What Is The Human Papilloma Virus?
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus that infects the squamous epithelial cells of the human body. These cells are found on the skin and lining the mouth, throat, anus, vulva, vagina, cervix, and the head of the penis. The HPV virus is the virus that causes warts.
There are over one hundred different types of HPV. These different types can be divided into two broad categories, those that cause common warts on the skin, and those that infect the mucosal tissues. This latter kind can cause genital warts or cancer of several genital structures such as the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, urethra, as well as the tongue and throat.
How Is The Human Papilloma Virus Contracted?
The HPV virus enters the body through a break in the skin. This can be a cut or a minuscule tear. Common warts are spread through skin to skin contact. The mucosal kind is most commonly spread through sexual intercourse or contact between the genitals. Oral sex can result in infections of the throat.
Roughly seventy-five percent of people who are sexually active will contract some form of genital HPV at least once in their lives.
What Are the Symptoms of Infection?
Symptoms vary depending on the type of HPV and the location. Abnormal growths known as warts can form on the hands, fingers, and feet. These are usually harmless, although they can be painful. In some rare cases, these infections may lead to skin cancer in individuals with extremely weakened immune systems.
The mucosal types of HPV are responsible for anal and genital warts. Other strains of mucosal HPV can cause abnormal changes in the cells which can, over time, lead to cancer. These types don’t result in any observable changes until the infected cells become pre-cancerous or cancerous. Cervical cancer is the most common. Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV. Seventy percent of these cases are caused by HPV type 16 or 18.
What Treatments Are Available?
There is not, as of this time, a treatment to actually get rid of HPV. In most cases, HPV infections will clear up on their own within a year or two. If bothersome, warts, both on the skin and genitals, can be removed through surgery, freezing, burning, acid, or various creams designed to combat the virus. Having these treatments doesn’t mean that the virus is inactivated and warts can reappear and the virus can still be spread to other people.
The strains of the virus that can cause cancer typically don’t show any symptoms, so no treatment is required. Women should get regular pap tests to check for genital, especially cervical, abnormalities, and some doctors are doing anal pap tests on men who are homosexual or bisexual.
A new vaccine recently became available that confers immunity to the four strains of HPV that are responsible for most cases of genital cancer and genital warts. It is approved for use in young women. The vaccine is not effective if a woman has already been exposed to these particular strains, so taking it before becoming sexually active will give the greatest protection. Women who take the vaccine should still get regular pap tests, since thirty percent of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV strains not included in the vaccine.
Learn more about ways to boost your immune system naturally here.
Sources:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_FAQ_HPV_Vaccines.asp
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hpv-infection
