LMS
05-12-2006, 04:13 PM
A woman i know went to her OB the other day and asked about thew new HPT Test (www.thehpvtest.com)
I wanted to share some of the information, b/c it was very educational.
in the discussion, she told me several things that I thought were really interesting. One was that it is a $50 test but that all insurance companies now HAVE to pay for it under TX law.
Another was that it's not a new test - they used to do it AFTER people were diagnosed with abnormal cells. There was such a high correlation between the two (HPV and cervical cancer) that they switched them so they can detect the virus and therefore catch the cancer earlier.
Another was that they now believe HPV has replaced Herpes as the most common STD.
The last thing I'll share is that she said that now that they have the virus isolated, researchers believe that there is a high possibility that within some years (I can't remember her guesstimate), there will be a vaccine available for children so that they will be protected from the virus before they are ever exposed. She said it will practically eradicate cervical cancer.
I'd be interested to see if California Law says that insurance companies have to cover this test. The thought of taking that test kind of scared me at first.. then I read articles on thehpvtest.com about young women who found out they had advanced cervical cancer after alawys having normal paps.... and how they had to go through hysterectomy's and chemo before they ever had a chance to have children. I'll deffinatly be scheduling one when I go for my pap and mam
I wanted to share some of the information, b/c it was very educational.
in the discussion, she told me several things that I thought were really interesting. One was that it is a $50 test but that all insurance companies now HAVE to pay for it under TX law.
Another was that it's not a new test - they used to do it AFTER people were diagnosed with abnormal cells. There was such a high correlation between the two (HPV and cervical cancer) that they switched them so they can detect the virus and therefore catch the cancer earlier.
Another was that they now believe HPV has replaced Herpes as the most common STD.
The last thing I'll share is that she said that now that they have the virus isolated, researchers believe that there is a high possibility that within some years (I can't remember her guesstimate), there will be a vaccine available for children so that they will be protected from the virus before they are ever exposed. She said it will practically eradicate cervical cancer.
I'd be interested to see if California Law says that insurance companies have to cover this test. The thought of taking that test kind of scared me at first.. then I read articles on thehpvtest.com about young women who found out they had advanced cervical cancer after alawys having normal paps.... and how they had to go through hysterectomy's and chemo before they ever had a chance to have children. I'll deffinatly be scheduling one when I go for my pap and mam