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fluffymuffy wrote: »There appear to be different risk groups based on social and maybe racial factors. I don't have access to UK research papers, but here's a US one - http://red.9thunder.com/pdf/gwdt-pdf/10.pdf - which (at a glance) seems to indicate that there the Hispanic population is most at risk.
But most at risk doesn't mean people who aren't in that group are not at risk.
Statistics are just that - statistics. You could be at a very low risk for getting something and still get it!
I don't understand why you wouldn't want to get a test done.0 -
I went for my smear this morning too after putting it off (several months overdue), so thanks to the OP!Life is a gift... and I intend to make the most of mine :A
Never regret something that once made you smile :A0 -
It worries me when some women don't go and have a smear done. I just don't understand why not really. Apart from the obvious nerves at the start!
A smear doesn't bother me at all.
It goes like this - sit in waiting room, nurse (or Doctor) calls you in. Nurse is nice and chatty and just explains a little about the process informally and only for a couple of minutes. She then asks you to go behind the curtain and and slip your pants off and lay on the bed. She then asks you to bring your heels to your bottom and then let your legs relax to the sides. She gets the implement, which isn't scary and not cold like they used to be! The implement doesn't go in far, it just creates a better view for the nurse to see where to take a very gently swab.She puts some gel on it so that it goes in gently, she then gets a swab and puts that in for a couple of seconds and .............that's it! It isn't painful and it is over in seconds! Nurse explains when results will be through and off you go, like nothing happened!
Mainly female nurses do them but if you are worried about that just call your surgery and confirm that you would like a female to do it.
Honestly, it really is not a big deal and it could potentially save your life. We are fortunate to have this available to us for our health. Friends of mine have really benefited from it. Please don't be put off by the very very mild embarrassment that you feel initially0 -
I do respect your right to make the choice bumbledore ~ i,ve been saying all along that you have the choice.
so what was the hysterical indignation about in your OP? That the NHS asked you to make an appointment and provided you with information about the procedure IF you chose to have a smear test?0 -
I'm a little late to the discussion, but I think Bumbledore is referring to a report that has been pretty comprehensively refuted in a (2004) Lancet article, here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673604166749
I'm not sure whether the article is publically available, so here's the abstract:
Background
Recent reports suggest that the reduction in mortality achieved by the UK national cervical screening programme is too small to justify its financial and psychosocial costs, except perhaps in a few high-risk women.
Methods
We analysed trends in mortality before 1988, when the British national screening programme was launched, to estimate what future trends in cervical cancer mortality would have been without any screening.
Findings
Cervical cancer mortality in England and Wales in women younger than 35 years rose three-fold from 1967 to 1987. By 1988, incidence in this age-range was among the highest in the world despite substantial opportunistic screening. Since national screening was started in 1988, this rising trend has been reversed.
Interpretation
Cervical screening has prevented an epidemic that would have killed about one in 65 of all British women born since 1950 and culminated in about 6000 deaths per year in this country. However, these estimates are subject to substantial uncertainty, particularly in relation to the effects of oral contraceptives and changes in sexual behaviour. 80% or more of these deaths (up to 5000 deaths per year) are likely to be prevented by screening, which means that about 100000 (one in 80) of the 8 million British women born between 1951 and 1970 will be saved from premature death by the cervical screening programme at a cost per life saved of about £36 000. The birth cohort trends also provide strong evidence that the death rate throughout life is substantially lower in women who were first screened when they were younger.
The paper was written by scientists from:- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
- Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK
- MRC Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge
Mortgage when started: £330,995
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Arthur C. Clarke0 -
bumbledore wrote: »
You have made your choice to have smear tests at your age so please respect mine to not have them at this stage in my life.
Sure
But why bang on about it in a forum and then give off cos others disagree??
I made my decisions, I didn't feel the need to come spout about it to a bunch of strangers on the net
Some really strange people about who appear to take a delight in taking offense0 -
citricsquid wrote: »"I'm sorry but I've got some bad news, during your testicle exam we noticed some abnormalities. Your testicles are very swollen -- they are the biggest I have ever seen -- not only that they have some strange protrusions and appear to be located on your... chest."
So long as they aren't on my forehead I don't mind where they are lol.LB moment 10/06 Debt Free date 6/6/14Hope to be debt free until the day I dieMortgage-free Wannabee (05/08/30)6/6/14 £72,454.65 (5.65% int.)08/12/2023 £33602.00 (4.81% int.)0 -
bumbledore wrote: »
You have made your choice to have smear tests at your age so please respect mine to not have them at this stage in my life.
Why should I respect your choice? You have the right to make that choice, and everyone's said that.
Repect implies that the choice is seen as a sensible one. Seems pretty half-witted to me. But it is your absolute right to be half-witted, and we all acknowledge that!
I certainly don't have much respect for someone starting multiple threads on teh same subject, talking about some form of compulsion, and then throwing toys comprehensively out of the pram and deleting most of the posts....much enquiry having been made concerning a gentleman, who had quitted a company where Johnson was, and no information being obtained; at last Johnson observed, that 'he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman was an attorney'.0 -
bumbledore wrote: »Look the evidence is out there don't just rely on the leaflet you should make informed consent.
Other countries don't start screening till 30, some 25 Scotland starts at 20 when the risk to this age group is low and showing of abnormal results doesn't mean cancer causing needless stress and anxietyand possibly over treatment.
Smear testing on a whole isn't that effective only a small amount of women are saved through such a screening.
You have made your choice to have smear tests at your age so please respect mine to not have them at this stage in my life.
It's a fraction of the stress and anxiety you'll have if you refuse smear tests and develop cancer. :mad:
I don't know where you're getting your ideas from but 1,000 women die every year from cervical cancer, do you want to go and tell their children, mothers and families that you think smear testing is not worth having?
You seem to want validation for your opinion even when no-one agrees with you and you appear to be militant for the sake of it.
neverdespairgirl is right you are being half witted about this, you don't seem to be changing anyones minds, so why bother posting in the first place?
Happy moneysaving all.0 -
A very important point that appears to be lost on the OP is that it is irrelevant how few women's abnormal cervical cells are detected via screening. These particular women's lives will have been saved by the screening. It could be any of you (I can't include myself as I no longer have a cervix anyway).
Besides, if women put off being screened, it follows that more will develop cervical cancer and risk dying of it, than if all had been screened regularly and abnormalities detected and treated in good time.
If cervical screening weren't effective overall, the NHS wouldn't throw money at it as funds are badly needed in every area of its remit.Be careful who you open up to. Today it's ears, tomorrow it's mouth.0
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