Treatment of human papillomavirus in women, types of the virus, diagnosis and means of prevention

The content of the article

1 The origin and distribution of the pathogen
- 1.1 Transmission ways
2 Signs of the human papillomavirus in women and its relationship with cervical cancer
- 2.1 Genital Warts and Oncology
3 How to detect HPV
- 3.1 Diagnostic Methods
4 Therapy by scientific and folk remedies
5 Disease prevention

Moreover, it is interesting that the same relationship between penile cancer and other parts of the male reproductive system is not observed, although the active reproduction of the papilloma virus on the mucous membranes and genital skin gives them the same inconvenience. Yes, and they are ill with them as often as women.

The origin and distribution of the pathogen

Like the herpes virus, papillomavirus is a good provocateur of changes in the DNA of captured cells. He is prone to latent stay in the body for years and perfectly knows how to "lead by the nose" immune defense, weakening it over time. Unlike the herpes virus, the family of human papillomaviruses is much larger - over six hundred types, compared to only four that are “active” in herpes.

True, the most dangerous genital varieties of the papilloma virus are less dangerous for female health - a little over forty. And not all of them have the same carcinogenic potential. In other words, there are both HPV strains with low oncogenic risk, and, conversely, HPV varieties of high oncogenic risk:

to the least dangerous - 15 strains belong;
to the most carcinogenic - only ten;
neutral - only seven are known.

Transmission ways

Science found the answer to the question of how the human papillomavirus is transmitted almost immediately - probably because it, like the herpes virus, is not too contagious. And he has only a few transmission paths:

sexual - both with innocent kisses, and with a full sexual intercourse;
domestic - with common items of use;
generic - when the papilloma virus “gets” to the baby during childbirth, unable to penetrate the placenta during the gestation period.

All of these options, in fact, are varieties of the same path - contact. The papilloma virus penetrates the epidermis (the topmost layer of the skin) and begins to multiply where all skin tumors, from birthmarks to basal cell tumors, in the basal layer of the skin, arise without exception. Therefore, the changes provoked by the virus lead to the appearance of papillomas - neoplasms that are simultaneously similar and dissimilar to warts.

It is easier to hit the basal layer with the papilloma virus in the presence of scratches, areas that have undergone cosmetic peeling or combing with nails, and grinding. So people all over the world are infected not only with papillomas, but also with erysipelas, fungus, syphilis. At the same time, the human papillomavirus itself does not seek uncontrolled spread. The rate of capture of new skin areas by him depends on how quickly and, so to speak, the patient’s papilloma virus will spread effectively.

Additional risks are created by the fact that the mucous membranes are much more sensitive to the papilloma virus than the skin. Plus, the very division into genital and any other warts is very arbitrary. So, even the forty “genital” types of human papillomavirus described above simply prefer the skin of the genital organs. But any genital strain of papillomavirus will easily affect the mucous membranes of the lips and mouth if contact with the patient was not genital, but oral.

Signs of the human papillomavirus in women and its relationship with cervical cancer

Symptoms of the human papilloma virus most often occur in the period up to three weeks. But in general, a long incubation period is typical for it - up to several months or even years (depending on the state of immunity, especially the skin, at the time of infection). The papilloma virus is also prone to transition to the latent stage with periodic exacerbations.

The danger of human papillomavirus is its high carcinogenic potential. But the temperature, fever and other symptoms worsening well-being, it causes in isolated cases.

The main and, as a rule, the only symptom of infection with the papilloma virus is many small, located foci of neoplasms. They can appear anywhere, and the place of their appearance usually coincides with the site of penetration of the papilloma virus. In the process of their formation, patients can feel:

itching
burning;
increased local sensitivity;
a feeling of heat and heaviness in the affected area.

But as the already existing focus stops growing, all of the symptoms listed go away. There remains only discomfort from the very presence of warts, because, unlike the herpes virus, the growths formed by the papilloma virus do not pass with the end of the exacerbation.

It is generally accepted that the papilloma virus becomes the cause of the appearance of some papillomas. In fact, only the formations provoked by him on the skin look like this. And education on the genitals and other mucous membranes have other properties.

