That's Fit

When we hear about people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, we tend to associate such loss with poorer countries than our own. This assumption is not terribly off-base, as many third-world nations do suffer an enormous amount of preventable human loss due to a lack of access to proper medical treatment. However, such vaccine-preventable loss is not exclusive to these less fortunate countries; an article in Women's Health magazine asserts that 50,000 adult Americans die each year for the same reason.

According to the article, the following is a list of five of the eleven vaccinations that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests getting:

1) Hepatitis A: A virus spread by infected food and water that can cause liver infection. Most often a danger to travelers to foreign countries.

2) HPV: The Human Papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted disease that can potentially lead to cervical cancer in women. Genital HPV is the most common sexual transmitted infection in the United States. About 6.2 million Americans will get infected with genital HPV this year.

A national study of teenage girls has determined that one in four has a sexually transmitted disease. The study monitored four different STDs -- HPV, chlamydia, herpes simples type 2, and trichomoniasis. Almost 50% of African-American girls in the study and 20% of Caucasian girls were infected with at least one of the STDs. 15% had more than one STD. The most common conditions were HPV and chlamydia.

Education, prevention, and even vaccination are so important for young girls who may become sexually active. I'm not a parent to a girl, but I do have a young boy. He's only 10, but I don't think it's too soon to discuss these issues. Right now, I keep it age-appropriate and talk a lot about respecting others, how to treat girls with respect, and the importance of privacy. For tips on how to talk to teens about sex, click here.

Gardasil, if you've been living under a rock, is the relatively new vaccine meant to protect girls from HPV. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer. It's been nothing if not a controversial vaccine. When its use was approved, some parents cheered, others worried over a vaccine so new. States tried to mandate that girls get the vaccine, but the outcry was so great that that issue is still in limbo.

Now some are asking the question, "Should boys get the vaccine too?" Receiving the vaccine would mean immunity from genital warts for them, but the benefit would be far reaching. Not being infected with HPV would mean they wouldn't pass it on to women during sexual intercourse. Would parents consider giving a vaccine to their sons that would ultimately protect their sons' future girlfriends and wives?

I'm curious to hear from parents of boys. Would you consider giving your sons the HPV vaccine?

If you had a cold, you'd know about it, right? If you had an ear infection, you'd know about that as well, correct? But, what about Chlamydia -- if you had it, would you know?

According to an article featured on WebMD, you may not know. Some sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea, have symptoms that are often confused with signs of a bladder infection, while Chlamydia, as mentioned, may not show any symptoms at all.

Here is a list of the six most common sexually transmitted diseases in women, all of which are linked to more detailed descriptions of symptoms and treatments from the WebMD site.

1. Chlamydia

2. Gonorrhea

3. Genital Herpes

4. HPV and Genital Warts

5. Trichomoniasis

6. HIV/AIDS

The HPV vaccine is making headlines again, this time because it's causing girls to faint. Some theorize that it's the pain of the shot causing girls to pass out. The HPV shot is turning out to be one of the more painful vaccinations, not just from the pick of the needle, but also from the burn of the vaccine going in.

I'll admit that when I first read this headline, I thought "Oh, come on." I was concerned that because this is a shot for girls and young women, they felt safe assuming that the fainting stems from an emotional reaction, and I thought that was unfair. But it turns out that they already know that teens do faint more often when faced with a needle, and because the HPV vaccine is a three-shot process, it makes sense that it could cause a rise in the incidence of fainting. I just hope that they rule out physical reactions before chalking it up to fear and nervousness alone.

My girls are still young enough that I have some time to wait and watch what develops with the HPV vaccine. If you have older daughters, or if you're a young woman yourself...what do you think about this sometimes controversial vaccine?

Let's face it, nobody enjoys going for their yearly Pap test. It's just one of those parts of being an adult that we women do because it's good for our health (and unfortunately way too many women don't bother at all). I assume men feel the same way about prostrate exams. It's not fun, but still we've got to get it done.

The good news is that apparently a new, more effective test to screen for cervical cancer has been developed. A study conducted at McGill University, which is about to published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the HPV test was able to detect pre-cancerous lesions in up to 94.6% of study participants while the Pap test discovered only 55.4%. That's a pretty major difference, especially where cancer screening is concerned.

Also, according to the article, women who receive negative results from an HPV test, which screens for the HPV virus which causes most if not all cases of cervical cancer, will only have to repeat the exam every 3 years. Unfortunately, those who have the HPV test and receive a positive result will also have to undergo the Pap test to check for pre-cancerous cells. If you want to know more about the study, take a look at the entire article here and for more information on the HPV test, consult your physician.

