WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Israeli research on domestic violence has found that the violence is usually calculated and that those who become violent do so only if they don't have to pay too high a price.

"The violent partner might conceive his or her behavior as a 'loss of control,' but the same individual, unsurprisingly, would not lose control in this way with a boss or friends," Dr. Eila Perkis, of the University of Haifa, said in a university news release.

Perkis divided domestic violence into four levels of severity -- verbal aggression, threats of physical aggression, moderate physical aggression and severe physical aggression.

"These four levels follow one another in an escalating sequence," she said. "Someone who uses verbal violence might well move on over time to threatening physical attack, and from there it is only downhill towards acting on the threat."

Each type of violence is calculated, she said, with the violence used as a tool for resolving conflict.

"Neither [person] sits down and plans when he or she will swear or lash out at the other, but there is a sort of silent agreement standing between the two on what limits of violent behavior are 'OK,' where the red line is drawn and where behavior beyond that could be dangerous," Perkis explained.

Under such an "agreement," she said, the partner who commits violence understands that there won't be a heavy price to pay for a slap, for example, but also knows that more serious violence would result in more serious consequences and, therefore, refrains from such behavior.

"A 'heavy price' could be the partner's leaving or reporting the incident to the police or the workplace," Perkis said. "As such, it can be said that violent behavior is not the result of loss of control and both sides are aware of where the red line is drawn, even if such an agreement has never been spoken between them."

She suggested that couples who use violence to resolve conflict need to be taught how to better cope with the sources of tension and conflict in their relationship.

"In couples therapy for partners who express the wish to stay together, therapy must be focused on identifying illegitimate motives, such as non-normative tactics for solving conflict, and assisting the couple in acknowledging their ability to convert destructive patterns into effective ones and ultimately to run their lives better," Perkis said.

More information

The American Psychiatric Association has more about domestic violence  .

TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Traditional Pap tests and the newer liquid-based cytology are equally reliable in screening for cervical cancer, a new study has found.

In the United States, liquid-based cytology testing has all but replaced the traditional Pap test, but in Europe the debate continues over which method is best, according to Dr. Mark Schiffman, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, co-author of an editorial accompanying the study's publication in the Oct. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study's lead researcher, Albertus G. Siebers, from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands, reflects that debate. "Liquid-based cytology is neither more sensitive nor more specific in detecting cancer," he said. "However, the decision to convert to liquid-based cytology cannot be based on the performance of the method alone, as other arguments also play an important role."

The difference between the two tests is not in the way samples are collected but in how they are treated in the laboratory. In a traditional Pap test, cells are collected and smeared on a slide for evaluation. In liquid-based cytology, the cells are rinsed in a vial of preservation solution.

The advantage of liquid-based cytology is that it also screens for human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cervical cancers.

To find out which test was best, the researchers randomly assigned 89,784 women who participated in the Dutch cervical screening program to have either a traditional Pap tests or a liquid-based cytology test.

"The main finding of the study is that we provided strong evidence that a relatively new screening method is not necessarily better than the old way of screening with conventional PAP smears," Siebers said.

The Dutch screening program did not allow use of liquid-based cytology testing until recently, he said, because officials did not have sufficient data comparing it with the conventional method.

"The decision to convert to a new method is a very complex one," Siebers said. "The performance of the method is, of course, imperative, but it is not the only factor. Other things must be considered, [including] screening time, the handling of the specimen, the reduced number of inadequates, the possibility of using residue for further diagnostic procedures such as HPV testing [and] the much more standardized way of handling the material that enables computer-assisted screening."

All these factors should be considered to objectively estimate cost-effectiveness and decide whether a change in screening method should be made, Siebers said.

The study's findings led to Dutch officials deciding to allow use of liquid-based cytology testing, he said.

Schiffman noted that liquid-based cytology is more expensive than the traditional Pap smear, but it is preferred by U.S. laboratories because specimens are easier to handle, and more analyses can be done in a day. In addition, the specimen can be used for HPV testing, which is common in the United States.

But any Pap testing could be on the way out, he said, because the ability to prevent and screen for cervical cancer is changing. "We now have vaccines that are going to keep getting better, and we have HPV testing, which is even more sensitive than Pap smears," Schiffman said. "And new techniques will come along."

He predicted major changes in cervical cancer screening in the next few years, "with the powerful sensitivity of doing HPV testing plus a Pap smear that is optimally done no more than every three years starting at age 30."

But he said it remains to be seen whether women will accept screening every three years after having been accustomed to annual testing. "That's a major change coming," Schiffman said.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on cervical cancer  .

MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that sperm, not just semen, can transmit the virus that causes AIDS to immune cells in the body and, in fact, sperm may play a major role in transmission.

Scientists already know that men infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can spread the disease through their semen, the fluid that carries sperm. But it hasn't been clear what role sperm itself plays, especially considering that men who don't produce sperm, such as those who have had vasectomies, can transmit the virus.

In a new study, published in the Oct. 26 online edition and the Nov. 23 print issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers found that the virus attaches to the surface of sperm and can be transmitted to immune cells.

Immune cells known as dendritic cells appear to be vulnerable, the study authors explained. The researchers, led by Ana Ceballos of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, think the virus gets to these cells by passing through tiny abrasions in the vagina or anus or perhaps through another method.

The researchers said that a slightly acid environment, which they likened to that in the vagina after sexual intercourse, boosts the likelihood of infection of these cells.

More information

Learn more about HIV from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FRIDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- There have been reports that injections of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine are especially painful, but a new study finds that they don't hurt more than any other shots.

Public health officials worried that reports of excess pain might prevent young women from getting the vaccine, which protects against a virus that can cause cervical cancer, some other kinds of cancer and genital warts. There was also concern that some women might not get all three required doses.

Overall, only a little more than one-third of all teen girls in the United States who are eligible for the vaccine have gotten one or more doses, according to a report.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina discovered that most parents of teen girls who got the HPV vaccine said their daughters didn't experience unusual pain compared to two other kinds of injections -- tetanus boosters and meningococcal vaccinations.

The study was released online in September in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Vaccine.

"Some stories about HPV vaccine side effects and pain have been downright scary. However, most parents in our study reported their daughters experienced the same amount of pain or even less pain from the HPV vaccine compared to these other vaccines," study co-author Paul L. Reiter, a postdoctoral fellow, said in a university news release.

The authors also discovered that women aren't avoiding the vaccine because of fear of pain. Teens who reported experiencing pain were no less likely to finish the three-dose regimen than those who didn't.

Study co-author Noel T. Brewer, an assistant professor of health behavior and health education, said that the findings could combat the myth that the vaccine hurts more than others.

"It's important for parents and health-care providers to be aware of these findings. Doctors and parents can now make better-informed decisions about giving adolescent girls the HPV vaccine," he said. "Getting the HPV vaccine hurts less than you think."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute funded the research.

More information

Learn more about the HPV vaccine from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.