Overview

Since the 1950s, women's preventative medicine and health care have greatly improved in the developed world, particularly through the availability of new diagnostic techniques. The use of Pap tests and mammography has become standard methods for the early detection of potentially life-threatening diseases in women. In addition, the increasing participation of women in clinical studies and the greater number of women in the medical field have served to promote women's health, directing attention to medical ailments and issues specific to women.

Background

The Pap test, developed by G. N. Papanicolau in 1943, would prove one of the most important diagnostic techniques for women. This test was designed to enable small tissue samples to be scraped from the cervix for analysis. Any abnormal cells that indicate the possibility of cervical cancer or other uterine problems alert the doctor and patient to the need...