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  • Anal Warts - Condyloma acuminata (venereal warts) may be found on the perianal skin, in the anal canal, on the distal rectal mucosa, and/or on the genitalia. They may be associated with a variety of symptoms such as itching, occasional bleeding, difficulty with anal hygiene, and odor. Condylomata are commonly transmitted by anal sexual activity, but they may be found in heterosexual individuals and in children. A viral infection (the human papilloma virus - HPV) is the cause of the condition. Since we cannot directly cure the viral infection, just as we cannot cure the common cold or HIV infection, treatment is based upon destruction of the cells within which the viruses live.

    Most lesions are raised, slightly lobulated warts. There may be a few or many, and they may be small or large. Treatment may be accomplished in a variety of ways, depending upon the location and number of lesions. If there are only a few warts, a caustic agent such as Podophyllin or bichloracetic acid, may be tried to chemically destroy them. However, if the condylomata are on the inside of the anal canal, the agents will not stick to the moist surfaces. If they are inside or there are many lesions, a minor surgical procedure is necessary to destroy the warts.


  • Genital Warts - Images - Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of more than 70 types of viruses. They are called papillomaviruses because they tend to cause warts, or papillomas, which are benign (noncancerous) tumors. Different types of HPVs cause the common warts that grow on hands and feet and those that develop in the mouth and genital area. Genital HPVs can be passed from one person to another through sexual intercourse and oral or anal sex.

    Genital HPVs may cause warts to appear on or around the genitals and anus of both men and women. In women, visible warts may also appear in the cervix. This type of a "genital wart" is known technically as condyloma acuminatum and is generally associated with two HPV types, numbers 6 and 11. Because these genital warts rarely develop into cancer, HPV-6 and HPV-11 are often referred to as "low-risk" viruses. Other sexually transmitted HPVs have been linked with genital or anal cancers in both men and women. These are called "high risk" HPV types and include HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-31, HPV-45, as well as some others. High risk HPV types aren't usually contained in visible warts. Both high-risk and low-risk types of HPVs can cause the growth of abnormal cells in the cervix.


  • Genital Warts - Information - Genital warts are small growths on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). It is rather common and accounts for about one out of ten cases of reported STDs in the U.S. There are 60 different strains of this virus, and in some cases no symptoms are present.

    HPV is reported more often by men than women, probably because the symptoms are more visible. But in women, HPV can present a greater risk, especially if unnoticed, because HPV infection is associated with cancer of the cervix.


  • Genital Warts - Pictures - Human papillomavirus (HPV), any of a family of more than 60 viruses that cause various growths, including plantar warts and genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease. Detectable warts can be or removed, usually by chemicals, freezing, or laser, but often recur. Intralesional alpha interferon has been effective in the treatment of genital warts. Genital warts, sometimes called condylomata acuminata, are soft and often occur in clusters. They can occur internally or externally, but even in the absence of warts the virus may be present and transmittable. Problems can result from untreated warts, which can grow quite large, or, in rare cases, from infection of an infant during delivery. In addition, certain strains of HPV are associated with cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, and penis. HPV 16 has been shown to be associated with some forms of Kaposi's sarcoma.

    The symptoms of genital warts are very benign other than the appearance of a wart. Some people experience irritation and itching around the affected area. For women, the vulva and the perineum are the areas most affected. Genital warts can also appear on the vagina, cervix, and anus. In men, the warts most often appear on the glans (head of the penis), foreskin, and urethral opening. Warts may also appear on the shaft of the penis, scrotum, and anus. Men sometimes have shiny spots called "pearly papules" on the glans, which are normal and should not be confused with warts. Many people may have the genital wart strain of HPV and show no symptoms.


  • Genital Warts - Symptoms - Genital warts are one of the most common types of sexually transmitted diseases.

    As the name suggests, genital warts affect the moist areas of the genital area. They may look like small, flesh-colored bumps or have a cauliflower like appearance. Sometimes they may be only 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. In other situations the warts may multiply into clusters, which can be quite large.


  • Genital Warts - Treatments - Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of more than 100 types of viruses. They are called papillomaviruses because certain types may cause warts, or papillomas, which are benign (noncancerous) tumors. The HPVs that cause the common warts that grow on hands and feet are different from those that cause growths in the mouth and genital area. Some types of HPVs are associated with certain types of cancer.

    Although there is currently no medical cure to eliminate a papillomavirus infection, squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) and warts these viruses cause can be treated. Methods used to treat SILs include cryosurgery (freezing that destroys tissue), lasertreatment (surgery using a high-intensity light), LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure, the removal of tissue using a hot wire loop), as well as conventional surgery. Similar treatments may be used for external genital warts. In addition, three powerful chemicals (podophyllin, bichloroacetic acid, and trichloroacetic acid) will destroy external genital warts when applied directly to them. Podofilox (podophyllotoxin) can be applied topically either as a liquid or a gel to external genital warts. Imiquimod cream has also been approved to treat external warts. Also, fluorouracil cream (sometimes called 5-FU) may be used to treat the warts. Some doctors use interferon alpha to treat warts that have recurred after being removed by traditional means. Imiquimod and interferon alpha work by stimulating the immune (defense) system to fight the virus.


  • Genital Warts - Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), causes genital warts. HPV is the name of a group of viruses that includes more than 70 different types. Over 30 of these are sexually transmitted, and they can infect the genital area, like the skin of the penis, vulva, labia, or anus, or the tissues covering the vagina and cervix. An estimated 40 million Americans are infected with HPV, with 1 million new cases each year. Certain other types of HPV have been closely associated with the development of cervical cancer and other genital cancers.

