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Butt Out
February 6th, 2009
It’s not news that smoking can cause throat, lung and heart disease. But did you know it’s also bad for your… butt? Smoking can increase your risk of developing anal dysplasia, which can lead to cancer. If you have HIV, the odds are increased. In addition, smoking can decrease the effectiveness of HIV meds (HAART). All in all, we know that cigarette smoking is more problematic than we realized. This week in CATIE news, Sean Hosein, Science and Medicine Editor, introduced some interesting facts on anal HPV and women.
Cervical and anal cancers are caused by infection with certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV). Hosein makes the smoking HPV connection, noting that in one study, 64% of women who smoked had pre-cancerous growths in the anus. An American study didn’t specifically highlight smoking, but it did find that women may test positive for anal HPV infection even if they haven’t had anal sex.
One of Hosein’s CATIE colleagues writes about the benefits of quitting. Quitting smoking can actually improve your health within hours, believe it or not. But if you want to remain a smoker, what about its interaction with treatment (HAART)? It’s something to consider. A paper published from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) found that smoking decreased the effectiveness of HIV meds. Another paper reported that cigarette smoking can adversely affect adherence to HIV meds.
Of course results point to quitting, but not everyone is ready to do that. The bottom line (sorry) is to make sure you are getting regularlt scheduled medical carein, smoker or not. Pap smears are essential to HIV care, and especially so if you’re a smoker. If you are interested in quitting, programs at the Canadian Cancer Society can help you quit.
- Janet
This was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 10:40 am and is filed under Body Health, Education & Resources, HIV Treatment . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.
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