One more thing that causes Cancer.....

I received an email a couple days ago from LifeScript that disturbed me. LifeScript has a group of "advice" doctors that posts interesting tidbits on the internet, to help us all out. This one was labeled "Can Oral Sex Cause Throat Cancer". As I read on in shock, I realized that they have just taken away one more thing that gives us as humans, pleasure. What is this world coming to, that everything we do now, causes cancer? If indeed, Oral Sex truly causes throat cancer, then I guess I will die with cancer because I am tired of giving everything up that is enjoyable.
If you are curious to see if it truly does cause cancer, read on......

In an era of HIV and chastity rings, teenagers and young adults – roughly 75% of them – have turned to oral sex as a “less risky” option. But it’s not safe sex. And while it won’t get you pregnant, it can still get you into big trouble. For the first time ever, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have established a link between oral sex, the human papillomavirus (the same virus that causes cervical cancer) and throat cancer. That adds to a roster of risks already tied to oral sex: herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV…

This is scary news for the rising numbers of young people choosing oral sex over intercourse.

One Johns Hopkins professor notes that since 1990, the percentage of male patients at his clinic alone who have had oral sex has risen from 50% to about 75%; for women and girls, from 25% to about 75%.

That’s a huge number exposing themselves to this cancer risk, among other sexually transmitted diseases.

Relatively uncommon, throat cancer is usually associated with smoking and alcohol.

The type linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV) afflicts roughly 11,000 Americans each year, about the same number of new cervical cancer cases.

Throat cancer typically involves the base of the tongue, the tonsils, or the back of the throat.

Because it is so rare among people who don’t drink or smoke, the symptoms – sore throat, swollen glands, or a cold sore – are easy to dismiss, delaying diagnosis and treatment The Hazard of HPV can be found in saliva, urine, semen, and genital secretions.

It is transmitted through sexual, skin-to-skin, and possibly even mouth-to-mouth contact.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 20 million people are infected with HPV and that 50% of sexually active people will eventually be infected. In the United States alone, some five million new infections occur each year.

In fact, the majority of sexually active people eventually come in contact with HPV.

Fortunately, in most cases the body mounts an immune response that eliminates the virus.

But a small portion of people infected with HPV fail to clear the virus, and a subset of those develop cancer.

Earlier studies have linked HPV with head and neck cancers.

What the present study establishes, however, is the link between certain high-risk sexual behaviors, oral HPV infection and throat cancers, regardless of other risk behaviors such as drinking and smoking.
The particular subtype of HPV that correlates with throat cancer is known as HPV16.

Researchers estimate that about 18% of women and 8% of men (1%-2% of the total population) carry HPV16.

The study examined 100 people with throat cancer and 200 without it for HPV infection and asked questions about their sexual histories.

After adjusting for other factors such as smoking and drinking, the researchers found that participants who tested positive for HPV were 32 times more likely to have throat cancer. And those who had one to five oral sex partners were nearly four times more likely to have cancer compared to those who had not.