FAYETTEVILLE, AR – “January is Cervical Health Awareness Month.” Alexis McCollum, MD is an Obstetrics and Gynecology physician at HerHealth Clinic in Fayetteville. “Per the American Cancer Society, in 2020 the projected numbers were around 13,800 women will be diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and of those women, somewhere around 4,000 are projected to die from Cervical Cancer.”
Dr. McCollum regularly screens women for cervical cancer at HerHealth Clinic. “Cervical Cancer is predominately caused by a virus called the human papilloma virus also know as HPV. Cervical cancer prevention and screening is an incredibly important part of what we do as gynecologists’. The pap smear had a huge impact in the decreased rates of cervical cancer since the 70’s when it really became implemented. So this is something that has a huge impact on protection of women and protection of longevity for us.”
“So most importantly is routine regular screening. The majority of women who develop cervical cancer it’s followed by no or inadequate screenings. So screening is one of the best tools we have. Other things that we do is stopping smoking. A lot of people don’t realize that smoking is directly related to our cervical health and increases our risk of cervical cancer. And lastly there is an HPV vaccination out there which is recommended to be given optimally at a younger age but is now approved up to the age of 46.”
If you need to schedule an annual check up you can contact HerHealth Clinic at 479-463-5500.
