Category: Female Specific Tests
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) today released new guidelines for cervical cancer testing that may impact women’s decisions regarding when to begin screening for the disease.
The guidelines, published in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, recommend that women first undergo cervical cancer testing at age 21 and continue to undergo screening once every two years until they turn 30. Women over 30 can safely be rescreened once every three years, according to the new advice.
"The tradition of doing a pap test every year has not been supported by recent scientific evidence," said Dr Alan G. Waxman of the University of New Mexico.
He added, "Screening at less frequent intervals prevents cervical cancer just as well, has decreased costs and avoids unnecessary interventions that could be harmful."
According to ACOG, pap tests have helped reduce cervical cancer rates in the U.S. by more than 50 percent in the past 30 years. Currently, the majority of deaths from the disease in the U.S. are among women who receive infrequent cervical cancer testing, or who have never been screened.
Because cervical cancer is asymptomatic in its early stages, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend testing for early detection of the disease.
Related Articles from Private MD:
News Categories:
Advanced Lipid Treatment I Allergy Testing Anemia and RBC disorders Autoimmune Diseases Bariatric Lab Testing Blood and Blood Diseases Breast Cancer Detection and Tumor Markers Celiac Disease Testing Chlamydia Coagulation and blood clotting disorders Colon DNA, Paternity and Genetic testing Diabetes Drug Screening Environmental Toxin Testing Female Specific Tests Gastrointestinal Diseases General Health General Wellness HIV HIV monitoring/Treatment/Testing/Post Diagnos Heart Health and Cholesterol Herpes Hormones and Metabolism Infectious Diseases Infertility Testing-Male Infertitlity Hormone Testing Kidney Diseases Leukemia and WBC disorders Liver Liver Diseases Lyme Disease Male Specific Tests Menopause/Peri-Menopausal Diagnosis Musculoskeletal Diseases Nicotine Screening Organ Specific Testing Ovarian Prostate Prostate Sexually Transmitted Diseases Thyroid Diseases Transgender Hormone Testing-Male to Female Transgender Hormone Testing-female to male Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and TreatmentVisit the Health News Archive: Click Here
Back to top
Results
