If there’s any cancer screening that actually works — one that saves lives without ruining any in the process — it’s the Pap smears used to detect cervical cancer in women.

Yet the mainstream is starting to back away from them — and now, the latest recommendations say women can get smeared much less frequently. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says most women can get Pap smears every three years between the ages of 21 and 65.

Under 21 and older than 65 can skip the test altogether, and women between the ages of 30 and 65 can get theirs every five years if they get an HPV test at the same time as their Pap smear.

That’s a test that checks for the presence of the sexually transmitted HPV virus that causes the cancer.

The Task Force says it just wants to cut back on screenings to lower the risk of overtreatment, since many cervical lesions will go away on their own — and that’s all true enough.

But the Pap smear doesn’t have the same issues as some of the other cancer screenings, like the radioactive mammograms that can actually cause the very breast cancers they’re supposed to detect — so the risks here are minimal.

Dr. Mark Stengler put it best when I asked him about the new recommendations.

“I have no problem with yearly screenings with a procedure that is nontoxic,” he told me.

On the other hand, he said some women can indeed safely go three to five years between screenings: women who are not sexually active and have no history that would suggest they’re at risk for cervical cancer.

But a Pap smear is really just a small piece of the picture here, because the best way to beat this cancer is to avoid getting in the first place.

Dr. Stengler says one of the simplest ways to avoid the cervical dysplasia that can turn into cancer — and even help beat the HPV infection that causes it — is with a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, especially those rich in vitamin E.

In his book “Prescription for Natural Cures,” Dr. Stengler also offers seven natural remedies for cervical dysplasia, including indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and diindolylmethane (DIM).

The names don’t exactly roll off the tongue, but all you really need to know is that they’re extracts from the cruciferous vegetables — like broccoli — that you should be eating anyway.

I’m not done with women’s health yet. Keep reading for the latest natural solution for hot flashes.

It’s one of the Holy Grails of the drug industry: A pill to end hot flashes.

Think that’s a big market? You bet it is! Up to 80 percent of all women battle hot flashes during menopause, making a would-be treatment a billion-dollar dream for the drug industry.

But for women, that dream is more like a nightmare as they play guinea pig. Instead of being given safe, natural, and proven treatments for their hot flashes, they’re given unproven antidepressants, risky anti-seizure drugs, and even blood pressure meds… and almost all of them are being used off-label.

It’s a massive public health experiment that’s hurt far more women that it’s ever helped.

But you don’t need to swallow those pills, or face side effects, to get some relief, because the latest research points to a pair of easy, drug-free solutions: ordinary group therapy and self-help.

Researchers recruited 140 women who reported hot flashes and night sweats at least 10 times a week and assigned them to either group therapy, self-help, or no treatment at all.

The groups met four times a month, while those who got self-help had one meeting and a phone call with a shrink, but after that relied on a book and CD.

Six weeks later, 73 percent of the women who got self-help reported meaningful improvements, compared to 65 percent of those in group therapy, and 21 percent of those who got no treatment at all.

And six months later, those improvements held.

Of course, therapy didn’t quite work for everyone. But therapy isn’t your only option here, either, because there are other proven natural ways to get safe drug-free relief from the worst symptoms of menopause.

One recent study found that aerobic exercise can slash the number of hot flashes — and a recent follow-up finds that getting sweaty four days a week can beat the other signs of “the change” as well, including night sweats, mood swings, irritability, and more.

Other safe options backed by science include acupuncture — which beat sham acupuncture in one study on hot flashes — as well as a combination of St. John’s wort and black cohosh. And, of course, many women get through menopause with the help of custom-made bio-identical hormones.

An experienced naturopathic physician can help find which option is best for you.

You might think heart attacks don’t discriminate, but that’s not actually true. They do discriminate — and it’s a form of discrimination that’s killing women.

Believe it or not, women are actually more likely to die and more likely to die young as a result of a heart attack, and it’s because they don’t always experience the classic heart attack warning signs.

You know the big one: chest pain. That sudden pain is a direct and urgent message from the body that something’s wrong — and you need to get to the hospital.

But according to a study of more than 1.4 million heart patients tracked for up to 12 years, only 58 percent of women experience chest pain during a heart attack. Compare that to 70 percent of men who feel chest pain, and it’s not hard to see why women are 40 percent more likely to die as a result.

They simply never had a fair chance in the first place.

Overall, the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that 10.3 percent of men who experience heart attacks die as a result of them, versus 14.6 percent of women — with the biggest increase in risk among younger women, especially those 55 years old or younger.

Because they feel just about anything other than chest pain, these women are more likely to blame their symptoms on just about anything else: the flu, nerve or muscle pain, simple stress or something else entirely.

So instead of getting help, they pop a few painkillers or go lay down for a little while.

And some of them never get back up.

Don’t let this happen to you or your loved ones. Make it your mission to get to know the rest of the heart attack warning signs, which include:

• Pain or a numb sensation in other parts of the body — including the jaw, arms, stomach or back;
• Sudden fatigue;
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath;
• Dizziness;
• Nausea, vomiting and/or stomachache;
• Anxiety;
• Lightheadedness; and
• A cold sweat.

Don’t wait to see if these symptoms pass. Get help — especially if you’re younger and especially if you’re thinking “I couldn’t possibly be having a heart attack.”

That’s the kind of attitude that’s clearly getting people killed.

For more on heart protection, keep reading.

On the face of it, it hardly seemed fair.

Researchers put women on a low-carb diet up against women on a low-calorie diet — but with a huge catch: The low-carb eaters would stick to the plan for just two days a week… and eat whatever they wanted the rest of the time.

The low-calorie dieters, on the other hand, would commit to their diet 24/7.

Now, it’s been proven in the past that going low-carb is better than going low-cal any day of the week. But two days a week versus seven? How could it possibly compete?

Turns out very well — because after four weeks, the low-carb dieters lost more weight and had better insulin readings.

It’s like winning a fight with both hands tied behind your back.

The study actually involved three groups of women: Two went low-carb for two days a week. One got to eat as much as they wanted as long as they kept the carbs to 50 grams or less… while the other had to practically starve for those two days, eating just 650 calories of low-carb food.

The third group had to stick a version of the Mediterranean Diet every single day, and limit themselves to just 1,500 calories.

Two months later, and both sets of low-carb women lost an average of 9 pounds — while the calorie counters lost just 4 pounds. In addition, the women in both low-carb groups lowered their insulin levels by 18 percent — versus just 4 percent among low-calorie eaters.

And for the cherry on top, the low-cal women were twice as likely to quit the study as those who went low-carb — but that’s hardly a surprise. Nearly everyone has tried calorie counting at some point… and nearly everyone has failed at it.

It’s impossible because it’s unnatural. When you’re hungry, the instinct is to eat until you’re full — and the low-carb diet allows you to do just that.

What’s more, low-carb diets have also been shown to lower blood pressure levels, improve HDL cholesterol, slash triglycerides, and dramatically reduce your risk of diabetes.

The best way to get all those benefits — and more — is to go full time on your own low-carb diet. The women in the study were allowed to eat whatever they wanted for five days a week — but they didn’t.

Instead, their healthy low-carb habits carried over into the rest of the week, on their “off days,” once they realized how much good it was doing them.

Give it a shot yourself and you’ll find out why.