Women who have been through the menopause may not need an annual smear test, new research suggests.

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Professor Cuzick said the current smear test was more than 60 years old and needed to be updated.

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Shortly after registering with a GP, he received a letter inviting him to go to the surgery for a smear test.

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Other examples of discrimination included the case of a lesbian refused a smear test by her doctor, and a lesbian couple desperate for help after being harrassed by neighbours.

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The test for high risk HPV is done on the cervical screening sample, which means that women will not notice anything different when they have their regular cervical smear test.

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Apart from the silliness, there is a great deal of useful health advice here, with articles on everything from what to do if your PAP smear test comes back "abnormal" to the health benefits of fennel.

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Defending, John Weate said Parr had been lying to her family about having cancer for 10 years prior to the offences against Ms Briscoe and had begun a "web of lies" after a cervical smear test revealed "unstable cells".

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Professor Kimler said the test was similar to the Pap smear, which is used to detect the early signs of cervical cancer.

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Cervical polyps are typically removed only if they are large, causing irregular bleeding, or if there is an abnormal Pap smear or a persistently positive HPV (human papillomavirus) test.

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