 Good Nutrition
Eating well is important before, during and after cancer treatment. You need the right amount of calories to maintain a healthy weight. You also need enough protein to keep up your strength. Eating well may help you feel better and have more energy.
Sometimes, especially during or soon after treatment, you may not feel like eating. Perhaps foods don’t taste the same as they used to. Ask your doctor about speaking with a registered dietitian who can suggest ways to help you meet your nutritional needs.
HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer and abnormal cervical cells. Up to 80 percent of people have been exposed to HPV at some point in their lives.
Although HPV can be spread during vaginal, anal and oral sex, such contact does not have to occur for the infection to spread. All that is needed is skin-to-skin contact with an area of the body infected with HPV.
Women who have had more than one sex partner are more likely to get infected with HPV, but a woman who has had only one sex partner can still get infected. Even women who are not sexually active can become infected with HPV through skin-toskin contact with an infected person.
Condoms provide some protection against HPV, but they do not completely prevent infection. Still, men who regularly use condoms are less likely to be infected with HPV and pass it on to their partners.
Vaccines are available that can protect against certain HPV infections. Some can also protect against infections with other HPV subtypes, including those that cause anal and genital warts. These vaccines only work to prevent HPV infection— they will not treat an infection already present. That is why, to be most effective, the HPV vaccine should be given before a person becomes exposed to HPV.
These vaccines help prevent precancers and cancers of the cervix. The HPV vaccination is recommended for preteen girls and boys 11 or 12 years old.
Q. I’m 65 years old and have received Pap tests in the past. Do I need to continue this testing?
A. If you have had three negative Pap tests within a 10-year period and you are 65 to 70 years old, you probably can stop having these screening tests. If your doctor also has been screening you for HPV (human papillomavirus) and the tests are coming back negative, it is likely that it would be all right to stop having Pap tests.
Q. I am in a same-sex relationship, so do I need cervical cancer screening?
A. Because HPV is so widespread, women in the LGBT communities are at risk for cervical cancer, especially if one of the partners, or a partner’s previous sex partner, has had some heterosexual exposure. So continued cervical cancer screening is recommended.
Q. I am not sexually active. Do I still need to get a Pap test?
A. Because it is possible to be exposed to HPV without sexual contact, it’s a good idea to start having a Pap test at age 21. After that, doctors generally recommend getting tested every two or three years. After age 30, Pap smears are usually recommended every three years, or every five years when the Pap smear is combined with an HPV test.