All women should receive pap smear tests.
Pap smears, also known as Papanicolaou tests, are clinical tests used to look for certain diseases of the cervix, including infection, pre-cancerous cells or cancer.
When to Start
According to WebMD, women should start doing pap smears by age 21, or within 3 years of the start of sexual intercourse--whichever comes first. Pap smears should be conducted yearly for those under the age of 30 and every 2 to 3 years for those over 30, as long as there have been three normal pap smear results as well as a negative result for human papilloma virus (HPV).
Process
A sample of cells is taken from the woman's cervix to look for and determine any abnormalities. Abnormalities may be a sign of infection, pre-cancer or cancer, although many abnormal pap smears turn out to be non-cancerous.
Importance
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, beginning pap smear testing at the proper age and testing regularly is important, because cancer of the cervix that is caught early is not life-threatening.
Time of Testing
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that pap smear testing be done 10 to 20 days after the first day of the last period rather than during the menstrual cycle.
Results
If a test result shows the presence of abnormal cells, a follow-up test may be conducted, such as a repeat pap smear or a colposcopy, which uses a special microscope to further investigate the cervix. A biopsy can also be conducted, which involves removing a piece of the tissue containing irregular cells and examining the cells further.
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