PAP SMEAR - or VINEGAR???

[Guest guest]

This is totally amazing - you simply HAVE to read this! It appears that the time-honored tradition of paying a lot for a Pap smear may be nowhere near as effective at predicting cancer of the cervix than a simple, CHEAP, vinegar swab of the area! WOMEN - please listen and tell your doctors! It'll give them a big laugh - everybody KNOWS they won't take this seriously, even though it appears to be factual. This is a procedure that women's self help groups could easily make available for pennies, though!

 

Linda

 

As thousands of women head to the ob/gyn every year for a pap smear, I have to wonder: Are we being tricked into a false sense of security? I for one was shocked when I found out that the results from a pap test might only be about 70 percent accurate. And I only realized this recently (it's not highly publicized), while I was doing research for a friend -- a young female friend -- who had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Though my friend went annually to her ob/gyn, her test results had varied over the past few years (an abnormal result, a normal re-test, another abnormal result, another normal re-test, etc.). By the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had become so invasive that her doctor recommended a hysterectomy to keep it from spreading.I was distraught at this news. Not only was her case particularly sad because she had hoped to have children someday, but I suddenly feared for all women who go to the doctor, get tested, and go home -- supposedly with a "good" bill of health. Isn't there some way to obtain more accurate test results?As usual when I'm stumped by a health issue, I checked in with Dr. Wright. And once again, he had some eye-opening information to share.Back in March of 1999 the Lancet reported on research done in Zimbabwe. Researchers found that swabbing a woman's cervix with vinegar detected abnormal cell growth more effectively than a Pap smear. In the study, six nurse-midwives screened 2,144 women by first taking a Pap smear and then swabbing each woman's cervix with vinegar and observing any changes with a flashlight. They recorded whether any cervical tissue turned white when swabbed with the vinegar (the white tissue indicated possible cell abnormality). Then, the researchers took a cell biopsy or colposcopy (a procedure in which the cervix is very closely inspected under magnification) of each woman and found that 77 percent of the abnormal vinegar tests were accurate while only 44 percent of the abnormal Pap smears were correct. Dr. Wright did add that the poor Pap smear results might have been due to flaws in either sample collection or laboratory evaluation. I know I'd certainly like to find a doctor who is open-minded enough to consider trying the vinegar test. If you would too, contact the American College for Advancement in Medicine (800-532-3688; 949-583-7666; www.acam.org). And you might consider taking your own bottle of vinegar along with a print out of this e-mail on your next visit.

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