January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Care Choices encourages all qualifying female members to get the appropriate preventative care. Below is information about cervical cancer.

What is it?
Cervical cancer is cancer of the lining of the cervix. This cancer does not develop suddenly, but instead the cells in the cervix turn from normal cells, to pre-cancerous cells, and then to cancerous cells. The process takes several years, but may take less time.

What causes cervical cancer?
There are several risk factors that can increase a person’s chance of getting cervical cancer. Some of the risk factors cannot be changed, such as age and race. However, there are many other risk factors that if controlled, can lessen a person’s chance of getting cervical cancer. These are: smoking, HIV infection, diet, multiple pregnancies, and family history.

How is cervical cancer treated?
A regular Pap smear test is the key to preventing deaths from cervical cancer. The Pap smear test is the most commonly used screening method and has been proven to be effective in decreasing the number of cervical cancers. The major purpose of the test is to find any abnormal changes in cells before they become cancerous. If the Pap smear test results are abnormal, then additional procedures must be performed in order to determine if the changes in cell type are a sign of the beginning stages of cervical cancer.

How can cervical cancer be prevented?
Using the same precautions as used with other sexually transmitted diseases can prevent cervical cancer.

For more information please visit the American Cancer Society website www.cancer.org.