    Most of the HPV infections have no visible signs. These HPV infections can cause abnormal cell growth (dysplasia) on the female cervix. Visible signs of the disease include condylomata, which range from soft, pink, cauliflower-like warts to hard, smooth, yellow-gray warts. They may develop inside the vagina in women, where they are hard to detect. They also can appear on the lips of the vagina or around the anus. They usually appear on the penis in men, but are sometimes found on the scrotum (the sac that holds the testicles) or around the anus.


  • HPV - Cervical Dysplasia - Testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) relies exclusively on techniques of molecular biology using nucleic acid probes. Tests for HPV using nucleic acid probes have been commercially available since the late 1980s, but early tests were cumbersome, involving the use of nucleic acid probes labeled with radioactive phosphorus (32P). These early HPV tests did not achieve widespread use because they did not detect all oncogenic HPV genotypes. The current commercial HPV detection kit, Digene's Hybrid Capture 2 kit, detects virtually all high-risk oncogenic HPV types, as well as most low-risk nononcogenic HPV genotypes. The Hybrid Capture 2 test format is a proprietary nucleic acid hybridization signal amplification system owned by Digene Corporation. Virtually all test formats for DNA sequence analysis are amenable to applications intended to detect and perhaps quantify the various HPV genotypes. These methods can involve direct hybridization with complementary DNA probes, such as Southern blotting or in situ hybridization, signal amplification, such as the Hybrid Capture 2 method or target nucleic acid amplification, most notably the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Polymerase chain reaction has been used for HPV detection, genotyping, and viral load determination. General or consensus primer-mediated PCR assays have enabled screening for a broad spectrum of HPV types in clinical specimens using a single PCR reaction. Following amplification using consensus primers, individual HPV genotypes are identified using a variety of methods. Using consensus primers in a test format known as real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR), it is possible to generate viral load (concentration) data from reaction curves generated by monitoring PCR reaction kinetics in real time.

  • HPV - Genital Warts - Scientists have identified more than 100 types of HPV-Genital Warts, most of which are harmless. About 30 types are spread through sexual contact. Some types of HPV that cause genital infections can also cause cervical cancer and other genital cancers.

    Like many STDs, genital HPV infections often do not have visible signs and symptoms. One study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported that almost half of the women infected with HPV had no obvious symptoms. People who are infected but who have no symptoms may not know they can transmit HPV to others or that they can develop complications from the virus.


  • HPV - Information - One of the most common human infections in the world is that caused by Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV, which is commonly known as "wart virus", is a microscopic virus particle that infects the skin. In the case of HPV, the infection is actually localized directly to the infected point in the skin, as opposed to herpes simplex, where the virus goes through the skin and into the nerve cells, traveling up the nerve cell connection to the nerve ganglia by the spinal cord, where the virus lives. With HPV, the infection is actually in the skin.

    Most infections with HPV are invisible. This means that the virus has entered the skin at some point and altered the DNA structure of the human cell, usually causing no visible or apparent changes in the cellular structure. This happens, literally, in tens of millions of cases. The only way to detect these infections is by performing medical sampling of the skin, either with a swab or with a biopsy, and then the performing in a laboratory of testing for the appearance of HPV DNA in these samples.


  • HPV - Pictures - HPV, or human papillomavirus, is the name of a group of viruses that has more than 70 different types. HPV is sometimes called the wart virus because certain types of HPV cause warts on the hands, feet or genitals.

    The types of HPV that cause visible warts on the genitals (vulva, vagina, penis, scrotum) or anus (butt hole) are different types than those that cause warts on the hands and feet. People may have HPV and not have any warts that they can see with naked eye. Still other types may cause cells on the cervix or in the anus to change and, in some cases, develop into cancer over many, many years if left untreated.


  • HPV - Symptoms - Doctors claim that more than 60 percent of sexually active adults are infected with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and it is implicated in cervical cancer.

    HPV, or Human Papilloma Virus, causes unsightly warts in various parts of the body, especially around the genitals when it is more commonly known as genital warts. However, the types of HPV that cause warts to grow on hands and feet are not the same as those that form warts in the mouth or in the genital area.


  • HPV - Treatments - A majority of HPV infections have no signs or symptoms and so most people that are infected are completely unaware but can continue to transmit the virus to sex partner(s).

    Depending on the type of HPV, some women have infections that cause abnormal cell growth (dysplasia) on the female cervix. A woman may only find out she has HPV when her annual Pap smear results indicate abnormal cervical cell changes.


  • Human Papilloma Virus - More than 70 types of human papilloma virus have been identified, and are responsible for a wide range of expression in our bodies. The common warts found on hands and feet are caused by some of these viruses, as is its more dangerous relation, warts found on the cervix (the opening to the uterus). Some of these warts have been shown to be a risk factor for cervical cancer in females. Warts found in the male anogenital tract have also been linked with cancer, although such cancers are quite rare.

    Most warts are benign, but cosmetically unappealing. About 1/3 of the viral types are found in the genital area. These "genotypes" are numbered in order of discovery, and each type identified is considered to be "new" if it shares less than 50% of its DNA with previously identified types. It is important to realize only certain types of warts found in the genital area are associated with cervical cancer. Most often identified through a clinical exam are the external warts, likely to be due to benign types. Human papilloma virus changes are often identified by the Pap smear.

Dr. Joe Glickman, Jr., M.D.

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