How Vinegar Could Help Spot Early Signs Of Cervical Cancer
Detecting the precancerous lesions that turn into cervical cancer could be as easy as ... pouring on some vinegar?
The New York Timesreported how health care providers in Thailand are using the common household item to helpscreening for cervical cancer-- by applying it a woman's cervix. When applied, the vinegar causes any precancerous lesions to turn white; the lesions can then be frozen off.
"Some doctors resist" the method, Dr. Wachara Eamratsameekool, a gynecologist at Roi Et Hospital, toldThe New York Times. "They call it 'poor care for poor people.' This is a misunderstanding. It's themost effective use of our resources."
However, the method carries the risk of false positives, since other things -- not just precancerous lesions -- can turn white whenvinegar is applied, theTimesreported.
The procedure is as promising for low- and middle-income countries asPap smearswere to richer countries, ABC News reported.
FromABC News:
Medical professionals in low-income areas, where cervical cancer remains the number one or two cancer killer in women, hope the procedure will bring cervical cancer diagnoses and deaths down, just like the Pap smear did.
The idea certainly isn't new. A 2007 study published in theLancetshowed that the simple test couldreduce cervical cancer casesby a quarter, the Associated Press reported. The technique was used to screen 49,311 women in India from 2000 to 2003.
And in 1999, there was another study in theLancetthat showed that nurses who swiped theirpatients' cervices with vinegarwere able to detect 75 percent of the precancerous lesions, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A vinegar solution (mild acetic acid) can also be used tospot genital warts, WebMD reported.
For more on how vinegar can be used as a screening tool for precancerous lesions for cervical cancer,read theNew York Timesstory.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
