This article discusses a new form of cervical caner prevention, VIA/cryo, which involves the use of vinegar. Brushing vinegar on a woman’s cervix makes precancerous spots turn white, thereby enabling doctors to freeze them off with a metal probe cooled by a tank of carbon dioxide. It is a relatively straightforward and simple procedure, making it exceedingly useful in developing countries. Formerly, cervical cancer was tested with a Pap smear, and the results had to be sent to labs, with results taking weeks to arrive. Thus women who took these tests, and who had already returned to the areas where they lived or worked, were hard to reach if it turned out they had precancerous lesions. However, cancerous lesions can be detected by the vinegar and frozen off in one visit, eliminating this issue. Also, carbon dioxide can be obtained from any Coca-Cola bottling plant, making it far more accessible than liquid nitrogen. Thailand is a huge proponent for VIA/cryo, and 500,000 of the 8 million women between the ages of 30-44 in the target population have already been screened at least once. The article maintains that vinegar is effective in detecting the tumors because “they have more DNA, and thus more protein and less water, than other tissue.”
VIA/cryo is a revolutionary procedure which shows promise to stunt the growth of cervical cancer in developing countries. While we take for granted the excellent health care our country has to offer, millions of people around the globe die due to diseases that could have been prevented if properly screened. The article quotes a staggering statistic, “Every year, more than 250,000 women die of cervical cancer, nearly 85% in poor and middle-income countries.” Thailand’s commitment to combating cervical cancer should serve as a model for other countries to follow, as they have instituted a multitude of training programs for nurses to learn the skills for VIA/cryo. It is not surprising therefore that “of the 6,000 women (they) recruited 11 years ago for their first trial, not a single one has developed full-blown cancer.” This procedure is one of many inexpensive yet promising medical advances geared towards developing countries, and it has the potential to inhibit the onset of this lethal form of cancer going forward.
I thought this article was well organized and captivating. It was very interesting to learn about this relatively simple procedure which holds so much potential for combating cancer. I would have never thought that household ingredients such as vinegar could have such complex applications as the detection of precancerous lesions. The author adroitly incorporates a variety of statistics to prove the effectiveness of VIA/cryo, as well as quotes from many experts in the field. Unfortunately, the author does not go into great detail on the actual science behind VIA/cryo, nor does he discuss the possible reasons why some developing countries abstain from this cost-effective procedure which has proved so successful. Overall, this article enlightened me on the field of cervical cancer prevention and it was definitely worth reading.
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