Cervical cancer screening

The long list of screenings we are told to get, from our teeth to our bones and reproductive organs, can seem a bit much, but they’re often lifesaving. Take screening for cervical cancer.

A lot of women would benefit from being more conscientious about being screened in the decade before they turn 65 — and by being screened after age 65. That’s the message delivered by a study that looked at the ages of over 12,000 women in California who were diagnosed with cervical cancer between 2009 and 2018 and found that 17% of women were 65 or older — and 71% of them had advanced cancer and many died.

Most cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus, and 1 in 16 women age 57 to 85 is infected with high-risk HPV. So, despite the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation that cervical cancer screening is unnecessary after 65 if several tests in a row during the past decade (including at least one in the past five years) didn’t find cancer; consider getting a Pap test if you’re 65-plus and at any age, if you’re going to have new sexual partners, get the HPV vaccine.

Bottom line: If you plan on living younger and your RealAge is younger than your calendar age, please keep getting preventive care and Pap/HPV tests. Then, if you develop cervical cancer, treatment can be started before chemo is needed. I think the USPSTF recommendation is only right if you’ll die before 80 — and with the coming GreatAgeReboot, most of you won’t.

Health pioneer Michael Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic and author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. His next book is “The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow.” Do you have a topic Dr. Mike should cover in a future column? If so, please email questions@ GreatAgeReboot.com.