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cervical cancer

Women's Health

Guy shares important PSA for young women after losing sister to cervical cancer

Don’t stop until someone listens to you.

Photo credit: Canva

Guy shares PSA for woman after losing sister to cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is something that can go undetected if you're not in a position to get regular gynecological appointments. But with the new guidelines, allow for greater leeway between screenings for abnormal cervical cells. In America, the age to begin receiving pap smears, which is the test that can detect abnormal cells in the cervix, increased to age 21 and in the UK it's not given until 25.

Though, this test can detect the cells much earlier and before symptoms start, the distance between testing has been increased to every 3-5 years instead of yearly. The decrease was backed by scientific evidence showing there wasn't an increase in detection of abnormal cells by doing the test more frequently. Ethan, a man who lost his sister in 2022 to cervical cancer partly blames the delay in testing with her untimely death.

The grieving man took to TikTok to share a PSA on how important it is for women and people born with female anatomy to get their pap smears, sharing the cautionary tale of his deceased sister.

"Have you got a vagina and don't want to die? Cause if that's the case please watch this video," Ethan starts out saying. "So I'm going to tell the story of how my sister passed away and the one thing that I want anyone to take away from her death and she would want anyone to take away from hear death is to look after your health."

a woman sitting at a table with a model of a stomach Photo by Elen Sher on Unsplash

He explains that in 2021 his sister started having a lot of large blood clots "the size of a size 10 foot" that she kept going back to the doctor for but was consistently dismissed. Ethan shares that his sister began going to the hospital weekly due to the amount of pain she was in and she continued to be dismissed for months before she was referred to the gynecologist. According to the woman's brother, the process to look to see what was going on was so painful that the gynecologist refused to continue with the appointment.

"He said 'oh, I'm not doing this because you're in too much pain,' rather than actually investigating the reason why. Because she had a f***ing tumor inside her vagina that was the size of my fist. How the man missed that is beyond me. If he found that she'd probably f***ing still be alive cause she was neglected so bad throughout the whole route of this process."

baby i'm sorry GIF by truTV’s I’m SorryGiphy

Ethan reveals that she started having symptoms in October of 2021 but it wasn't until February of 2022 that she was diagnosed after months of trying to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread to her lungs, liver and stomach and died at the age of 31, March 2022.

"If you know something's wrong with you, only you know what's going on with your body so make sure you push harder. If you know that there's something wrong with you, you need to kick and scream and shout until you get what you f***ing want," he says as he shares what he hopes the main takeaway from his message will be.

Happy New Year Feminist GIF by All BetterGiphy

"Cervical cancer is so common so make sure you get your smears done because if you don't get your smears done and you've got those cells...if you've got the beginning of those cells you can just get it burned away. My mom's had it done a thousand times. My auntie's had it done. But if you leave leave them then that can lay undetected in your body for years until it's too late. Cervical cancer is a massive problem."

Ethan shares his frustration that the UK doesn't do pap smears until the age of 25 when it's the STI human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes many of the instances of cervical cancer. He's hoping that telling his sister's story will encourage people to not only get pap smears even if they have to pay for them out of pocket, but to advocate for themselves fiercely.

@eefybeefy1 Replying to @Emma Parkinson the best ones always die first ❤️ #grief #fyp #foryou #cancer #storytime ♬ original sound - Ethan

People in the comments are thankful he's speaking up while others are sharing their own stories of loss from delay in screenings along with not being believed.

"my daughter died aged 23 from cervical cancer. basically the same story as yours. neglected for 2 year, then by the time they diagnosed her she had i month to live," one mom shares.

"My friend passed away age 30 of cervical cancer, they need to lower the age of smears" another grieving person writes.

"As a GP nurse conducting smears everyday I’m SO proud of you for advocating for women, and your sister like this! It’s not a scary process to do, it’s over and done with in less than a minute and I absolutely don’t care if your legs are hairy," a nurse chimes in.

"Sadly women are often not believed when it comes to their pain. Keep educating people Ethan, your sis would be so proud of you," someone else shares.

Several women in the comments share that his video has caused them to schedule appointments for their pap smears after being overdue or afraid of going. So while his delivery may have included a few instances of adult language, his message seems to be heard clearly by those who are needing to hear it. Telling his sister's story may just save a few lives.

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cervical cancer

Family

The controversial HPV vaccine has nearly eliminated the cervical disease in Scotland.

There’s been a lot of controversy around the safety and effectiveness of vaccines over the last decade, but a new study just put a big check mark in the plus column for the HPV vaccine.

The study involved 140,000 women and shows the vaccine that protects against the human papillomavirus has been effective in dramatically decreasing cases of the cervical disease later in life. Researchers claim the vaccine, recommended to girls when they are in their early teens, has cut the pre-cancerous cells by 90 percent, nearly eliminating cases of pre-cancer since they implemented the new vaccination program in 2008.

But that’s not the most interesting factor. This new research also found that being vaccinated at a younger age was associated with increased effectiveness.

And there’s good news for parents who’ve chosen not to vaccinate their kids as well.

Unvaccinated women also showed a reduction of cervical cancer, likely due to the fewer HPV cases in general thanks to the increase in those who had been vaccinated.

Researchers hope these findings will help ramp up cervical cancer prevention programs around the world, and inspire more families to get their young women vaccinated so that cervical cancer can be eliminated once and for all.

"The main message is that the vaccine works,” Dr Kevin Pollock, of Glasgow Caledonian University, explained to the BBC. “As long as the high uptake continues, the virus has got nowhere to go and it is being eliminated.”

Unfortunately, many parents are still morally against the vaccine, fearing it encourages sex at a young age.

