Written by: Sixth Floor | Editor-in-Chief: Kexin | Picture: Huang Tsai
Hello, everyone, welcome to “Hard Object Science” where everything around you can be used for popular science. I’m on the sixth floor.
We have talked a lot about the topic of HPV, and many of our friends have seen it a lot. At the same time, we are also very troubled about the HPV vaccine, and why are we talking about it every day? these! Is it over yet?
But if we communicate in depth, we may find that many people actually have a superficial, or fragmented understanding of HPV and cervical health. It’s not clear if you ask. For example:
How many types of HPV are there?
What is related to the cervix?
How does HPV harm the cervix?
How does cervical cancer happen?
How to prevent cervical cancer?
What is the significance of TCT and colposcopy?
How does the HPV vaccine work?
……
If everyone who is currently healthy can answer these questions accurately, then congratulations, the probability of developing cervical cancer in your lifetime is almost zero, because you have mastered the method of protecting the cervix.
But if you’re not sure, what’s next is critical. You have also seen that this time I also spent a lot of money to buy a lot of props, and I am going to discuss those unresolved issues with you.
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
I hope that through today’s content, everyone can have a more systematic understanding of HPV and cervical health related knowledge, and help everyone better understand and protect themselves.
Not much to say, come and find out with me!
What does the cervix look like?
The cervix is the opening of the uterus and is also the end of the yin tract, connecting the uterine cavity inward and protecting the pelvic cavity from the outside world. of connectivity. Therefore, Whether it is location or structure, the cervix is a very critical existence.
The surface of the cervix is usually squamous epithelial cells, which cover the surface of the cervix like scales in layers to protect the cervix from bacteria While intrusive, it can also reduce friction between tissues caused by walking, running, jumping, and having sex in daily life.
In addition, in part of the cervical os, there will be some columnar epithelial cells from the cervical canal.
Usually as our estrogen levels mature and stabilize, they move toward and outside the cervix. This looks like erosion, but it is actually a normal physiological change. The scientific name is cervical columnar ectopic. To put it bluntly, it means that different types of cells move outward.
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
In short, a rumor about “cervical erosion” was easily resolved, and I repeat: “cervical erosion” is not a disease, this term has been deleted from textbooks, and it is also No treatment is required.
What is the HPV virus?
After understanding the cervix, let’s talk about the HPV virus.
HPV virus is a large family. There are many types of viruses in the family, which are mainly divided into two categories, one is skin type, the other is
HPV virus. strong>mucosal type, the mucosal type is mainly related to cervical health.
According to the risk of cervical cancer, it is divided into high-risk type and low-risk type, of which the high-risk type is 16, 18 , 31, 33, 45, 52, 58 and other types; low-risk types are 6 and 11 types, etc., which usually do not cause cervical cancer, but can cause condyloma acuminatum.
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
It needs to be explained here that the HPV mentioned by obstetricians and gynecologists generally refers to the high-risk HPV virus mentioned above by default, so next, I will refer to this type of high-risk HPV. It’s called HPV.
After understanding the basic information above, we can talk about how a healthy cervix can get sick.
How does the cervix get sick?
Simply put, cervical cancer develops from cervical lesions, and cervical lesions are In the beginning, it was produced by a mutated cell, so cervical cancer has a process of development and change, not a sudden appearance.
When the first mutated cell appears, it may be discovered and eliminated by the body’s immune system, and that’s fine, but if the mutated cell survives, then it is possible Continue to develop, from low-grade lesions, to high-grade lesions, and finally cervical cancer.
Then the cells on the cervix are fine, why did they start to mutate? This is linked to the HPV we talked about earlier.
We assume that the cervix is the car below. In a healthy state, the car has been parked at the position of the health station, has not been started, and will not go anywhere, just Just stand there, and many people will never start the car in their entire life.
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
However, there are many locks on each cell that turn on the mutation process, Once the locks are opened, the cell mutates, and the car starts.
So guess what is the key to open the lock? That’s right, those high-risk HPV types mentioned earlier.
The persistence of these HPVs for a long time doesn’t make us feel anything, even if you don’t check, but these viruses are constantly stimulating and affecting the cells on the cervix, trying to open that Lock.
The two locks numbered 16 and 18 are the most likely keys to start the car (about 70~80%). The big key, and from the research point of view, type 16 mainly targets squamous epithelial cells, and type 18 mainly targets columnar epithelial cells.
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
There are several other numbered keys that may also start the car, among which Type 52 and Type 58 are widely distributed in China, and it is necessary to pay attention .
Including some studies also pointed out that the impact of these two types on women’s health may exceed the impact of type 18, of course, more research is needed to prove it.
In short, once the lock is opened, the mutated cell is produced, and the subsequent development is carried out by the mutated cell to divide and proliferate, that is to say, the subsequent mutated cells are Without the influence of HPV, it will also generate new mutant cells by itself.
Seeing this, many people must have started to panic. It feels as if they are finished with HPV infection. In fact, it is not. Don’t scare yourself first.
Because a large number of studies have proved that the car with the key is not able to start immediately, and some require long-term continuous and repeated attempts to be possible, and here “Long-term persistence” is usually discussed in years.
