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PREVENTIVE MEASURE
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HPV vaccine protects
against certain cancers
in women – and men
People’s Pharmacy
By Susan Bloom
By Joe Graedon & Teresa Graedon
For the Asbury Park Press
When Caileen Weiss of Wall
turned 13 last year, life revolved
around friends, family, school and
all the other trappings of teenage
girlhood.
Her eighth-grade reality also included something not immediately
associated with your average posttween years — the HPV vaccine.
“When the vaccine first came
out, I thought, ‘my kids won’t need
that,’ ” Caileen’s mother, Sue, a registered nurse and mother of four,
said.
But with three of her four children in or entering their teenage
years, and a history of cancer in
their family, “I read about it and
learned that the HPV vaccine could
prevent cancers that my kids could
be subjected to down the road,” she
said.
“And any cancer that can be prevented is worth it to me. So my 19year-old son got the vaccine, Caileen had it this past winter, and my
youngest son will get it when he
turns 12 next year,” she added.
According to Dr. Mark Martens,
chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jersey
Shore University Medical Center in
Neptune, the seven-year-old HPV
vaccine represents a breakthrough
that will change the future of medicine for both women and men.
“HPV, or Human Papilloma Virus, is a viral disease made up of
over100 strains that are known to be
associated with skin warts on the
nose, hands and feet, and which
may be sexually transmitted to the
genitals. Fourteen of those 100 HPV
strains cause a variety of cancers,
but have been specifically determined to cause 99.7 percent of all
cervical cancers,” Martens explained.
“The cause of over 250,000 global
fatalities every year, cancer of the
cervix — the skin covering the lower uterine segment — is the leading
cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide, but can be effectively treated if caught early,” he said.
For decades, an annual Pap
smear was the only test available to
detect cervical cancer in women,
but only after the cancer was already developing. But the HPV test,
now offered to some women along
with a Pap smear, can foresee the
possibility of cervical cancer much
sooner.
“If an HPV test turns up positive,
the body will fight off the virus naturally 85 percent of the time. But in
10 percent to 15 percent of cases, it
will progress into cervical cancer, a
slow-growing variety that may take
seven to 10 years to develop.
“Now, HPV tests administered
every three to five years will allow
for early detection and treatment in
a way that Pap smears can’t,” Martens said.
Thoughts on
heartburn remedies
Q. As a biologist, let me offer my thoughts on
heartburn remedies. For all but a few people,
suppressing stomach acid with drugs is the last
thing to do. I suspect that most heartburn is due
to insufficient stomach acid rather than too
much.
Sue Weiss of Wall with her daughter Caileen, 14, who received the HPV
vaccine last year. Sue Weiss said of her daughter,: “Caileen is brave for
doing it and we hope other young people will talk more openly about it
among themselves so that it’s not such an uncomfortable subject. “
BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Because the medical community is so certain that HPV causes
the majority of cervical cancers,
“We’re almost at the point of doing
away with the standard Pap
smear,” he said. “In addition, because the HPV test is so sensitive
and easy to perform — involving
just a DNA probe with a cotton
swab — women will likely be able
to collect it themselves in another
10 years,” he said.
Equal opportunity threat
Though HPV thrives in warm,
moist areas of the body, such as in
the vagina near a woman’s cervix,
Martens notes that men and women can be equally susceptible to
the virus.
“For men, those moist parts are
often deep in the throat and anus,
so there’s a strong connection to
anal and throat cancers in men
stemming from exposure to HPV
from either a woman (a linkage recently publicized by actor Michael
Douglas) or another man,” he said.
More than 80 percent of all
women will be exposed to HPV by
the age of 50, and the virus may be
transmitted through many secretions. But Martens is quick to point
out the HPV vaccine is not as
much about sex or sexually-transmitted diseases as it is about preventing cancer in the future.
“We want all boys and girls ages
9 to 26 to get the vaccine because it
will definitely prevent cervical,
vaginal, vulvar and anal cancer in
women, anal cancer in men, and
probably oral cancer in both.”
Offered as a series of three
shots over a six-month period,
Martens said the HPV vaccine is
nearly 100 percent effective in
preventing HPV because the vaccine’s biochemical design is so sophisticated.
“Pediatricians are starting to
bring it up with parents and kids
and we’re hoping to continue raising public awareness because
these cancers are diseases that we
can now prevent,” he said.
“Though the HPV vaccine has
the stigma of ‘STD’ associated
with it, it became important to our
family to be vaccinated,” Sue
Weiss said. “Caileen is brave for
doing it and we hope other young
people will talk more openly about
it among themselves so that it’s not
such an uncomfortable subject between peers.”
Caileen, who will enter ninth
grade this fall, is similarly proud
of her choice. “I’m not embarrassed about getting the HPV vaccine at all, and I feel great for girls
my age and younger that it’s available. It could really affect your future if you don’t get it.”
Martens couldn’t agree more.
“Up to 70 percent of young people are not taking advantage of the
HPV vaccine, and it’s sitting on
doctor’s shelves unused,” he said.
PUTTING A PUBLIC FACE ON HPV
In early June, 68-year-old actor Michael Douglas revealed that his stage 4 throat
cancer was the result of an HPV infection acquired through oral sex. One of roughly
14,000 cases of throat cancer diagnosed in the U.S. every year, roughly 50 percent of
which are related to HPV.
