Strollerderby : cervical cancer

They Say: Circumcision Tied to Lower Rates of STDs

Kate Tuttle — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:02:00 GMT

A new study seems to confirm earlier findings that circumcision may offer men protection against some sexually transmitted diseases. The research is far from clear, though, and will likely not clear up any of the confusion facing parents deciding whether or not to circumcize their newborn sons (once performed at rates approaching 90% in the United States, routine infant circumsicion is hitting all-time lows, with something like half of all boys born in the Western US avoiding the procedure).

The study, published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, did not look at infant circumcision in the United States. Doctors followed a group of 3,000 uncircumcized Ugandan men, none of whom were infected with herpes (specifically HSV2, the strain that causes genital lesions). Half were immediately circumsized, while men in the other group underwent the procedure two years later. At the end of the survey, according to the New York Times, "the researchers estimated that circumcised men had a 25 percent reduced risk of infection." A smaller subgroup was also evaluated for HPV, the human papilloma virus that causes genital warts and is a leading cause of cervical cancer in women. In that group, the risk for circumsized men was calculated to be 35% lower.

Critics will doubtless point out that studies of adult men in Africa may not signify equivalent results when looking at children born and raised in the United States. And the trend for the past decade or so has seen a rise in advocacy groups who argue that the procedure is an unnecessary surgery that may be harmful to a baby boy's future sexual life. Partly as a result of this movement, fewer doctors push for the procedure, and now Medicaid does not cover it in 16 states. If studies like this do turn out to apply across the board, then perhaps that pendulum will swing the other way. For parents expecting a baby boy, the decision will always be a tough one; here's hoping that some scientific consensus will emerge to help guide the way.

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FDA Asked to Approve Gardasil for Boys

JeanneSager — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:25:00 GMT

If you thought parenting boys meant you were off the hook on having to decide whether or not to go with the Gardasil shot, listen up.

Gardasil, the HPV prevention shot aimed girls nine to twenty-six, has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by maker Merck for consideration as a vaccine for boys.

Obviously, we're not talking about cervical cancer here (please, tell me that was obvious), but a Merck study tracked four thousand boys ages sixteen to twenty-six who were given Gardasil and found it prevented ninety percent of cases of penile cancer and genital warts caused by the four common virus strains targeted by the vaccine.

The proposal calls for the vaccine to be approved for boys in the same age group as that already approved for girls - nine to twenty-six - and all report indicate it would come at a similar cost.

The three-series shot has drawn controversy for its $360 pricetag in the past, and its not the only one. Parents have had mixed reactions to the vaccine, some rushing out to have it administered to be on the safe side. As reported on Babble last month, however, others parents say Gardasil has caused paralysis in their daughters. I'm still undecided, myself, and hoping more conclusive research on the risks and benefits is available six years down the line when my daughter would first be "of age" for Gardasil.

But if the Merck study results are to be believed, this could save little boys lives. What do you think parents, would you take your sons in for the shot?

Image: Jezebel

Source: USA Today Via Jezebel

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Mother Blames Cervical Cancer Vaccine For Daughter's Paralysis

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:20:00 GMT

The cervical cancer vaccine can’t seem to untangle itself of controversy. First, abstinence groups worked overtime to block its widespread use, arguing that it would encourage premarital sex. What it actually does is prevent girls from contracting four of the strands of HPV that are responsible for the majority of cervical cancer cases in the world. Yes, HPV is an STD, but the vaccine has almost nothing to do with premarital sex. Since HPV is so easily spread, it is entirely possible that a girl could wait until marriage to have sex and then contract HPV if her husband had had as much as one sexual encounter before the marriage.

Fortunately, the abstinence argument against the vaccine has been mostly steamrolled, particularly in the U.K., where a government-funded program aims to save 400 lives a year by administering the Cervarix vaccine to 300,000 12- and 13-year-old girls. (In the U.S., the more commonly used, but very similar, vaccine is called Gardasil.)

But the program has gotten some bad—and scary—press recently, after a 12-year-old girl became paralyzed from the waist down shortly after receiving the vaccine at school. Ashleigh Cave’s mother, Cheryl, believes that the shot was implicated in her daughter’s illness, but doctors have claimed that the vaccination was unrelated to the sudden onset of Ashleigh’s dizziness and eventual loss of the use of her legs.

Although nothing I’ve read indicates that Ashleigh has been definitely diagnosed yet, it seems clear that she has Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause paralysis, and which has previously been linked (perhaps wrongly) with the cervical cancer vaccine.

13 girls are reported to have been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré after receiving the Gardasil vaccine in the U.S., causing some concern among parents about the safety of getting their daughters vaccinated. However, considering the total number of girls who received the vaccine and the natural incidence of the disease, 13 is within the number of people who would be expected to fall prey to Guillain-Barré just by chance. Doctors and health experts continue to assert that there is no reason to believe the cervical cancer vaccine is unsafe.

Still, it is only too easy to understand why Ashleigh’s mother harbors her doubts, considering that her daughter’s initial diagnosis was “vertigo and generalised myalgia, probably due to recent vaccinations.” I hope further investigations can set the public’s collective mind at ease.

