Dr Oz: Cervical Cancer, Pap Smears & Female Condoms

Dr Oz: How Often To Get Pap Smears

Dr Oz did a show on Pap Smears, Cervical Cancer and Female Condoms, which help to prevent getting the Human Papillomavirus or HPV in the first place.  When is the last time that you had a Pap Smear?  What exactly does the doctor do during a Pap Smear?  Here are some great details that Doctor Oz revealed:

Dr Oz: Pap Smear

Doctor Oz said that Pap Smears look for precancerous cells on a woman’s cervix, which can diagnose you with Cervical Cancer.  The amazing thing is that if you catch Cervical Cancer early, it is much simpler to take care of.  Here are the steps the doctor goes through when giving you a Pap Smear:

1.  They take a speculum and warm it up.  Then they insert it into you to open it up so that the cervix can be reached.

2.  The doctor uses an instrument to scrape off some of the cells on your cervix, and then carefully takes the instrument out.

3.  The cells removed from your cervix are placed onto a slide and are examined under a microscope.

4.  If the cells are healthy, there will not be too many dark nuclei appearing on the slide.  However, if there are lots of unhealthy cells, then there will be quite a few cells with dark nuclei.

Dr Oz: Cervical Cancer Prevention

Dr Oz said that it is crucial to catch Cervical Cancer before it becomes advanced.  Here is the chart that he showed for often we should be getting Pap Smears:

1.  Starting at age 21 – 30, get a Pap Smear every 2 years

2.  If you are over 30 years old, get a Pap Smear every 3 years

3.  If you are over 65m then talk to your doctor because you may or may not need to still get Pap Smears

Doctor Oz also mentioned that it is a good sign if you have had 3 normal Pap Smears in a row.  If you missed the show where Dr Oz spoke about Cancer Fighting Foods (like tomatoes which fight Cervical Cancer), then definitely click here to get the full cancer-fighting grocery list: Dr Oz Cancer Fighting Foods

Dr Oz: Female Condoms Prevent HPV

Dr Oz showed a Female Condom, which looks similar to a male condom but it is much larger.  Many people do not know about Female Condoms, but they are a great way to give women the power to protect themselves against getting Human Papillomavirus or HPV, which causes Cervical Cancer.  Dr Oz said that Cervical Cancer is preventable by avoiding getting HPV in the first place.  One option is to use a Male Condom, but it is liberating to know that women can also use a Female Condom to protect themselves, instead of counting on men to do the right thing for our health.  I would also highly recommend reading this recap from another Dr Oz Show where he speaks more about HPV and the new HPV Vaccine that is available:  Dr Oz Biggest Cancer Lies