Good health is every woman's right and timely screening is the first step

Self-care is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

You’re exercising on a regular basis, trying to eat right, and even reserving some me-time to relax during your busy day. That’s great. But are you opting for regular health check-ups, which play an essential part in our busy lives?

Getting yourself screened at regular intervals enables early diagnosis of the disease. Early diagnosis is crucial when there is a fatal illness, which often goes unnoticed if it remains unscreened. Chances of survival also become high if a fatal disease gets screened in its early stages. That’s why screenings for women's cancers such as breast and cervical cancers amongst others are recommended at regular intervals.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Indian women. Mammography, clinical breast examination (CBE), and breast self-examination (BSE) are widely used tools globally for breast cancer examination. But mammography remains the most common screening test for breast cancers.

A mammogram is an X-ray examination of the breast. Mammography may find tumors that are too small to feel
Clinical breast exam: A clinical breast exam is an examination by a doctor or nurse, who uses his or her hands to feel for lumps or other changes.

Breast self-awareness: Being familiar with how your breasts look and feel can help you notice symptoms such as lumps, pain, or changes in size that may be of concern. Once you start performing the self-breast exam regularly, you will be able to understand the changes (if any) in your breasts. You should immediately see your healthcare provider if there is any abnormality in either of the breasts.

In patients with a positive family history of cancer, another important test is the family cancer screening to test for genetic components like BRCA 1 & BRCA2 genes which play a huge role in cancers among women.

The other most important screening in women is the cervical cancer screening.

Going by the data, cervical cancer has one of the highest cancer mortalities. It is among the fourth leading causes of cancer death and one of the less frequently diagnosed cancers in women.

Cervical cancer develops in our body when there is a growth of abnormal cells over time in the lining of the cervix. During the earlier stages, cells enter into the cervical tissue and if remains unchecked, it becomes critical and spreads into the other body parts.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a proven carcinogen responsible for about 99% of cervical cancers. However, the ones that cause cancer are called the high-risk HPVs.

These HPVs can be transmitted from an infected person to a non-infected one through sexual intercourse. The worst part of HPV infections is they remain asymptomatic for a longer period and that’s why people become unaware of their condition.
Generally, the progression of HPV infections into cancer takes an interval of three to seven years. So, if one is getting screened at regular intervals, cervical cancer can be diagnosed at its nascent stage.

Women with low-grade changes can be screened more often to determine if their cells return to normal. Women with high-grade changes can receive treatment to have the cells taken out.

Screening includes testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cytology (also called the Pap test or Pap smear), or both.
The HPV test is often suggested to identify the human papillomavirus that causes cell changes on the cervix. This can be done in the doctor’s clinic or by the woman herself (using the self-sampling kit) and sent to the lab.

Whereas, with the help of the Pap test (or Pap smear) precancers and cell changes on the cervix are identified before it leads to cervical cancer.

During the Pap test, the doctor will use an instrument, called a speculum, to look inside your vagina. This helps the doctor examine the vagina and the cervix and collect the cells from the cervix and vagina. The cells are then sent to a laboratory.
To combat the barriers in screening using cervical samples like pain, hesitancy, and accessibility, WHO has now recommended self-sampling using vaginal samples to encourage proactive cervical screening among women.

WHO recommends that all women between 30 to 65 years should undergo cervical cancer screening every 5 to 10 years.
Timely screenings for diseases and regarding their health as a priority would help the women be the queen that they were born to be.

As rightly said, ‘Communities and countries and ultimately the world is only as strong as the health of their women.’

(Dr. Renji Jacob, Head of Lab Operations, MD Pathology, Metropolis Healthcare Limited (Kerala))