Cervical Dysplasia - What is Cervical Dysplasia?
A diagnosis of cervical dysplasia does NOT mean you necessarily have cancer. Dysplasia is/can be a precursor to cervical cancer. You need to know the degree and what it means. IT CAN BE TREATED. Read the information, then you will be able to ask your informed, intelligent questions. Every doctor should give you the answers you need. If you do not feel your doctor is answering your questions, get another opinion
The term dys means abnormal, while plasia means growth. Cervical dysplasia means abnormal growth of cervical cells. Cervical dysplasia is also called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, or CIN. Dysplasia is not cancer, but it can develop into cancer of the cervix. Cervical dysplasia is classified as Mild (CIN I), Moderate (CIN II), or Severe (CIN II or Carcinoma-in-situ). Linked to a sexually transmitted disease caused by some strains of a wart virus, called the human papillomavirus (HPV), it is more common in women who have many sex partners or who began to have intercourse before age 18. Cervical dysplasia has also been associated with cigarette smoking and too little folic acid in the diet. It rarely has any symptoms and the first clues of it's presence is when a Pap Smear result is abnormal. The definitive diagnosis is made by biopsies (small pieces of tissue taken from the body and looked at under a microscope). The biopsies are done during a procedure called a Colposcopy (Please see the Colposcopy Page for more information about the procedure). Most often found in women between 25 and 35 years of age, it can occur in younger and older women.
Source: Women's Health Care
