What can you do to protect yourself? 

Since HPV is actually a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, the same preventive measures would apply.

Click here to review these measures.

As we discussed above, HPV causes disease by breaking down our DNA and integrating into it, causing cell behavior to change. HPV can be made to accelerate its disease causing process whenever immunity is compromised or the DNA is weakened.

Can you think of a common habit that both compromises immunity and damages DNA ?

SMOKING, of course.  

That is the principle way smoking causes the many cancers that it causes. It damages DNA, via some 90 plus different toxic chemicals. Thus, smoking, for a patient who carries HPV, is like throwing gasoline on a fire. Smoking cessation is a very important part of the treatment of women who have HPV related disease. 

Finally, good news! Young people between the age of 9-26 may take advantage of a relatively new opportunity to be vaccinated against HPV. One popular vaccine called Gardisil covers two of the worst HPV strains causing cervical cancer and two which cause genital warts. I had all of my kids vaccinated.