The beginning of the year is a great time to make resolutions to live a healthier, happier and more productive life. While many of these resolutions, especially for women, will revolve around weight loss, another should be regular heal checks, especially for preventable cancers.
One of the most common preventable cancers in women is cervical cancer, and coincidentally January is cervical cancer awareness month. While most sexually active women will experience the human papillomavirus (HPV) at some point in their lives, thankfully only 5 to 15 percent will experience cervical cancer.
In recent years a vaccine has been created to protect women against cervical cancer, and for decades doctors have been screening for cervical cancer through Pap smears.
These preventative measures have been proven to work, as 95 percent of cervical cancer cases seen at the UK Markey Cancer Center involve patients who have not received regular screening and prevention measures.
Read more at the Lexington Herald-Leader.