This article claims that most women (at least those in New Jersey, a state that requires annual vehicle inspections) take better care of their car than they do of their body. I know what my car looks like on a daily basis, so this statement has me concerned for women everywhere!

Go ahead and get that car inspected. Get your oil changed, your tires rotated, and those brakes repaired so that you can safely and legally hit the road again. Then use that car to get yourself to your doctor on a yearly basis and have these five important screening tests done:

A recent outburst of madness in Texas happened when governor Rick Perry pushed through legislation that would require vaccinations for the Human Papillomavius (HPV) for teenage girls.

While that was quite a shocking idea to those that believe the government should keep its nose out of private life, members of the Texas state legislature must have also felt that way.

In a 135-to-2 vote, the Texas House of Representatives gave final passage on Wednesday to a Senate bill that bars the state from ordering the shots until at least 2011. With Gov. Perry being accused all over the place of using his position as an abuse of executive authority, it looks like his proposal is going nowhere now anyway.

Merck has stopped promoting the mandatory use of Gardasil that targets the human papillomavirus (HPV). It's probably no coincidence that their turn-around comes at the same time that reports from the National Vaccine Information Center are surfacing about fainting and dizziness reported by dozens of patients as side effects of Gardasil. There are also some concerns that Gardasil may cause infertility.

An early version of the Virginia house bill contained a clause addressing liability issues "if a female who is inoculated with the HPV vaccine becomes incapable of naturally conceiving a healthy child carried to live birth or experiences impaired fertility as a result of the HPV vaccine".

Legislators got that idea because the vaccine contains Polysorbate 80, which is linked to infertility in mice. The Merck HPV vaccine also contains sodium borate which is a common roach killer in each of its three doses. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health notes of sodium borate that it "is now known to be a dangerous poison, it is no longer commonly used in medical preparations." That was published in 2005. Yet the FDA in 2006 approved the Merck vaccine with this "dangerous poison" to be "commonly used" in these vaccinations. The symptoms of sodium borate poisoning according to the NLM citation include many of the side effects being reported after less than six months of the vaccine usage. These include convulsions, collapse, and seizures that include twitching of facial muscles, arms, hands, legs, and feet.

How many of these young women taking this vaccine will find out that they are barren 10 to 15 years down the road and what will their options be if they are forced to take this drug because of legislation mandates?

In addition to the semi-disastrous affair of Texas Governor Rick Perry's mandate to vaccinate all young females with an HPV vaccine recently, now another state is going to the same lengths. Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine indicated last week that he would sign legislation requiring all sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against HPV -- the sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer.

Most parents probably have mixed feelings about this if they are informed. Mandated vaccinations are always controversial because this is a free country -- and those parents should be free to choose if their kids receive or do not receive a vaccine for anything. A life-threatening illness is one thing -- but a virus that can be spread through sexual contact is quite another thing.

What do you think? Should vaccinations against a sexually-transmitted virus be mandated by any state government? Although Virginia parents can "opt out", they must know quite a bit beforehand that they have that option.

Social clubs for people with herpes -- I have to admit, that's something I would have never considered. But once I started reading that article, I realized it really was a very compassionate idea for people who struggle with this very common sexually transmitted disease.

About 25% of women and 20% of men have genital herpes. Besides the obvious health issues, the disease can make dating difficult and awkward. When to tell a potential partner, how to tell a potential partner, and then dealing with the fallout afterward are all things herpes sufferers have to deal with. In response, several online dating groups have been popping up across the nation. Some offer social outings, others offer emotional support, and they all provide a pool of potential soul mates who not only know that you suffer from the disease, but also have it themselves (so there is no concern of spreading.)

Interesting concept, and also timely considering the recent news that one in four American women have been infected with the HPV virus, which -- besides its well known connection to cervical cancer -- can also cause genital warts. What do you think?

This ought to make tens of millions of American women pay attention -- it's estimated that more than 25% of females in the U.S. between the ages of 14 to 59 are infected with the sexually transmitted human wart virus.

This virus, commonly known as the HPV (human papillomavirus), is the cause of most cases of cervical cancer according to U.S. health officials.

But, 25%? That's tens of millions of infections. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta said that among 20 to 24 year old women, a 44.8% figure indicated those who were infected. That's almost half of all women between 20 and 24 living in the U.S. That is, umm, quite a significant figure -- yes?

Now, since there was a newly approved FDA drug meant to vaccinate against the HPV, the conspiracy theorists may see this as fearmongering to ensure these millions of women are "vaccinated" while the drug makers rake in the dough. What's your take?