It might seem like a no-brainer to get your child an HPV vaccine, however, historically there has been some controversy around it, especially with regard to administering it to younger women.

Some worry that it encourages their children to be prematurely sexually active. Others simply don’t believe in vaccinations in general. What's more, if parents refuse to allow their child to be vaccinated, and that child then waits until they’re legally old enough to get it themselves, it likely won’t be nearly as effective. An individual needs to receive the vaccine before they become sexually active — not after — in order for it to do its job. If they wait until they’re 18, there’s a much higher chance that they’ll already be sexually active, thereby negativing the vaccine’s effectiveness.

Just because teens have access to things like condoms, birth control pills and vaccines that have to do with their reproductive health doesn’t mean they are going to have sex. However, as this study shows, such vaccines could save them from contracting a life-altering and potentially deadly disease. At the end of all the arguments, isn’t protecting your child’s long-term health the most important thing?

Family

James Gaines explains: 4 epically wrong myths about the HPV vaccine.

America is a bit behind on the HPV vaccination trend. I'll explain why that's a problem.

Remember when I explained how polio isn't really a thing anymore in the U.S.?

A polio victim in 1947. Photo by Sonnee Gottlieb/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

That's because we invented and then distributed vaccines to as many people as possible. Today, polio's gone from a modern scourge to a hazy shadow, infecting fewer than three dozen people in 2015. And even with a recent set back in Nigeria, we're incredibly close to making polio a thing of the past.

Well, thanks to another vaccine, we might be able to drive another disease into the shadows, too.

HPV, also known as the human papillomavirus, is a big family of viruses that live in human beings. Some strains are relatively harmless, causing problems like common warts. Others, however, are much more serious.

Some strains of HPV can be spread through sexual contact and are known to cause several different kinds of cancer, including almost all cases of cervical cancer. And these cancer-causing strains are incredibly common: About 14 million Americans catch them every year. HPV is basically the common cold of sexually transmitted infections.

10 years ago, however, we got a vaccine for HPV. And the latest numbers show it's been incredibly effective.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

The vaccine, which is meant to be given to kids sometime between their pre-teen years and early 20s, specifically targets some of the strains of HPV known to cause cervical cancer (from here on, I'm going to use "HPV" to specifically refer to these strains, by the way). Early tests on the vaccine showed a lot of promise, and this year those numbers have been seriously backed up.

Earlier this year, a worldwide study suggested an up to 90% drop in infection rates in countries with a high level of immunization.

They also showed an 85% drop in the kinds of pre-cancer signs associated with cervical cancer in those populations.

In the U.S., however, pickup on the HPV vaccine has been a little slow, possibly because of stigma and a few common misconceptions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015, only about 50% of U.S. boys ages 13-17 and about 62% of girls got at least one round of the vaccine (it takes three shots, spaced a few months apart, to become completely immunized). This is great compared to other years — the numbers are rising — but compared to other countries, we're still a bit behind.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

What are some of those misconceptions?

1. "HPV isn't common enough to worry about."

Actually, we know that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Like I mentioned above, each year about 14 million people catch it and about 27,000 cases of HPV-caused cancer are diagnosed.

2. "Vaccines are risky."

Actually, we know that vaccines — including the HPV vaccine — are on the whole pretty damn safe.

3. "You only need the HPV vaccine if you're sexually active, so I don't need to give it to my kids."

It's true that people who've never been sexually active aren't really at risk of HPV, but immunizing a teenager can protect them well into their adult life. Plus, the best time to prevent infection is before they've ever been potentially exposed, so giving it to kids actually makes a lot of sense.

4. "It's only for girls. My son doesn't need it."

Boys can benefit from it too. While it's most well-known to cause cervical cancer, HPV can cause other kinds of cancer too as well as genital warts. Plus, by getting vaccinated, a man can protect any sexual partners he might have!

(This reluctance may also have a bit to do with the stigma surrounding the fact that HPV is an STI, too, but talking about STIs is an important part of sex education and something we shouldn't shy away from.)

We're on our way to putting HPV on the same bookshelf as other extinct diseases, like polio and smallpox.

A girl gets an HPV shot in Honduras. Photo by Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images.

In an article by the BBC, professor Ian Frazer, one of the scientists who created the first HPV vaccine, was quoted as saying, "If we vaccinate enough people, we will eliminate these viruses."

A world without the single greatest cause of cervical cancer? And we get a whole lot of other cancers down at the same time?

Yeah, that sounds pretty great.

cervical cancer

Guy shares important PSA for young women after losing sister to cervical cancer

Don’t stop until someone listens to you.

The controversial HPV vaccine has nearly eliminated the cervical disease in Scotland.

There’s been a lot of controversy around the safety and effectiveness of vaccines over the last decade, but a new study just put a big check mark in the plus column for the HPV vaccine.

Researchers hope these findings will help ramp up cervical cancer prevention programs around the world, and inspire more families to get their young women vaccinated so that cervical cancer can be eliminated once and for all.

Unfortunately, many parents are still morally against the vaccine, fearing it encourages sex at a young age.

James Gaines explains: 4 epically wrong myths about the HPV vaccine.

America is a bit behind on the HPV vaccination trend. I'll explain why that's a problem.

Remember when I explained how polio isn't really a thing anymore in the U.S.?

Well, thanks to another vaccine, we might be able to drive another disease into the shadows, too.

10 years ago, however, we got a vaccine for HPV. And the latest numbers show it's been incredibly effective.

In the U.S., however, pickup on the HPV vaccine has been a little slow, possibly because of stigma and a few common misconceptions.

What are some of those misconceptions?

We're on our way to putting HPV on the same bookshelf as other extinct diseases, like polio and smallpox.

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