GF has abnormal pap smear results, should we be worried? *UPDATE*

[Stark]

TMI = Too much info

Try a shower sometime. It may help with all those infections and chunky discharges.

 

[Emos]

Luckster,
Sounds like your girlfriend ought to be fine. I work as a cytotechnologist and the bulk of my work is reviewing Pap smears. If she does have a Candida (yeast) infection, it can cause reactive changes in the squamous cells of the cervix, sometimes alarming enough to be flagged as abnormal. She should simply have a repeat test within 6 months to a year.

As Mark R noted, many abnormal smears (Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance and Low Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion) will often revert to normal. It's the persistant abnormal cases and specimens found to have a HSIL (High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion) that need to be promptly followed up with a colposcopy/biopsy. The main reason that the Pap smear has proved to be an effective (albiet not foolproof) screening test is that cervical cancer usually goes through a long period (usually years) of increasing abnormal stages (LSIL, HSIL, CIS) before it turns malignant. If a woman has her exam every year, chances are very high (over 99% IMO) that any cervical abnormalities will be caught and treated before it turns malignant.
BTW, if your GF is not aware of it, have her look into a new method of processing and reviewing Paps called the ThinPrep test. Since the cells are better preserved, there's a better chance of abnormal cells being detected (plus they're soooo much easier to screen! )