While Douglas’ admission turned into a somewhat embarrassing discussion for the
popular celebrity, Dr. Mark Martens, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, is grateful for the
spotlight Douglas shone on HPV and the simple and effective vaccine available to
prevent it.
“As a person in the public eye, Michael Douglas wanted to inform people that the
HPV vaccine represents a measure that can eliminate up to half of all throat cancers.
I applaud him for trying to raise public awareness,” he said.
Michael Douglas
AP/GETTY IMAGES
A. Stomach acid is critical for digesting protein, absorbing calcium, iron and vitamin B-12
and preventing bacterial infection (Current
Opinion in Gastroenterology, November 2012).
For millions of years, virtually all animals have
depended on strong stomach acid for digestion
and protection (Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, Suppl. 193, 1992).
Although antacids and acid-suppressing
drugs (lansoprazole, omeprazole, etc.) are
mainstays for treating heartburn, many readers have reported that low-carb diets can prevent symptoms. Others say that almonds or
even apple-cider vinegar eases their discomfort.
We discuss these and many other approaches to reflux in our Guide to Digestive Disorders. Anyone who would like a copy, please
send $3 in check or money order with a long
(No. 10), stamped (66 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No.
G-3, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It
also can be downloaded for $2 from our website: www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Q. I have successfully taken Greenstone alprazolam (generic Xanax) to control epilepsy for
more than a year. I was switched to a different
generic (a round pill), and within a week of
starting it I had my first seizure in two and a
half years! My pharmacist was able to specialorder the Greenstone, so hopefully it won’t be
an issue for me again.
A. You are not the only one to report seizures
after being switched to a generic version of an
anticonvulsant medicine. The question of
whether anti-epilepsy drugs are truly bioequivalent is controversial among doctors as well as
patients (The Lancet Neurology, March 2010;
Annals of Pharmacotherapy, November 2011).
Obviously, you have done well on the Greenstone generic. Our advice to people with epilepsy is to avoid switching between generics if
possible.
Contact the Graedons at
www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
Sleep tips for summer nights
By Robert Preidt
HealthDay
Those extra hours of daylight in the summer contribute to sleep problems experienced by many
Americans, experts say.
The Loyola University Health System team offers tips on how to get a good night’s sleep:
At least an hour before bedtime, start quieting
down and relaxing. Don’t exercise or do any other
vigorous activities. Turn off hand-held devices and
remove them from the room. Darken the room and
create a comfortable environment in terms of temperature, bedding, mattress and sleepwear.
Try to go to bed at the same time every night.
Don’t have any food and beverages for several hours
before bedtime. This will reduce the chances that
you’ll have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom.
Make a list of worries, future errands and other
things that are on your mind before you go to bed.
This can help reduce anxiety, organize your
thoughts and prepare you for sleep. Think twice
about allowing pets to sleep with you. If they move in
the night and make noise, they disturb sleep.
Some people who take medications before bed
may do better to take them in the morning or the other way around, according to a Loyola news release. If
you think this is an issue, talk to your doctor about
changing your medication schedule.
NBA star Bill Walton back in ‘game of life’ after advanced spine surgery
By Susan Bloom
For the Asbury Park Press
Crippling spinal stenosis can
sideline even the most active
celebrity athlete. Such was the
case with 6-foot, 11-inch basketball Hall-of-Famer and NBC
commentator Bill Walton, who
last week recounted his struggles with degenerative back
pain during a seminar for medical professionals and other patients at Avenue Restaurant in
Long Branch.
Though no stranger to injuries — the former star of the
Portland Trailblazers and Boston Celtics in the 1970s and
1980s underwent the first of 37
orthopedic surgeries at age 14,
the year before he was recruited to play for UCLA — nothing
prepared him for the agony of
the back pain he would suffer.
“Until you’ve experienced
spine issues, you have no idea
how bad it can be — the frustration, desperation, loneliness
and hopelessness you feel,” said
Walton, 60. “When your spine
doesn’t work, everything falls
apart.”
According to Walton and Dr.
Justin Kubeck, an orthopedic
surgeon at Ocean Orthopedic
Associates in Toms River and
Old Bridge, a minimally invasive procedure known as XLIF
(eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion) has allowed Walton and
others suffering from chronic
back or leg pain to resume a full
life.
“This new procedure involving specialized implants and an
advanced technique for fusing
the spine and addressing spinal
“People have
traditionally been
scared to have back
surgery, but it’s a new
day in the field and
people don’t have to
live with chronic back
pain as they get older
any longer.”
Basketball great
Bill Walton (left)
with Dr. Justin
Kubeck, at a
recent seminar in
Long Branch
about the
minimally
invasive back
procedure
Walton had.
PHOTO BY
SUSAN BLOOM
DR. JUSTIN KUBECK
Orthopedic surgeon
stenosis (a degenerative narrowing of the spinal canal that
results in pinched nerves in the
back) wasn’t even possible five
to 10 years ago,” said Kubeck.
“People have traditionally been
scared to have back surgery,
but it’s a new day in the field and
people don’t have to live with
chronic back pain as they get
older any longer.”
Now a patient advocate and
spokesman for NuVasive, the
San Diego-based medical device company that developed
XLIF, Walton, a husband and fa-
ther of four, is grateful for the
opportunity to return to an active lifestyle.
“I had no idea what life could
be like without back pain, but
now it’s a miracle for me,” Walton said. “I feel like the luckiest
guy in the world to be able to
play in the game of life again.”