Doctors rarely encounter planning a pregnancy in an absolutely healthy woman: during examination, most of them reveal various disorders in the condition or work of the organs of the reproductive system. One of the most common problems is cervical dysplasia. This is a disease in which the structure of the cells of the cervix changes.
Healthy cells of the cervix are round, medium in size, with one nucleus. With dysplasia, cells grow, thicken, they do not have a clear shape, and there are several nuclei. At the initial stage, a woman cannot feel these changes in any way, and this is the main danger: in the absence of observation and treatment, dysplasia can develop into a malignant tumor.
How to recognize cervical dysplasia, what to do about it and is pregnancy possible after it?
The cause of the disease
The main cause of the disease is the human papillomavirus. This virus has more than 200 subtypes: most of them lead to genital warts or warts, but some types of human papillomavirus can stimulate the formation of malignant tumors.
Human papillomavirus infection occurs through sexual contact. When is the risk of infection particularly high?
- Early onset of intimate life.
- Childbirth under the age of 16.
- Numerous births.
- Lots of sexual partners.
- Pregnancy.
- Intimacy without a condom.
- Diseases that lead to a decrease in immunity (diabetes mellitus, HIV).
- Taking medications that suppress the immune system.
- Inflammation of the genitourinary system.
- Long-term use of hormonal contraception and intrauterine contraceptives.
- Smoking.
Symptoms of cervical dysplasia
In most cases, the disease is asymptomatic – it can be detected only if the woman regularly undergoes preventive examinations (at least once a year).
- Sometimes women have the following signs of cervical dysplasia:
- Profuse white discharge with an unpleasant odor.
- Bloody streaks in discharge after intimacy.
- Pain, discomfort during intercourse.
- Drawing pain in the lower abdomen. This symptom usually occurs when the disease has already become severe.
Infection leads to changes in the structure of mucosal cells, and weak immunity, hormonal changes (which inevitably occurs during pregnancy), and cervical injuries only contribute to this.
Consequences
Even if cervical dysplasia was diagnosed during pregnancy, you should not be afraid: a woman will be able to give birth to a healthy baby, since the disease does not affect the fetus and the outcome of pregnancy, and does not reduce the likelihood of a successful birth.
But if the diagnosis is made at the stage of preparation for pregnancy, then it is better to undergo treatment. This is due to the fact that the disease can progress, and one of the consequences of the late stage of dysplasia is cervical cancer. Although the probability of conception itself is not affected by this problem.
Disease prevention
In order to prevent the disease, doctors advise to follow simple recommendations:
Get examined by a gynecologist at least once a year.
If you feel pain or discomfort in the lower abdomen, do not delay the visit to the gynecologist.
Strengthen your immune system. Taking vitamin and mineral complexes with vitamins A, C, group B, as well as selenium, which is called an anti-cancer element, will help with this.
Provide yourself with regular physical activity – walking in the fresh air is enough. You need to walk at least 10 thousand steps per day. It strengthens the body, accelerates cell regeneration.
Eat right. We’ll have to give up fast food, limit sweet and flour dishes: weight gain often causes hormonal disorders that complicate the treatment of cervical dysplasia.