Photo: straightfromthedoc.com

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Zan And Jayna, Back Off! These Wonder Twins Save Mom In Utero

Amy S.F. Lutz — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:03:00 GMT

Imagine yourself the proud mom-to-be of twin girls. You're sitting there one day, gestating, minding your own business, when suddenly, thunk! One of the girls kicks you in the cervix and out pops a tumor you didn't even know you had.

Thanks to her ninja babies, Michelle Stepney of London is alive and cancer-free. Low-dose chemo until little Alice and Harriet were born kept the cancer under control until a month after the birth, when Michelle got a hysterectomy.

Michelle has since been nominated for a Woman of Courage award by Cancer Research UK. But if you ask me, the twins are the ones who deserve the award. I have 19-month old twins myself, and the most heroic thing they've ever done is schedule completely unauthorized tests of the emergency broadcast system at 2:30 am for three months straight. Just to, you know, make sure their parents knew what to do in case of a real emergency.

Doctors Warn Against Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gardasil

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:22:00 GMT

Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine that has been at the center of increasing controversy, recently became the topic of concern for several University of San Francisco doctors. In last week's New England Journal of Medicine, doctors warned against wide-spread use of the vaccine until further testing is completed.

The doctors raise many questions about the effectiveness and long-term safety of the drug, and call into serious doubt that states like California will be able to successfully require vaccination against cervical cancer. The vaccine, produced by Merck, was approved by the FDA in 2006 for broader use, but concerns remain that Gardasil treats only certain types of cancer-causing viruses and that the long term effects of the vaccine on women is unknown.

As a parent with three daughters, I'm inclined to go ahead and vaccinate my kids when the times comes. But concerns raised by these doctors and others reinforces the importance of longitudinal studies to see the real impact of Gardasil on women's long-term health.

Keep Your Laws Off My Kid: When is Government Too Intrusive?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:31:00 GMT

Government programs designed to help children frequently succeed at providing early education (Head Start), nutrition (Free Lunch Program), and health insurance (Medicaid), but when does help become unwanted intervention? According to a Chicago Tribune op-ed, that line has already been crossed.

In the debate over required vaccination against cervical cancer, which is being hotly contested in several states, opponents feel the rights of the parents are being overrun by government interests and that ultimately parents should be able to decide what is best for their children.

The problem always rests in legislating childrearing practices for everyone. The laws that are meant to protect children in those cases where the parents are unfit or unwilling to do so provide protections that we as a society cannot live without. But at what point are these helps a hindrance to personal liberty? Personally, I prefer to err on the side of over-helping than neglecting an issue, especially where children are concerned.

Gardasil: Mom Blogger Explains Why She'll Vaccinate Her Daughter

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:06:00 GMT

Recently, Alisyn Cobb wrote about various states proposing bills that would make the new human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, a requirement for girls 13 and under. HPV is a virus that causes cervical cancer.

However you feel about this highly-charged issue, there's no denying that this is a big medical breakthrough. Those of us that have suffered through abnormal paps and painful culposcopies are sitting up and taking notice. Especially if we have daughters.

Mir, the veteran blogger behind of Woulda Coulda Shoulda and Want Not, wrote an eloquent piece for BlogHer about why she will vaccinate her daughter as soon as she is able. She makes the case by saying:

If I have my daughter vaccinated at 9, it's all about disease prevention and nothing more. If I wait until she's older, then the other issues creep in unbidden. If I have my 11-year-old vaccinated just as puberty is coming to roost, I will feel compelled to tie this to issues of her budding sexuality, and perhaps seize on this rather inorganic opportunity to espouse my personal values and embarrass her terribly. If I wait until she's a full-fledged teenager, the unpleasant reality is that---all parenting and values aside, no matter what they are---we may be too late, for one thing, and she may feel compelled to seize on this rather inorganic opportunity to either protest her chastity or tell me what I can do with my values and embarrass us both terribly. She may even---with the invincible wisdom of a teen---insist she doesn't need it.

Read her post and click through all her links. Then join the thoughtful discussion in the comments. It will give you lots to chew on.

[via BlogHer]

Strollerderby : cervical cancer

They Say: Circumcision Tied to Lower Rates of STDs

FDA Asked to Approve Gardasil for Boys

AAP: Delayed Vaccines Too Risky for Kids

Vatican to Women: The Pill Pollutes Environment, His Testes

New to Birth Certificate: Does Mom Have Chlamydia?

Mother Blames Cervical Cancer Vaccine For Daughter's Paralysis

Teen Has Cancer and Lives in a Car

Mother Blames Cervical Cancer Vaccine For Daughter's Paralysis

Zan And Jayna, Back Off! These Wonder Twins Save Mom In Utero

Doctors Warn Against Cervical Cancer Vaccine Gardasil

Keep Your Laws Off My Kid: When is Government Too Intrusive?

Gardasil: Mom Blogger Explains Why She'll Vaccinate Her Daughter