These past few days, two married Nigerian artistes have been accused of committing extra-marital affairs, which had reportedly resulted in pregnancies for the women they were individually involved with.
While the two suspected husbands have kept mum so far, even when one of the “side chicks” had produced copious evidence that included receipts and voice notes, physicians warn that the wives of such men risk being infected with cervical cancer even if such women have remained faithful to their husbands!
women are more likely to develop cervical cancer if their husbands frequent prostitutes or have sex with a large number of partners
Cervical cancer causes
Though there are other factors resulting in cervical cancer, authorities at the Cancer Research UK state that the main cause of cervical cancer is persistent infection of certain types of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is a common virus.
According to international researchers, cervical cancer is linked to a virus that is spread during sexual intercourse. It is one main reason why nearly all people who are sexually active will become infected with HPV at some point in their lives.
“Around half of HPV infections are with a high-risk (cancer-causing) HPV type. High-risk HPV can cause several other types of cancer as well as cervical cancer. HPV16 and HPV18 are the high-risk types that cause most cases of cervical cancer,” the National Cancer Institute warns.
The Institute adds that, “The risk of high-risk HPV infection that is persistent and ultimately leads to cervical cancer is higher in people who become sexually active before age 18 and in those who have had multiple sexual partners.”
signs of HPV were found on the penises of men who had no cancer themselves but were passing it to their wives
However, the Centres for Disease Control says even where a woman starts having sex at a much later age and even if she keeps to one man, she still risks exposure to cervical cancer if her partner is sexually irresponsible!
A study found that women are more likely to develop cervical cancer if their husbands frequent prostitutes or have sex with a large number of partners. The study of 183 Spanish women with cervical cancer and their husbands was reported in an issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
“The husband takes the cancer back to his wife,” said Keerti V. Shah, a microbiologist at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He participated in a research group headed by cancer specialist F. Xavier Bosch of Barcelona and Nubia Munoz of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.
Women’s biology as factor for STDs
Women are considered more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because their reproductive systems have a warm, moist environment in which bacteria and viruses flourish. Plus, STDs such as HPV and HIV are often hidden and hard to detect.
The study shows that being monogamous does not protect women from cervical cancer if their husbands are sexually active outside the marriage.
being monogamous does not protect women from cervical cancer if their husbands are sexually active outside the marriage
Men with HPV on their penis
Studies on HPV had generally concentrated on women and never documented the role of men in spreading the virus. This was mainly because men have no cervix, but a new study changed that as far back as 1996.
The study compared the sexual experiences of men whose wives had cervical cancer with a control group of men whose wives showed no sign of the disease.
The researchers found that husbands of women with cervical cancer were more sexually active outside the marriage than those in the control group.
Further, signs of HPV were found on the penises of men who had no cancer themselves but were passing it to their wives.
the presence of HPV on a man’s penis meant the wife had five times the risk of getting cervical cancer
“Our study is the first to demonstrate a strong association between penile HPV in husbands and cervical cancer with their wives,” the researchers said.
The scientists concluded that the presence of HPV on a man’s penis meant the wife had five times the risk of getting cervical cancer as did a woman in the control group.
They also found the risk increased with the number of extramarital sexual partners for the man and the number of prostitutes the man had sex with.
The risk of cervical cancer was 11 times greater for wives of men who had 21 or more extramarital sex partners and eight times greater for wives of men who were frequent customers of prostitutes, the study found.
Other causes of cervical cancer
Other reproductive factors, such as the use of oral contraceptives (birth control pills) and giving birth to many children have been found to be associated with cervical cancer risk.
The reasons for these associations are not well understood yet, researchers say.
