THEY AREN'T SCARY, BUT THEY ARE ESSENTIALSmear test. Two words that can scare the bejeezus out of you and fill your mind with anxieties. This short and pain-free procedure may not be the best way to spend a few minutes out of your day (I know I?d rather be eating donuts,) but it has the potential to save your life - but appointment attendance is rather worryingly back to a 20 year low. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under the age of 35, with around two women losing their lives to the disease every day, but 75% of cases can be prevented by cervical screening and 90% of pre-cancer cases can be picked up and treated with very little inconvenience. Our regular smear test can hugely increase our chance of leading a happy, healthy, problem-free life, but so many of us are skipping them altogether because of the fear of the unknown.
Shockingly, a third of women between the ages of 25 and 29 do not take up their smear test invitation, while 1 in 5 don?t actually attend their appointment after it's been booked. Not only is that a waste of the surgery's time when they?re already hugely stretched, but it means those women aren?t armed with the tools to keep their bodies healthy. Although smear tests aren't exactly enjoyable, they're so quick and pain-free (for the majority of women) that we should all be making the time to get tested. A few minutes out of your day every three years really doesn?t sound like a lot, but still thousands of women are avoiding these v...