Women have been getting an earful from the healthcare industry this week. One second the healthcare industry is telling women to get yearly mammograms after 40 years old, the next it’s after 50 years old. One second women are hearing to get pap smears yearly after the age of 18, the next they’re being told to wait until they’re 21 and to get the pap smear every two or three years. What’s next? Drinking heavily during pregnancy is good for the baby and calcium for bone strength is just a myth?
So, what do women do? Who do they believe? I tell you what, if you have had the same family physician and gynecologist for many years, ask them. In many cases, especially if you have a doctor who practices concierge medicine and has the time to take to discuss options with you, your doctor will know the best path for you to take.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists made the release this week that stated women should wait until they’re 21 before their first pap smear, and then only have on three years after that until they reach their 30’s, when they should have one every two years. This is a huge step away from the yearly pap smears that start at age 18.
Many physicians are actually praising the new guidelines, saying that pap smears even before the age of 25 are unnecessary and cost patients more money than they need to spend. While a pap smear tests for many different conditions, it’s HPV that gets the most attention. Most physicians believe, and have the research to back them up, that women under the age of 25 still have a strong enough immune system to take care of any small HPV conditions on its own before it becomes cancerous. Only 0.1 percent of women are affected with cervical cancer before the age of 21.
According to ABCNews, the new guidelines were recommended based on the facts, and based on the concern for women’s mental health. Young women who are told, and scolded, for being affected by HPV in their early 20’s deal with fear, the embarrassment of the condition, and the depression that comes along with knowing cervical cancer is just around the corner. When, in reality, 90 percent of women who are affected by this condition in their early 20’s have a strong enough immune system to fight it before it turns into cancer, and all the worry and depression will have been for nothing.
Of course, there’s always two sides to every decision, and on the other side there are many physicians who are afraid that those women who only come into the office once a year for their ‘annual’ will only come in once every two years. This could create problems for any symptoms missed during those two years of not seeing a doctor for a routine check-up.
Of course, if you are a member of the No Insurance Club, you might as well use the doctor visits that are included in the membership. With the No Insurance club, members are more inclined to visit the doctor for symptoms, being that they get so many doctor visits a year included in the membership.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the No Insurance Club, the fastest growing, most affordable and efficient healthcare program around, check us out at http://www.noinsuranceclub.com.
