Monique Rainford - HER HEALTH

Some people may disagree, but I have always felt that the average woman has to undergo many more medical challenges, including routine tests, than the average man. Unfortunately, many women shy away from routine screening tests out of fear. Often, if we allow fear to delay or stop us, the consequences are more difficult or painful than the test which we so feared.

Have a Pap smear

The two most common screening tests that women need to obtain on a regular basis are the Pap smear and the mammogram. Depending on the chosen guidelines, women should begin to have annual Pap smears by age 21 or three years after she becomes sexually active. However, if I had a dollar for every woman who has expressed fear of a Pap smear, I could fund a sizeable lottery.

This fear is even expressed by women who have borne children (in my opinion, one of the most painful processes known to mankind). I try to explain that this procedure, which on average lasts less than one minute, is very necessary to help to avoid a lifetime problem, cervical cancer. I am often perplexed by the shrug of the shoulders that I sometimes receive when I question a woman who is diagnosed with cervical cancer as to why she had not done a Pap smear for several years or, in some instances, never.

Microscopic evaluation

To obtain a Pap smear, the health-care provider inserts a device called a speculum into a woman's vagina in order to visualise her cervix (neck of the womb). The health-care provider then uses a small instrument shaped like a wooden spatula and glides a small brush on the cervix. The specimen obtained is placed on a glass slide and sprayed with a fixative solution. Alternatively, a plastic collection device is used and the specimen is placed in a special preservative liquid. The specimen is sent to a pathologist, a physician trained to do microscopic evaluations of specimens, to determine if there is a problem.

Jamaica's Melaine Walker celebrates winning the gold in the women's 400-metre hurdles during the athletics competitions in the national stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug 20. - AP

Some women either fear the procedure itself or the results and this fear can be crippling. However, as I have mentioned, the procedure usually lasts less than one minute and is often not as unpleasant as most women think. Women, please do not frighten other women with stories of how painful a Pap smear is because you are doing them a disservice. Even if the results of a Pap smear are abnormal, treatment is much simpler than cancer treatment. The Pap smear has been proven to safe lives.

Mammogram

The second most common screening test for women is the mammogram. This should be performed every one to two years after a woman turns 40. If a woman has a relative with breast cancer, screening may need to begin at an earlier age. The process involves placing a woman's breast between two plates and obtaining X-ray pictures. It might be a little uncomfortable, but breast cancer is the most common cancer in Jamaican women and early detection through regular mammograms can save many lives.

Dr Monique Rainford is a consulting obstetrician and gynaecologist; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.