Between the commercials & decades of preventative measures available to people as young as teenagers, why isn’t general causation info more transparent?
In: 103
HPV is a virus. Viruses reproduce by sneaking into your cells and changing how they reproduce.
Viruses don’t just make the cells make more of the virus, they actually leave behind information too. That left behind information can prevent the cell from shutting down if something goes wrong.
All cancer is a collection of cells that are dividing uncontrollably. HPV just enables that in certain cell types, which are found in the mouth and reproductive organs. Luckily, the virus doesn’t spread very fast, so the damage is mainly limited to places with direct contact to the infected fluids.
So some scientists think it works like this: there are special cells in the body called stem cells that can become any type they want, say a muscle or a skin cell. This is good and needed.
Some viruses can infect a stem cell and it’s not always really bad. But some viruses tell the cell to create substances that keep the stem cell and any other cells around it from dying naturally. This natural death is called apoptosis.
HPV is one of these types of viruses that tell cells to stop dying, which is called an oncovirus. What it really means is some strains or types of HPV can sometimes infect a stem cell and keep it from dying naturally and to create chemical blockers for all the cells around it to do the same. The stem cell keeps dividing and dividing and the cells don’t die and soon become cancer stem cells.
What this means is these cancer stem cells can divide endlessly and create any of the cell types in order for the tumor to continue. But cancer stem cells also make it easier for the cancer to spread to other organs in the body, too.
So some scientists think it works like this: there are special cells in the body called stem cells that can become any type they want, say a muscle or a skin cell. This is good and needed.
Some viruses can infect a stem cell and it’s not always really bad. But some viruses tell the cell to create substances that keep the stem cell and any other cells around it from dying naturally. This natural death is called apoptosis.
HPV is one of these types of viruses that tell cells to stop dying, which is called an oncovirus. What it really means is some strains or types of HPV can sometimes infect a stem cell and keep it from dying naturally and to create chemical blockers for all the cells around it to do the same. The stem cell keeps dividing and dividing and the cells don’t die and soon become cancer stem cells.
What this means is these cancer stem cells can divide endlessly and create any of the cell types in order for the tumor to continue. But cancer stem cells also make it easier for the cancer to spread to other organs in the body, too.
So some scientists think it works like this: there are special cells in the body called stem cells that can become any type they want, say a muscle or a skin cell. This is good and needed.
Some viruses can infect a stem cell and it’s not always really bad. But some viruses tell the cell to create substances that keep the stem cell and any other cells around it from dying naturally. This natural death is called apoptosis.
HPV is one of these types of viruses that tell cells to stop dying, which is called an oncovirus. What it really means is some strains or types of HPV can sometimes infect a stem cell and keep it from dying naturally and to create chemical blockers for all the cells around it to do the same. The stem cell keeps dividing and dividing and the cells don’t die and soon become cancer stem cells.
What this means is these cancer stem cells can divide endlessly and create any of the cell types in order for the tumor to continue. But cancer stem cells also make it easier for the cancer to spread to other organs in the body, too.
What I do know is the decision to vaccinate boys came from the dramatic drop in cervical cancers in young women Scotland in the first 10 years after the vaccination campaign started. The number to treat to prevent one case of cancer was ridiculously hard to calculate until they had live data.
While many people worry about the self swabbing cervical screening we are going to be rolling out in NZ next year, I see it as a sign of good progress AND expect to see reduced frequency of PAP smears in younger people with known vaccine history
(And yes I dragged my step kid to get the course of shots completed when I realized she had been allowed to get out of them because she was “scared of needles”)
What I do know is the decision to vaccinate boys came from the dramatic drop in cervical cancers in young women Scotland in the first 10 years after the vaccination campaign started. The number to treat to prevent one case of cancer was ridiculously hard to calculate until they had live data.
While many people worry about the self swabbing cervical screening we are going to be rolling out in NZ next year, I see it as a sign of good progress AND expect to see reduced frequency of PAP smears in younger people with known vaccine history
(And yes I dragged my step kid to get the course of shots completed when I realized she had been allowed to get out of them because she was “scared of needles”)
[deleted]
[deleted]
One really shitty thing about HPV, is that all these years later since the virus started attention, there still isn’t any way to test if a male is carrying the virus. Doctors can only test for it in women. So if you’re a guy, you could be carrying it for years and years and not have a clue.
What I do know is the decision to vaccinate boys came from the dramatic drop in cervical cancers in young women Scotland in the first 10 years after the vaccination campaign started. The number to treat to prevent one case of cancer was ridiculously hard to calculate until they had live data.
While many people worry about the self swabbing cervical screening we are going to be rolling out in NZ next year, I see it as a sign of good progress AND expect to see reduced frequency of PAP smears in younger people with known vaccine history
(And yes I dragged my step kid to get the course of shots completed when I realized she had been allowed to get out of them because she was “scared of needles”)
Latest Answers