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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted disease that is passed on by sexual contact. It is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States . It has been known to cause serious health conditions such as, cervical cancer and genital warts .
Some of the most frequent risk factors for people to get HPV include:
- Age of their first time of intercourse
- The number of partners they have
- The number of partners their partners have had
- The non-use of condoms or other protection while having intercourse
- Having a weak immune system
Genital infections are the highest risk factors related to the virus. A study was conducted to see if there were differences and correlations between the risk factors of getting HPV in men and women.
Conclusions of Men
One conclusion found that a male’s risk for being infected with any type of HPV increased with the number of partners the subjects studied had in their lifetime. It was found that men are more likely to carry different types of HPV, than women.
This can be due to circumcision. Men who were circumcised were less likely to have the type of HPV that causes the formation or growth of tumors, than those who were not circumcised. Previous sexually transmitted disease exposure was also reported a factor, but was not determined what diseases were included.
Conclusions of Women
The current age decreased the risk in females, basically when women age, their risk begins to decline. This is due to built up immunity in women after several exposures to HPV. It also is due to the amount of exposures to the types of HPV that were not oncogenic, or not known to cause the formation and growth of tumors.
Women were also found to be more at risk according to their age at the first time of intercourse and the number of most recent partners. Another part of the study showed that women were at a lower risk for cervical cancer when their sexual partner was circumcised because the men were less likely to carry the disease.
Conclusions Relevant to Both Men and Women
Some of the conclusions drawn illustrated that the risk factors were the same between men and women and mainly were related to the number of partners and unprotected sexual practices. The amount of sexual activity and length of time it continued was found to cause an increase and decrease in risk.
The longer a person is continually sexually active, the less risk they may have, according to the results of the study. On the other hand, a person’s risk is increased if they are sexually active for a shorter amount of time. This could be due to the ability to build up immunity is not prevalent. Both men and women are able to build up immunity over time toward some types of HPV, but it is more frequent in women to have the ability to do so.
The same conclusion is relevant to the amount of exposure to the virus allows the body to make itself stronger to fight against it. The study concluded that the risk factors were very similar in men and women.
Sources:
http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Risk_Factors_for_Genital_HPV_DNA_in_Men_Resemble_Those_Found_in_Women.pdf
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hpv-infectin/DS00906/DSECTION=1
Written by Sue Wheeler for MicroNutra Health™