Cancer warning over 'most common STI you've never heard of' trends now
Gonorrhoea, chlamydia, HIV, these are the sexually transmitted infection (STI) people know to to do their utmost to avoid.
But scientists say a common but symptomless STI that most people have never heard of may increase the risk of a certain type of cancer risk by up to 80 per cent.
Called trichomonas vaginalis, or trich, this parasite is considered one of the most common STIs on the planet, infecting around 180million people each year.
While it can cause nasty problems like discharge from the genitals, pain and swelling while peeing, and itchiness around eight out of 10 people experience zero signs that they are infected.
But a new study suggests it could be a silent killer for women by potentially increasing their risk of developing cervical cancer by 79 per cent.
You may never heard of trich, but scientists say data suggests an infection of common, but frequently symptomless parasite, could increase the risk of cervical cancer in women by 80 per cent
The vast majority of cervical cancers (99.8 per cent) are caused by an infection with certain types of a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV).
Hungarian researchers theorised that trich could create conditions inside the vagina favourable to HPV, and therefore cervical cancer.
To test their theory, the team analysed data from almost half-a-million women from around the world in what they said was the first large-scale study of its kind.
Publishing their findings in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics they found of the more than 473,000 women sampled from global research conducted over the past 15 years, 8,518 had trich.
Scientists found women with trich were found to have a 79 per cent higher risk of having HPV compared to those who didn't, increasing their risk of cervical cancer.
Lead author of the study Dr Balázs Hamar, an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology at Semmelweis University in Budapest, said: 'This is because the infection causes the inflammation and abruption of the cervical epithelium/cervix providing a favourable environment for pathogens such as HPV.'
A smaller sub-section of the study looking at cervical cancer cases and trich directly (600 women) and found those with the STI were five times as
