , low consumption of fruits and vegetables, long-term use of oral contraceptives (>5 years, or 10 years?) (All numbers in parentheses are in parentheses.), history of reproductive tract infections, low socioeconomic status, etc. (The numbers in parentheses are taken from the data studied in each experiment). To summarize, condom use, limiting the number of sexual partners, not smoking or quitting, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, and the HPV vaccine can all reduce the risk of cervical cancer. Note: No mention of antiviral treatment here! There are no drugs that have been proven effective in treating HPV! Next, let’s focus on HPV, which has been found to infect more than 70% of women who have had sex. More than 100 types of HPV have been identified, of which about 40 are known to infect the human reproductive tract. Epidemiological studies have found that 14 of these species, known as oncogenic, are clearly associated with progressive cervical cancer. Among them, those with high oncogenic risk are types 16, 18, 45, and 56, those with moderate oncogenic risk are types 31, 33, 35, 52, and 58, and those with low oncogenic risk are types 6, 11, 42, 43, and 44. The human body treats viruses in such a way that the body removes them on its own, just like a cold virus. It is generally believed that under the age of 30, your body is likely to clear these viruses on its own, so the main concern is whether there is a problem with the cervical cytology test. If there is a problem with cervical cytology, plus HPV infection, then you need to go for colposcopy plus biopsy for further pathological diagnosis of cervical lesions or cervical cancer. If there is a problem with the biopsy, then a cervical cone will be done and further pathology will be done to see the extent and degree of the lesion. Then the diagnosis is confirmed and the treatment plan is clarified. This is called the three-step diagnosis of cervical lesions. If the cervical cytology is normal and you are younger than 30 years old, HPV, even if you are high risk positive, is something that can be retested after one year. If the organism is persistently HPV infected and cannot be cleared, you should insist on cervical cytology and once the cervical cytology shows a problem, you can enter the third-step diagnostic process. In this way, it is possible to nip cervical cancer in the bud, even if you belong to the cervical cancer susceptible group. That’s why women who are sexually active should visit their gynecologists regularly for gynecological examinations, which must include cervical cytology. women over 30 years old can also have HPV examinations. First once a year, if it is normal for two years in a row, after that it can be done once every three years. If there is a problem, enter the three-step diagnostic process for cervical lesions. Finally, a word about cervicitis. Cervicitis is divided into acute cervicitis and chronic cervicitis. Acute cervicitis symptoms are mostly seen as purulent leucorrhea with vaginal irritation and can also be combined with urinary tract infections. It is usually caused by pathogenic infections, including STD pathogens such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis; endogenous pathogens such as bacterial vaginosis or mycoplasma; and some pathogens are not known. Treatment is with oral or intramuscular antibiotics. Those who find the pathogens can use drugs for the drug sensitivity results, and those who cannot find them, use drugs based on experience. Patients with STDs need to be treated together with their sexual partners. Chronic cervicitis includes chronic mucositis of the cervical canal, cervical polyps and cervical hypertrophy. Cervical polyps are removed and cervical hypertrophy does not require treatment. For chronic cervical mucositis, antibiotics can be targeted if the pathogen is found; if the pathogen is not found, or if repeated treatment is not effective, physical therapy can be tried. With all this rambling, I just hope we can work together to protect your cervix!