What does HPV do besides cause cervical cancer?

Question

Besides the warts, and cervical cancer, does it still show up and cause cancer in other parts of the body? How can one help their immune system to fight it off as there is no cure for it? I am aware that there are vaccines, that is not going to help someone that already has it. If you have any knowledge, please share it with me. I am not able to get much from physicians, physicians assistants, nurses or the internet. I really am looking for some answers, not just to be put off with politician answers. And for the record, there has been no sexual activity for 3 years.

Answer 1

There are over 60 different genetic types of HPV, and most of them are only associated with cutaneous lesions and benign growths -- like common and plantar warts. To my knowledge, only genital infections have been directly linked to carcinoma. I'm not an expert on the different serotypes of HPV, but I do know that people who suffer from common warts don't suddenly develop a genital infection, or vice versa. So you don't have to worry about your genital HPV spreading to other parts of your body.

Once you've contracted the virus, there's nothing that you can do to get rid of it, but you're on the right path by wanting to boost up your immune system. Make sure that you get plenty of Vitamin C and Zinc, both help to maintain your body's defense system. You'll probably notice that you're more likely to suffer an outbreak after you've been sick -- just like people who have the Herpes virus. Oh, and maintain a regular sleep cycle -- your body can't fight as well when its tired.

Make sure that you get regular pap smears. Your GYN might want to see you more than once a year, depending on how your previous paps look. The most important thing you can do is to stay regular on your checkups. And you don't HAVE to abstain from sexual intercourse, unless that's just a choice you've made for your life right now. Condoms work wonders.

Answer 2

i've been in ob/gyn for ten years and in the beginning, they weren't sure why that was. but it is HPV. the same virus that causes warts. bleh. however, HPV is like the flu in that there are a jillion different strains out there. like the flut shot, every year they have to reformulate it since viruses mutate and change. well, HPV mutates and changes. it is now estimated that 80% of the sexually active population has HPV and half of those people don't know it. you can have it for years before getting a bad pap. and just because you get a bad pap, it doesn't mean you'll ever get a wart and vice versa. there's a vaccine called Gardasil you can get now. it's a series of three injections and even if you already have HPV it can protect you from getting certain new strains that are the strains known to cause the atypical / pre cancerous / cancerous cells on the cervix. HPV sucks! the gov't is starting an initiative to start giving all 13 year olds this vaccine in hopes to eventually, over generations, eradicate HPV. we have to get them before they have sex!! oh, yeah. it's so highly transmittable that you can pass it from genitals to hands back to genitals even without sex. always, always wash your hands!!! p.s. smoking doesn't cause cervical cancer. it increases the risk though. anyone that has HPV has a 70% less chance of getting pre cancerous cells than a smoker does. a non smoker's immune system is better and can actually NATURALLY heal 70% more cervical lesions on their own. p.p.s. it's NOT genetic and NOT more prominent in certain ethnicities. race only has to do with the studies and research when they're saying a particular group of people are more sexually active. (inner city, rural, certain age groups, etc.)

Answer 3

HPV has been connected to cervical, mouth, throat, neck, anal & head cancers.

Once cancer is present, in an avanced stage it can easily travel to any part of the body, but more often it travels to the liver and lungs. (Cancer cells are carried throughout the body by the blood system.)

Many immune systems overcome the cancer causing strains of HPV so most do not contract cancer from it. There are hundreds of HPV strains with 30 or so more likely to cause cancer, and of those, a relative handful are responsible for most HPV induced cancers.

A person can have HPV for many, many years and never know it. Because HPV also resides on the skin and hair, condoms do not protect against it, nor is intercourse needed to contract HPV, plus, it's highly contagious so it can be passed on like wildfire without a person even knowing they have it. There is most often no symptoms after contracting it. Some will develop warts but many do not. It's estimated that 90% of the population is infected with HPV. Most will not develop cancer from it.

Answer 4

The first poster is right. Just keep up with gyno exams and work on your immune system. It's viral and other than cervical cancer risk, and I stress risk......I don't know of any research that shows it effects any other part of the body. Just take precautions when you do have sex and start taking vitamins, get your rest, etc...