What the HPV Means

I am Dr. Marianne Marchese. I am a naturopathic physician. I practice in Phoenix, Arizona. My office name is called Naturopathic Family Care; we are located in North Phoenix.

I went to four years of a naturopathic medical school in Portland, Oregon. I completed a two-year integrative medicine in women’s health residency and I specialize in women’s health conditions and also in environmental medicine.

Well the human papillomavirus, also called the HPV virus, is the virus that causes cervical cancer. However, what we really need to be aware of is that the human papillomavirus also causes changes on the cervix that are more mild changes that also need to be treated before it develops into cancer. So often times when you go to see your physician for your annual Pap smear they will also check for the human papillomavirus.

The new guidelines in standards of care are that all women over the age of 30, when they get their Pap smear, automatically get tested for the human papillomavirus, and then women under the age of 30, when they go for their annual Pap smear, they don’t always get the human papillomavirus tested. It depends on their individual risk factors or often times they will later test for the human papillomavirus if the Pap smear comes back abnormal.

So it depends on the age of a woman whether or not she is automatically tested for the human papillomavirus during her annual well woman’s exam.