Even with all this research readily available, some doctors still say many women over 65 don’t need Pap smears, including ...

"If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here to tell my story." Toni Smith from Eastwood, in Nottinghamshire, went for a routine smear test when she was 28-years-old and believes doing so saved her life ...

Pap smears are especially traumatic when providers fail to respond compassionately to patients’ pain. Bonnie Gross, who has vestibulodynia, remembers squirming on the table during her first pap ...

Cervical cancer, despite being preventable and curable, remains the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with 660,000 cases and 350,000 deaths reported in 2022. The burden is highest in low ...

When a Pap smear indicates inflammation, it means that the cervical cells appear irritated. This doesn’t automatically point to cancer but can result from a number of benign or infectious causes.

The Pap smear was developed by Dr Georgios Papanicolaou and first reported in 1928. It involves a gynaecologist taking a sample of cells from the surface of the cervix during an internal exam.

Ages 30 to 65: Women ages 30 to 65 should get screened for cervical cancer with either the HPV test, the HPV/Pap combination test, or the Pap smear.

If your yearly pap smear test until 3 consecutive years is negative, then it may decrease the frequency to every 3 years. Annual screening for high-risk women is highly recommended.

HPV screening — rather than a pap smear — is more effective at detecting cervical cancer, according to a US task force Kimberlee Speakman is a digital writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at ...

M aybe you had a bad experience with your last Pap smear and you’re wary of going back to the ob-gyn. Or maybe you’ve never had one before and are scared to make the appointment. It’s ...

But, as you point out in your letter, Pap smears are an important part of preventive care. It is recommended that women start getting tested for cervical cancer at age 21 and have a Pap smear ...