Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is associated with cervical cancer. Now researchers, working for the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, compared 1670 patients who had oral cancer with 1732 healthy volunteers. The participants lived in Europe, Canada, Australia, Cuba and Sudan. HPV16, the strain seen most commonly also in cervical cancer, was found in most of the oral cancers too. This latest research is reported in the New Scientist Magazine. The research findings showed that those with oral cancers containing the HPV16 strain were three times as likely to report having had oral sex as those whose tumour did not contain HPV16. There was no difference between men and women in terms of how likely the virus was to be present in the cancers.
The risks are not big, 1 in 10,000 or so. Smoking and alcohol are also known to be asociated with oral cancer. High consumptions of alcohol and cigarettes are estimated to cause 75-90 percent of all cases of oral cancer. So together they can have a cumulative effect.
So those who smoke, drink and engage in oral sexually activities (cunnilingus or fellatio) remember your oral and genital hygiene too.
Help is also on the way, scientists are working on a vaccine to counter HPV infections and this should work for both cervical and oral varieties.
HPV infection is a big problem as it can be asymptomatic and in the US, a third of 25 year-old ladies are HPV infected at any one time. World wide, cervical cancer causes 250,000 deaths a year.
The Funnies, The Spins, The Humourous and The Humourless......
"I do not aim at fusion. Each religion has its own contribution to make to human evolution.
I regard the great faiths of the WORLD as so many branches of a tree, each distinct from the other though having the same source.----Mahatma Ghandhi.
bravenet.com