Cervical Cancer - Causes
While there could be several factors putting women at risk for cervical cancer but for almost all cervical cancer cases the cause remains to be an infection from human papillomavirus (HPV).
Thankfully, not all infections with HPV cause cervical cancer. Most women get the HPV infection in their lifetime but the infectivity gets cleared on their own in some years. So for a full blown cervical cancer, other risk factors have a major role to play in culminating it to develop it as a cancerous disease.
Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer
Some genetic and lifestyle factors may increase the risk for HPV contraction, which may lead to cervical cancer, like
- first sexual intercourse at a young age
- multiple sex partners
- history of other sexually transmitted infections (such as gonorrhoea or chlamydia)
- sexual relation with a man whose partner has/had cervical cancer
- more than three 3 pregnancies or a pregnancy before the age of 17
- family history of cervical cancer
- long-term use of oral contraceptives (more than 5 years)
- weakened immune system
- smoking
- women whose partners are uncircumcised
- exposure to tetrachloroethylene, a chemical used in dry cleaning & metal degreasing
- unhygienic living conditions
All the above conditions may contribute to a pre-existing HPV infection in a woman and lead to cervical cancer
To live healthy & happy, one must keep a check on the body’s functioning by going for regular health checkups. This helps in assessing risk factors and diagnosing diseases at an early stage, which will result in effective treatment and better management of the condition.
Know your complete health status by full body checkup packages designed and facilitated by Indus Health Plus, the preventive checkup specialist.
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