The War against women continues target Pap Smears….

The New York Times 03/15/12 Tara Parker-Pope

“New Pap Smear Guidelines Advise Less Frequent Tests”

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/new-guidelines-advise-less-frequent-pap-smears/

The annual Pap smear, a cornerstone of women’s health for at least 60 years, is now officially a thing of the past, as new national guidelines recommend cervical cancer screening no more often than every three years.

In recent years, some doctors and medical groups, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 2009, began urging less frequent screening for cervical cancer. Even so, annual Pap smear testing is still common because many women are reluctant to give up frequent screening for cervical cancer.

“We achieve essentially the same effectiveness in the reduction of cancer deaths, but we reduce potential harm of false positive tests,” said Dr. Wanda Nicholson, a task force member and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It’s a win-win for women.”

Cost is not a factor in the task force recommendations.
The new guidelines focus on four key areas, including frequency of screening, age at which women should begin screening, age at which women should stop screening, and testing for human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer.

In addition, women now are advised to begin screening at age 21 regardless of sexual history, and the task force specifically recommends against screening women younger than 21. In 2003, the advice to women was to start screening within three years of sexual activity, but no later than 21.

The task force also recommends against screening women over the age of 65, as long as they have had adequate prior screening and are not otherwise at high risk for cervical cancer. That advice has not changed since 2003.

Finally, the group also recommends against regular HPV screening for anyone under 30.

The task force recommendations apply only to healthy women.

Common Sense Review

Once again govt official focus the attention on educating us meek, uneducated women when it comes to preventative attention to cervical cancer.... Get the Hell away from me!

Since I was a teenager (before I had sex), getting checked with physical and pap smear was advised by doctor as preventative medicine. Now this group of Obamacare 16, now advise… Oh you don’t need a pap smear every year but every three years.. then in the next breath “Cost is not a factor” but to “reduce potential harm of false positive tests”….

The group of the Obamacare 16 really think we are idiots…. When I wake every morning my main concern is a false positive test (insert sarcasm here) … Really! REALLY!!!

Back in 2005, the US was all hysterical about preventing HPV that many young girls were getting the Gardasil shot. Yet the shot prevent 1 type out of the 100 different types of HPV… Now the govt is say oh cervical cancer isn’t a big deal….

I love the last paragraph of the article… “The task force recommendations apply only to healthy women”. What!?!?!?! Healthy people have a tendency of becoming seriously ill if not tested on a regular basis. Who has the authority to define “regular basis”? The woman…
This kind of propaganda at the expense of misinforming people is negligent.