New guidelines push back age for Pap smears
-
-
-
-
- Ihatethemall
- added this
-
more from News:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AJ0J320091120
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.The guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG now say women younger than 30 should undergo cervical cancer screening once every two years instead of an annual exam. And those age 30 and older can be screened once every three years.
The recommendations are based on scientific evidence that suggests more frequent testing leads to overtreatment, which can harm a young woman's chances of carrying a child full term.
"Overtreatment of minor abnormal pap tests in young women and adolescents can lead to consequences such as preterm labor in some cases. It increases the risk," said Dr. Thomas Herzog of Columbia University in New York, who is chairman of an ACOG subcommittee on gynecologic cancers.
"Preterm delivery has become a huge problem in the United States that has potential serious consequences for the unborn fetus," said Dr. Jennifer Milosavijevic, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, who supports the guideline changes.
AVOIDING UNNECESSARY PROCEDURES
"These new guidelines will allow us to avoid doing unnecessary procedures on the sexually active adolescent female," she said in an e-mail.
The guidelines are unlikely to be met with the kind of rebellion that accompanied new breast cancer screening guidelines this week, which were largely based on computer projections, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said in a telephone interview.
"There is a lot more agreement about the science of cervical cancer screening," Lichtenfeld said.
Prior recommendations called for annual cervical cancer screening to start three years after a women first becomes sexually active, or by age 21. Although the rate of HPV infection is high in this population, rates of cervical cancer are very low.
-
- groups:
- News, News and Politics, Current Tonight, Health, 3 more
-
- tags:
- News, Healthcare
-
-
Ihatethemall
-
First they start telling women to stop doing self breast exams and not to worry about getting mamograms until 50 instead of 40. Now they start telling women to wait to get pap smears....of hell ya, this managed care is going to work out great for everyone.
- 4 months ago
-
Ihatethemall