The form. The neoplasm caused by the papilloma virus on the labia minora, in the vagina may resemble “balls” on raspberries or irregularly shaped multiple bulges, that is, grow completely without a leg and barely protrude above the surface of the mucous membrane.
Colour. In most cases, genital warts, even if they grow in the oral cavity, remain as pink as the surrounding tissues.
Strength. Papillomas on the skin of the body are uncomfortable in that while the patient is not yet accustomed to their presence, they are easily damaged due to their inherent softness. However, if he takes minimal measures to avoid their injuries, it turns out that they are resistant even to washing with a rather rough washcloth. But genital warts are intolerant of many influences. The difference is due to the fact that genital skin cells, by definition, cannot be as strong as body skin cells.

All of the above applies to formations in the oropharynx, wherever they are located, as well as the walls of the vagina in women and the mucous membrane of the cervix. To learn about the appearance of a colony of warts (that is, about infection with the papilloma virus), if it is located in such inaccessible areas for examination, it is possible only by slight bleeding and burning with coition or immediately after it. Therefore, signs of irritation and trauma to the mucosa in the absence of visible reasons should in any case be alarming.

Sex itself is physiological, and normally (without traumatic "experiments") it does not pose a threat to the body. And there are always enough hidden causes for inflammation and erosion of the mucous membranes of the female reproductive system. Among them are infections, adhesions, cancer that has arisen without any relationship with the papilloma virus, for example, with malignancy of fibromyoma. Often a malignant lesion is even located higher, and pus from its decay simply drains into the vagina, irritating its walls.

Genital Warts and Oncology

In general, cervical cancer has many risk factors, including:

smoking - True, no oncologist or narcologist is able to convincingly explain the relationship between one and the other;
injuries - Obtained under any circumstances, but most often simply during childbirth;
age - for reasons that are not completely understood (most likely of a hormonal nature), cervical cancer is most often found in patients aged thirty-five to forty and sixty to sixty-five years old;
genital herpes - another powerful mutagen, in addition to the papilloma virus;
illegibility in communications - apparently, this factor is important due to concomitant genital infections of such patients.

As for the cervical papilloma, the warts themselves appear on it infrequently, and usually it is just about infection of its tissues with the papilloma virus. According to gynecology, it is woven into the DNA of the mucous cell, causing changes characteristic of cancer, including the rapid uncontrolled division of its cells. As a result, dysplasia of the mucous membrane (precancerous condition) first develops, and then:

squamous cell carcinoma - more than 80% of cases are associated with it, since flat epithelial cells of any membranes are optimal targets for the papilloma virus;
or adenocarcinoma - in which the papilloma virus does not affect the flat, but the glandular cells of the cervical mucosa. The remaining 20% of cervical malignancies account for adenocarcinomas.

There are no significant differences between them in the course and forecast. The difference can only be created by the type of pathogen that attacked the female body. So, human papillomavirus of high carcinogenic risk can cause precancerous changes in the cervix in just a couple of years, while a strain with low carcinogenicity will soon "subside" on its own without consequences.

How to detect HPV

If the diagnosis of cervical cancer is not difficult and is carried out by an external examination, then several factors interfere with the quick recognition of the papilloma virus in women and men.

Pathogen stealth. Like all viruses, the papilloma virus is an intracellular parasite, which also prefers to "nest" foci, remaining invisible to the body's immune defenses.
Attrition symptoms. Neoplasms provoked by the papilloma virus also grow with local foci. Moreover, in women, the growth of the first colonies often occurs where they cannot be detected visually or tactilely.
Symptom Confusion. Not all warts, birthmarks, or even papillomas themselves are caused by a viral infection. So, single tumors of any type appear on the skin and simply with age. Their formation as the skin ages is associated with its high regeneration rate, as well as age-related malfunctions in metabolism and cell division. And the papilloma virus has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Long remissions. Most cases of infection with the papilloma virus are really successfully stopped by the immunity itself in the period up to a year. But its carcinogenic strains can leave even after their complete suppression only a couple of viral bodies, but they are very dangerous.
Moderate discomfort. Firstly, the foci of wart growth provoked by the papilloma virus do not particularly interfere with the patient. Secondly, the papilloma virus spreads slowly, and women, along with men, quickly develop a habit of its inevitable consequences.

Plantar (due to pain when walking) warts and any neoplasms in open areas of the body are considered the most uncomfortable. And patients are more tolerant of overgrowths in the genital area - especially women, who do not always know about them. This dangerous fallacy is also supported by the unwillingness of both sexes to discuss papilloma virus infection with anyone.

