Nail Art for Cervix Cancer Awareness

Hello everyone!

Today I want to show you this stamping nail art that I made for cervix cancer awareness. In some countries January is the month for cervix cancer awareness. First I'm going to tell what I know about preventing this type of cancer and the importance of HPV vaccination and regular gynecological examinations, and then I'll tell about my teal nails. I also found a little video for you, that I felt was informative. So feel free to scroll down to the video.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization): The second most common cancer in women worldwide, cervical cancer affects close to half a million women every year, killing an estimated 275 000 of them. About 77% of new cases and 85% of deaths occur in the developing world, where cancer screening and treatment services are scarce.

Luckily, this is a type of cancer where research has given us a way to prevent it, and to detect the cancer early, and that can save many lives. We now know that a virus is the cause to 99% of the cases. The virus that gives cervical cancer is called the HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV). Many types of HPV exists. Of the ones that has to do with cervical cancer, some of them are more aggressive than others. In many cases, the body is capable of getting rid of the viruses. Therefor most women with HPV don't develop cervical cancer. Some HPV viruses can make the cells in the cervix change slowly, and other viruses can make the cells change very fast. Any man or woman who has had any form of sex can get the virus. In some cases it can give genital warts, but other than that the virus has no symptoms. The good thing about finding the link between HPV and cervix cancer, is that vaccines could be made. So far, two HPV vaccines have been made, and used for some years, and probably saved many women's lives. Hopefully they will make vaccines that work for all types of HPV soon.

What can you do?

1. Get vaccinated

-According to WHO, the two HPV vaccines currently available, are: GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix and Merck’s Gardasil. For more information, click here.
- The vaccines work against the HPV viruses that give the highest risk for cancer. So you can still get the other types of HPV viruses. So although the risk for cervix cancer is reduced, you still should get gynecological examinations done regularly.
- In many countries all girls who are about 12 years old get vaccinated, and all young women of a certain age can get vaccinated if they want to, and those older can get it but have to pay for it themselves. (I don't know if they have started mass vaccination of boys anywhere yet.) You should ask your physician how it is in your country, if you or your daughters can get it.

2. Get gynecological examinations regularly to

A) take the HPV test to find out if you have HPV or not, and in case you have it, which type of HPV. This is important because it will let your physician know how big the risk is, and how often you should get gynecological examinations (for instance twice a year instead of every second year). If you for instance have a high risk virus, it's important to be aware of it, so that you make sure to get examined often enough to detect cell changes early enough. (Some countries have stopped performing the HPV test (although it is very quick and easy to do) because it's considered too expensive to give it to all women compared to the preventive effect, so the woman may have to pay for it. But all this is depends on where in the world you are)

B) find out if the cells in the cervix are normal, and if you have an early stage of cancer. In some countries they store your samples, so that they can compare them every third year or something.

Even though most of us don't like the examination, it only takes a few minutes, and it can save your life. Although the gynecologists disagree on the importance of HPV testing, they seem to agree on regular tests of the cells in cervix.

If the cervix cancer is detected very early, the prognosis is very good.

A woman I know told me that she had a very early stage of cell change, and that she needed a small operation. This was done by a local gynecologist with local anesthesia, it was done very quickly, she had no pain, and I was surprised that she felt OK afterwards, and could go home as if nothing had happened. This is now many years ago and she is still healthy. The reason why it went so well, is probably that it was detected early, because she had gynecological tests done regularly.
The other woman I know had this small operation done when she was in her twenties, and she thought that she couldn't get pregnant, but now has two children.

As with other types of cancer, early detection and early treatment is important, or the cancer can grow and spread to other organs.

Here's a video from Australia, called: Just a Minute - Cervical Cancer video.

For more information about cervix cancer, here is a link: Cancer Connect .

For this stamping nail art, I used:

Pieces: Aqua Blue Metallic (2 coats)
Gina Tricot: #76 Brilliant blue (for stamping)
Messy Mansion stamping plate: MM02 (bubbles)
Bundle Monster stamping plate: BM- 321 (ribbon)
IsaDora: Clear (base coat)
Seche Vite (top coat)

I started with base coat, and applied top coat before stamping, and after stamping. I'm still quite new at stamping, so this was not perfect, but I like this mani a lot.