I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to anyone. It was rather indecisive and took an approach that both danced around accusing women of sluty behavior but also somehow refused to clearly detail that entering sexual relationships early and with partners who had many partners increases cervical cancer risk. Several times the author referenced "in this country" but never stated what country that was. The key points that they were afraid (?) to outright say were:
- most (90%) of cervical cancer is caused by HPV (and 60% of penile cancer, as well as most vulva cancer and a good number of mouth and throat cancers)
- you increase your risk of contracting HPV if you have a higher number of partners, if you (even 1 and only) partner had a high number of partners
- the earlier you enter the sexual field, the more likely you are to have a higher number of partners
- women who have had bad deliveries are more likely than women who have had easy deliveries to have get that other 10% of cervical cancer
- women who have never had children are less likely to be in that non-HPV induced cancer cohort than women who have (giving birth = more cancer BUT less of a concern than having many partners)
- hormonal birth control may increase cancer rate BUT women on hormonal birth control are way less likely to use condoms and are less afraid to engage in sexual encounters due to pregnancy fears, so is it really the hormonal birth control or is it the possible increase of partners without condom usage?
The authors did NOT make this very clear. They danced around it, but refused to outright say anything. This book was weak and not recommended.
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