Testing for HPV

If you receive an abnormal Pap smear result and your doctor tells you that it may be due to an infection with HPV (human papillomavirus), you may start to worry about what it means for your health. You may have heard that HPV increases a woman's risk of cervical cancer, but an abnormal test result doesn't mean that you have cervical cancer now. HPV is a common virus, and four out of five people will be diagnosed with the virus in their lives. Most women who have it do not necessarily develop cervical cancer.

Uncovering the Secrets Inside Cells Through Biopsy

With the number of discovered diseases, it could be difficult to rule out which disease you have especially when some of these diseases have similar symptoms. One way of identifying which one you could be suffering from is by looking closely at your tissues or cells and observing how they behave. It's not a matter, however, of mere physical examination where a doctor would take a closer look at you.

You can't lie down on a bed and have a microscope zoom in on your finger or your back. For physicians to be able to analyze your body properly, they might have to take a piece of your flesh through a method called biopsy and then use a microscope to slowly comprehend the secrets your cells are hiding.