And there are very few people who are really infected for a long time. Most of the time, this key is worn out by itself in the process of trying to open the lock, after all The body’s own immune system is also not vegetarian.
Factual data also show that 70% to 80% of people turn negative within a year or so after infection. In other words, the key is there, but the lock is not opened at all.
How can I tell if my cervix has a disease?
Speaking of this, I guess you will be very curious, how can I see if there are keys on my car, and if so, which keys are there? If there is no key, how to judge whether the car has started?
This covers some of the common checks we mentioned.
The first is to directly check HPV to see if there are any of these keys on our car, and if so, what keys are there, especially if there are 16 and 16 18 These two high-risk viruses.
Secondly, it is necessary to check the TCT at the same time, this check is cervical exfoliation, look for there are no mutant cells, through The cell can determine whether the lock has been opened or not, and whether the car has been started.
Again, an endoscopy biopsy may also be required. Because TCT looks at the cells that fall off, what if the mutant cells happen to be hidden inside and do not fall off? Isn’t that not allowed? Therefore, it is necessary to do yin endoscopy biopsy.
If TCT is a telescope to see which station the car goes to, then the yin mirror biopsy is to sit directly on the car to see the stop sign, and at the same time, it will automatically register the station name.
Therefore, yin endoscopy biopsy is the gold standard for clinical diagnosis. Generally, if two keys 16 and 18 are found in the car, yin should be done. Endoscopy biopsy.
In the past, we used these methods to prevent cervical cancer, but now, we have the HPV vaccine, so how does it work in the body, let’s continue to find out .
How does the HPV vaccine work in the body?
Actually, it’s easy to understand. Didn’t we say that the HPV virus starts the car like a key to unlock it? The HPV vaccine is equivalent to occupying or blocking the keyholes in advance.
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
For example, if you plug the 16-type keyhole first, even if you have a 16-type key later, it cannot be inserted into the keyhole, which can be greatly avoided. The probability of this car being started is now.
In this way, we can simply understand that the bivalent vaccine is to combine the two mostTypes 16 and 18, which should be prevented, should be blocked first. In addition to these two, there are also types 6 and 11 in quadrivalent. The nine types of viruses mentioned above are blocked.
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
Here you can see why many districts are starting to vaccinate school children against HPV, because in principle, it is best to get the HPV vaccine before you have the key. Plug all those keyholes first, if you really can’t, plug the 16 and 18 first.
But what if you already had the keys when you got the vaccine? At this time, the vaccine can also block other empty keyholes. For example, if you are infected with 16, you can also block 18 or other types.
What should I do if I find cervical lesions?
We have already talked about how to detect and prevent cervical lesions, so what should we do if we find that the car has been started during the inspection?
Let’s take a look at this route again! There are several stops on the whole line: Health – Low Grade Disease (LSIL/CINI) – High Grade Disease (HSIL/CINII/CINIII) – Cervical Cancer.
Usually at the second stop, that is, low-grade lesions, there is a 70-80% probability of turning the car and driving back. So don’t panic even if you find it, closely observe it, no surgery or medication.
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
If it has already passed the second stop when it is found, then basically once it is found, it is necessary to consider forcibly pulling the handbrake, such as removing those cells and tissues that have produced lesions, And cut clean (cone cut or leep knife), recheck regularly to make sure you are back at the health station.
▲Image source: Weibo@ Mr. Six Floors
But as long as the car is still there, a restart is still possible. If it starts again, or if you have driven to cervical cancer, then consider cutting off the whole car.
▲Image source: Weibo @ Mr. Six Floors
Of course that’s what none of us want to see.
In short, about the discovery, prevention and treatment of cervical lesions, the process is probably like this. If you really understand the content after reading this issue, then you are basically away from it. Cervical cancer.
Finally, let’s answer the doubts of many friends: Where does the key to open the car (infected HPV) come from?
No matter what gender, except for a very low probability of mother-to-child transmission (most will turn negative during growth), no one is born with HPV. However, the current inspection technology cannot trace the specific infection time. It can only be said that the virus cannot be generated out of thin air, and it is mainly transmitted through sexual contact. This has nothing to do with the gender, identity, swearing, etc. of the contacting parties, as long as the conditions are met, it will spread.
In addition, there is also the possibility of indirect contact transmission, but the transmission conditions are very harsh, requiring long-term contact of mucous membranes or wounds with bodily fluids containing a large amount of active viruses, so the probability is extremely low .
Speaking of which, let me say one more thing. Boys can also be tested for HPV. They can be tested once a year. If they are negative for three consecutive years, they can be tested every three years.
Okay, that’s all for this issue. I hope that through today’s physical demonstration, I can help you understand the relationship between HPV and cervical health more intuitively, so that The vague and fragmented information that has been grasped is more clear, scientific and systematic.
I hope my friends will continue to pay attention to the “Eleventh Clinic”, and we will also send you more hard-core popular science that is helpful to women in the coming days!
If you’ve learned something, don’t forget to Like and Follow, or One-click forward to your friends Group or circle of friends, let more friends benefit, and make our personal efforts to eliminate cervical cancer!
If you still have some questions about HPV, or what are your expectations for the next issue of physical science, Please move to the message area.
I am six floors and I love the world.