Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that affects many women. However, the public knowledge about cervical cancer is rather limited. Studies have shown that very few people realize exactly how prevalent the disease is or how they can get it. In this article, we'll attempt to clear up some of the facts regarding cervical cancer so that you can get a better idea of what it is and how it affects people.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that has been described as having five principle stages - stage 0 to stage IV. During stage 0, the cancer is undetectable and some pre-cancerous cells are present around the cervix. As the stage number rises, the disease progresses more and more, until stage IV, where the disease is said to have spread to other parts of the body such as the lungs or the bladder.

The National Cancer Institute conducted a study in 2005 that showed that only forty percent of women knew what human papilloma virus infection was. If you were unaware, human papilloma virus is the virus that causes genital warts to occur, and it is also a major risk factor for the development of cervical cancer in women. During the same study, women were also asked if they realized the connection between the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer; a mere twenty percent said that they knew the connection was there. This clearly illustrates the lack of public knowledge regarding the disease.

There are over fifty different types of human papilloma virus strains that we have discovered so far. Some of them are very insignificant and may result in warts appearing on the hands or the feet of an individual (known as plantar warts). There are approximately fifteen 'high risk' types of the virus, and the vaccine that has been created in order to limit women's exposure to the virus work towards eliminating the possibility of the woman developing strains 6, 11, 16, and 18, which are among the most commonly found strains of the virus.

In order to make sure that you are safe against cervical cancer, the best course of action that you can take is to be responsible when it comes to sexual activity and to ensure that you are getting pap smears on a regular basis. Though the recommended amount of time between pap smears is often quoted as between one and five years, most doctors recommend that the procedure be undertaken at least once every two years.

The link between cervical cancer and the human papilloma virus wasn't always known. In the early days of the twentieth century, many physicians noticed that cervical cancer was more prevalent in women who were sex workers, which was a prominent step in establishing where the problem of cervical cancer stems from.

Hopefully this article taught you some things that you didn't know before about cervical cancer. The more that you learn, the better off you are when it comes to keeping cervical cancer out of your life.