Diagnostic Methods

So, the main thing for a doctor is to differentiate infection with the papilloma virus and skin neoplasms that arose for any other reason. For example, the same squamous cell carcinoma, only on the skin of the body, and not on the uterine mucosa, also looks like a group of ugly warts, but it also appears without any connection with the papilloma virus.

If warts are found on the genitals, a preliminary diagnosis is obvious, because without the participation of the papilloma virus, they simply do not appear on the mucous membranes. It is most difficult to confirm the relationship of skin neoplasms with it, since anything can become their cause, from chronic injuries (rubbing with linen, regular peeling) to a hereditary predisposition.

Warts as the only external sign of infection with the papilloma virus is detected by external examination. Women also have colposcopy - examination of the walls of the vagina and cervix using a special binocular with illumination called a colposcope.

A smear from the walls of the vagina or even the cervix for infection with the papilloma virus is uninformative, since it determines only bacterial / fungal microflora. And viruses, as you know, multiply within cells, attributing their DNA to the DNA of these cells. So, it is usually not possible to detect fragments of the papilloma virus in the space outside the cell, and there are no antibodies to it in the vaginal discharge by definition.

Thus, the analysis for the human papillomavirus in the absence of groups of a characteristic type of warts anywhere on the body has its own characteristics.

Analysis of blood and body fluids. In the case of the papilloma virus, any "tricks" of the laboratory are useless, since the local "nesting" of the papilloma virus, which makes it invisible to the immune system. It almost eliminates the appearance of antibodies to it in blood / lymph / plasma / blood serum in sufficient quantities to identify the papilloma virus.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The most advantageous difference between this method and a conventional blood test is the ability to extract even a DNA / RNA fragment of a pathogen or antibodies to it from a blood sample, and then reproduce it more than one thousand times - until it becomes clear which pathogen it belongs to. And his biggest drawback is his large amount of "garbage", which he finds in the blood. However, PCR is often prescribed for suspected papilloma virus, since there are still not too many alternatives.
Digene - Hybrid Capture Test. The digin test is similar to PCR in that it determines the presence in the sample of fragments or whole DNA and RNA molecules, but exclusively of the papilloma virus. That is, the probability of a “false positive” in the case of it is almost zero. At the same time, it is not blood that is examined in this way, but the material taken during scraping - from the mucous membrane of the cervix. The method is particularly accurate in combination with a cytological examination - the well-known Pap test - which is carried out using a locally applied dye. Typically, a Pap test is used to diagnose precancerous and malignant changes in the tissues of the cervix and cervical canal caused by the papilloma virus.

Therapy by scientific and folk remedies

The biggest problem of modern medicine is the lack of effective drugs for any viruses, including the papilloma virus. Bacteria, protozoa, fungi and so on. they are not prone to deep mutations, while viruses, on the contrary, use their ability to modify indefinitely as the main way of survival. Therefore, an agent developed against one strain usually does not act on others. And to create vaccines against each of them, taking into account their quantity, is expensive and difficult, although even this approach is used in the case of the influenza virus.

Immunostimulants

In relation to the human papillomavirus, such solutions have not yet been applied, and no special papillomavirus tablets exist. The best science can offer us at the moment is immune preparations - stimulators of cellular antiviral immunity, containing already “ready-made” interferons. Interferons are called special proteins on the surface of cells that are produced in response to infection by viruses and preventing their penetration through the cell membrane. At the very beginning of the disease, their number is growing, and after a couple of weeks after recovery, it again decreases to normal.

Interferons of various types are effective not only against influenza, but also other viruses, including the papilloma virus, although they do not prey on "aliens" like leukocytes, macrophages. The problem with them is only one - a specific method of delivery to the blood. They are destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, taking such drugs in the form of tablets, capsules, suppositories is pointless - only in the form of injections.

Symptomatic measures

Since the main symptom of the papilloma virus is warty growths, the fight against it is reduced to their removal by methods:

cryodestruction - destruction by liquid nitrogen;
electrocoagulation - heating to decay temperature using pointwise directed electrodes;
laser removal - in fact, the same cauterization as in the case of electric current.

Depending on the level of the clinic, the characteristics of the case and the wishes of the patient, you can also use an ordinary scalpel, acid cauterization and other methods. The same goes for the initial stages. cervical dysplasia in women infected with the papilloma virus, all tissues with existing changes at the cellular level are cut out, plus a small “guarantee” supply of adjacent layers.

