Oral HPV Spit Test Now Offered at Fauquier ENT!

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Given the increasing concern for HPV triggered oral and throat cancer, patients have been requesting a way to check for HPV in the mouth , especially in those who are sexually active. Beyond a visual inspection using a tongue blade and an endoscope , our office now offers a spit test to evaluate for the presence of HPV by looking for its DNA shed into the saliva. The typical patient, man or woman, who may benefit from this test incl…

2/01/2016 0

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Oral HPV Can Be Transmitted by Kissing

HPV  transmitted by  oral sex  is the leading cause of  oral  and throat cancer now surpassing throat cancer due to tobacco products and alcohol. The main concern is whether kissing can also transmit HPV. A small John Hopkins study suggested that kissing did not increase risk of oral HPV transmission, but a more recent and larger study conducted at McGill University suggests that open-mouthed kissing actually does increase the risk of oral HPV being transmitted from one partner to the other…

11/12/2014 1

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Vaccine to Prevent Throat Cancer

Spread through oral sex, it is well established that human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 cause the vast majority of throat cancer especially in men... even more than smoking and drinking alcohol. What was not known, but suspected, was whether in BOTH men and women the HPV vaccine Cervarix (made by GSK) or Gardasil (made by Merck) would help prevent throat cancer as effectively as cervical cancer for which it is FDA approved for. At least for the vaccine Cervarix, a randomized, co…

7/19/2013 1

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Can HPV be Caught by Kissing Someone with HPV Throat Cancer?

HPV transmitted by oral sex is the leading cause of oral and throat cancer now surpassing throat cancer due to tobacco products and alcohol. And for spouses/partners of patients diagnosed with HPV throat cancer, the main concern is whether it is "contagious". After all, if HPV is transmittable by oral sex , than it would seem that kissing can also transfer HPV to the partner as well. Well, a small Johns Hopkins study suggests that intimately kissing someone who has HPV orop…

6/02/2013 0

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Infographic: HPV from Oral Sex Causes Throat Cancer

I have blogged in the past regarding how HPV transmitted through oral sex (and potentially even French kissing) has now become the number 1 cause of throat cancer in individuals under the age of 50, even more than smoking and drinking alcohol [ link ]. Of course, smoking and alcohol further exacerbates this risk. Indeed, A 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that younger people with head and neck cancers who tested positive for oral HPV infection were more likely to have …

1/26/2013 0

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Oral Sex Causes More Oral Cancer Than Smoking!

HPV may now be overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of oral cancers in America in people under age 50. And HPV, otherwise known as Human Papilloma Virus responsible for gential warts and cervical cancer, finds it way into the mouth via oral sex. The latest data suggest that 64% of oral cancers are caused by HPV, which is more than tobacco causes. Furthermore, as the number of partners on whom you have performed oral sex goes up, the risk of oral cancer goes up. These findings were …

2/21/2011 0

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Link Between Oral Sex and Head & Neck Cancer

USA Today published a pretty accurate article regarding the rise of certain head & neck cancers with the increased popularity of oral sex and number of sexual partners. The factor that creates this link is the HPV virus which is associated with tonsil and tongue cancer. Alcohol and tobacco use is more highly linked with such oral cancers, but HPV does appear to be an independent risk factor. A 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that younger people with head and n…

1/30/2011 0

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