Quote:
Originally Posted by Tulip86
Oral sex aids in the transfer of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) to the throat, and the presence of HPV is thought to be a virus that can cause over 60% of all types of throat cancer.
In a 2007 study at the University of Malmö in Sweden they found that over 35 % of people with throat cancer (the test group) had the virus, while of the control group (people without cancer) only 1% carried the virus.
So (as far as they know) there isn't a direct link between oral sex and cancer, there is however, a direct link between oral sex and HPV.
HPV is linked to several kinds of cancer (cervical cancer is a main concern), and is transferred by unprotected sex. Higher numbers of sexual partners correlate with high risk of HPV.
Over half of all sexually active people will have a HPV but most kinds of HPV (there are over a 100) are harmless and without symptoms and go away on its own. Some HPV types cause genial warts etc.
There was an interesting article in the New England Journal of Medicine on this topic.
I find this a very interesting topic as in Dutch schools they started to educate on this issue along with other STDs in health classes and the government is contemplating nationwide vaccination among teenagers. There is supposedly a vaccine that could prevent 90% of HPV cases, if vaccinated before the first transfer.
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(General response that is not about cheerfulgreek. I think this is an important discussion for the different reasons behind abstinence.)
Your post is what I had read about, including the controversy over giving North American high schoolers HPV vaccines with or without parental consent. And your post is how the information should be relayed (since this was not just a discussion of safer sex and STDs that can be transmitted through oral, anal, and vaginal sex).
Over the years, a number of things have been rumored to
cause cancer. It is problematic when adults believe this (they may not know whether it is true but the mere belief guides their actions) and tell children this. I remember middle school and high school when adults were saying that only non-virgins and loose women use tampons; tampons
cause cancer; certain sexual acts
cause AIDS
and cancer (these were acts that people thought were, at that time, associated with homosexuality); and so forth. This was before the Internet search engines, etc. of today. Even today people around the world are given incorrect or exaggerated information--most people either do not have access to studies or do not read the studies that they have access to.
There is a difference between keeping people informed about the correlates and possible risks versus passing down information, especially about unproven causes, that can lead to unfounded fear. There is also a difference between caution and safety versus being afraid. Also, (1) people need to be informed about what "aiding" and "being linked to" means; and (2) the "safer sex" movement of the past 20 years has stressed using condoms and dental dams so that people can make an informed decision about whether to have sex and how to have sex.
Hybrid Mode