There is only one drawback of such treatment - low efficiency, since the root cause of all these changes in the form of the papilloma virus is not treated by the efforts of the surgeon. Scars (or spots from a chemical burn) remain from it. In addition, there is almost always a small, but the risk of developing a malignant formation due to infection with a virus that causes skin growths.

Alternative treatment

Folk remedies are powerless against the human papillomavirus in the same way as all of the above inventions of science. The best that was and is in the arsenal of healers from infections is poisonous plants like the colors of lilac, oak bark and even aconite (used in herbal chemotherapy when official oncology refused the patient).

The effect of them is similar to that of antibiotics, since the poisons in their composition are harmful and for pathogens - not only body tissues. But they have almost no effect on viruses, including the papilloma virus, since cells are extremely reluctant to let unfamiliar and even more toxic compounds into their environment, and the virus multiplies exclusively inside it.

Thus, decoctions, tinctures and infusions from moderately poisonous plants are suitable only for the treatment of bacterial, fungal, helminthic invasions. And in the treatment of the papilloma virus, traditional medicine is guided by the same methods as the official one, limiting itself to the elimination of growths on the skin. It’s just that more precision equipment is not used here, but other measures.

Pulling a thread. If the neoplasm has a leg. The main disadvantage of this method is the preservation of this very leg, although, from a medical point of view, it is twice as dangerous as any other parts of the growth.
Burning Acid. Any, if only concentrated. The method is effective and is used even in cosmetology, although it leaves behind multi-colored spots. A variant of the method is burning a torch.
Excretion of bile. It is especially often used in the treatment of plantar warts and corns.
The destruction of hydrogen peroxide. One of the mildest options borrowed from official medicine.True, peroxide “takes” by no means all skin neoplasms and does not affect their unsafe leg in any way.

Therefore, traditional medicine is also able to rid the patient of the most spoiling appearance foci caused by the papilloma virus. The disadvantages of her approach compared to very similar methods of hardware cosmetology are that in case of reduced general injuries, she often leaves a leg in the lower layers of the skin - the basis of neoplasms. Plus, in her arsenal there are no means to remove warts from the mucous membranes - lips, cheeks, vagina, clitoris, glans penis. Moreover, she is powerless against the already begun changes in the tissues of the cervix in women.

Disease prevention

It is believed that vaccination against papillomavirus already exists and helps to prevent infection of the female reproductive system. There is still no other prevention of the incidence of the papilloma virus, since even a condom does not save them from infection (close contact of partners with adjacent areas of the skin remains).

Due to the lack of compelling alternatives, the drug, released in 2006 by the American company Merck & Co (Merck & Co), almost immediately gained worldwide fame. This is a papilloma virus vaccine called Gardasil, created using genetic engineering methods. It is believed that it forms a stable immunity to the four most common strains of the papilloma virus. A little later, a cheaper analogue of Gardasil appeared, called Cervarix, produced by another manufacturer and giving immunity from only two, not four, strains of papillomavirus.

On the one hand, with the advent of vaccines for cervical cancer, the situation with it around the world should have changed dramatically (more than ten years - a sufficient period). On the other hand, nothing of the kind happened, and there are a number of reasons for this.

Efficiency. It is easy to notice that vaccination against four even the most common types of papilloma virus out of forty genital ones is far from 100% protection.
Security. On it to both drugs claims even more. So, the tests of “Gardasil” lasted only two years, although this is not enough, and their mandatory period in the Russian Federation, for example, is five years. At the same time, from 2007 to the present, eighteen fatal outcomes among children and adolescents caused by Gardasil vaccination have been proven in court in the United States. Unofficially called figures - about 40 deaths and more than a thousand - various health disorders: from infertility to systemic autoimmune pathologies. However, these claims to the vaccine against the papilloma virus have not been proved.

When making a personal decision on how safe and effective both of these papillomavirus vaccines are, it will not hurt to remember that the manufacturing company Gardasil already has experience in creating lethal drugs. In particular, Vioksa, which was supposed to be used to treat arthritis, but had to be discontinued due to the fact that in 2010 it was recognized as the cause of death of 10 thousand patients treated by it.

About "Cervarix" in all these aspects is known much less. Although no one has yet filed lawsuits against him, the vaccine against HPV with his help raises even greater doubts. After all, it may turn out that the side effects of the drug do more harm to the body than any of the strains of papillomavirus, just as long as no one knows about it.