CAPITAL HEALTH

Sexually transmitted diseases, commonly known as STDs, are diseases that can be transmitted through sexual interactions with persons already infected with it. These diseases are also known as sexually transmitted infections (STI) or venereal diseases (VD). STDs are also known to spread by means of child birth and breastfeeding. Although many diseases such as the common cold or influenza can spread through sex, they are not called a sexually transmitted disease because sex is not the main vector of these diseases.

Well known for the past 100 years, sexually transmitted diseases are a major challenge to present day healthcare. Because of its infectious nature, persons infected with sexually transmitted diseases are growing everyday in number. This geometric growth of infected persons has persuaded the government of different countries into taking necessary actions such as growing social consciousness.

There are a large number of known STDs and they all are different in nature. These diseases are the effect of various type of germ infections, namely bacterial, viral, fungal etc. Even there are parasites and protozoa STDs. While most of the STDs are treatable and curable, some are not. Of the later group, HIV (Human Immuno Virus) or AIDS is a big example. Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia are some of the bacterial STDs, while HIV, Herpes, Hepatitis A, E and C are viral.

Symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases can not be listed as the term STD refers to a group of diseases. Every such disease has its own symptom. But it often occurs that a person infected with a sexually transmitted disease is unaware of it. A person may never feel sick or may never show any symptom towards a sexually transmitted disease and may still be infected.

Sometimes the case may also be that a person who may have an STD is too reluctant to admit it. It is so unfortunate because not only those persons are hard to detect, they make it easier for another person to get infected.

While treatment of an STD depends on the particular disease and may or may not be an easy job to do, prevention of these diseases is easier. Sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented by as simply as practising safe-sex, meaning that one should always use a condom if unsure of his/her partner’s sexual history.

Today governments and NGOs of many poorly developed countries are trying hard to make condom use popular, while in developed countries like the USA, various posters and advertisements are being used to put an end to this dangerous spread of an STD by increasing awareness. Introducing sex education in school syllabus may be another way to act against these diseases.

From the public domain film, “To the People of the United States” (1944). Public education film on combatting the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, especially syphilis, in World War II. Producer: California Department of Public Health in cooperation with US Public Health Service; Creative Commons license: Public Domain.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Sexual intercourse with a infected partner can be a reason for viral infection. Sometimes viral attack may happen after child birth, during abortion or a miscarriage. Sexual activity should be avoided until warts are completely gone. Sex was just painful, it would hurt so bad, and I didn’t know what to do . The nausea, ongoing sleepiness, depression, handfuls of hair falling out, and mood swings .

Sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia and gonorrhea are responsible for the vast majority of PID cases diagnosed each year. However, these are not the only situations that may cause PID. Sexually transmitted disease (STD) symptoms include vaginal discharge of an unusual amount, colour or odour; painful and/or frequent urination; and genital sores or ulcers. See a doctor right away if you have symptoms of PID or STD. Sexual partners can play “hot potato” with yeast infections, passing them back and forth, even if one of them has gotten treatment. Often, men harbor yeast organisms, especially in the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis, but show no symptoms.

PID can cause an acute illness, chronic pain, or it may be present as an almost silent chronic infection. Left untreated, it can cause scarring and irreversible damage to one or more of the reproductive organs. PID can be caused by many types of bacterial infection, but the majority of cases occur as a result of a sexually transmitted infection (STI), most commonly chlamydia trachomatis and neisseria gonorrhoea. When infection spreads from the cervix and along the fallopian tubes, it causes inflammation (salpingitis). PID is a serious health issue that requires prompt treatment. In most cases, antibiotics will clear up any infection and inflammation within two weeks’.

Symptomatic women may present with a chief complaint of lower abdominal pain, abnormal vaginal discharge , abnormal uterine bleeding, dyspareunia, menometrorrhagia, pain at the time of menses, nausea, vomiting, fever. Symptoms and signs increase the week before menses. Erythema, edema, and excoriation are common.

Women reporting either lower abdominal pain or vaginal discharge with continuous or intermittent fever during the 6 months prior to interview, were classified as having PID symptoms.  Women who have gonorrhea are also more prone to having pelvic inflammatory disease or PID. Symptoms may not appear in some cases, but once they appear, these symptoms can be distressing for the patient. Women should refrain from sexual intercourse until antibiotic therapy is completed and a doctor confirms that the infection is completely eliminated, even if symptoms disappear. All recent sex partners should be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydial infection and treated.

Women can use their regular gynecological examinations to ask their physician about their risk factors for PID. Any symptoms or concerns should be immediately reported to a physician, preferably a gynecologist. Women with PID may have partners who have gonorrhea or chlamydial infection, which can cause PID. A person can have these STDs even if there are no signs of illness.

1. WHAT ARE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STDS)? Sexually transmitted diseases are diseases that can be passed from person to person through sexual contact. In this case sexual contact means penis-vagina penetration, oral sex which is sexual contact using the mouth, and insertion of the penis into the rectum which is anal sex. Some of these diseases may be transmitted by exchange of sexual fluids such as semen or vaginal discharge. Some of the STD’s result in open sores, and it can be spread by contact with skin of someone else. There are also ways to transmit these diseases in a non sexual way, an infected pregnant woman can either give it to her baby during pregnancy, or when the baby is being delivered. Drug abusers can transmit the disease through sharing hypodermic needles that have been used by an infected person. The seriousness of STD’s varies, some are cured easily by drugs, others need a combination of treatments and drugs, whilst others have no cure, and the only option is treatment.

2. WHAT ARE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED IINFECTIONS (STI’s)?
Any infection that is usually passed through sexual contact.

3.ARE THE TWO WORDS INTERCHANGEABLE. Fifteen years ago both these categories came under one name Venereal Disease (VD). To distinguish

between them they were separated into infections(STI) and diseases(STD). Infection means that a germ, bacteria, parasite or virus is present in the body. An infected

person does not necessarily have any symptoms, which means that they do not usually feel ill..A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes

discomfort, dysfunction, or distress, in other words your body tells you that you are unwell. This means that STI covers a wider range than the term STD. STD

refers only to infections that are causing problems. Because most of the time, people don’t know they are infected with an STI until they start showing symptoms of

disease, the AIDS Resource Center uses the term STD, even though the term STI is also appropriate in many cases.

Let’s see if we can simply un-muddy the waters here. Genital herpes has two states when the blisters are present and when they are absent. When they are
present they are causing symptoms, ie the blisters, at this stage it is an STD, and it is that this stage that the infection is most likely to be spread to another
person.When the blisters are absent then there are no symptoms, and this is then an STI, and the likelihood of an infection is reduced. However HIV can be
an infection, in the sense that there may be no symptoms, when they develop symptoms then they have AIDS which is an STD. However it is important to
remember that HIV infection can be spread at any time.

4.WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STD’S AND HIV?
A person who is already infected with STD, has a higher risk of contracting HIV if they have unprotected sex, without a condom. This risk is greater
if the STD causes open genital sores, as these wounds provide a break in the skin which enables the HIV infection to enter the blood stream. STDs that can
cause genital ulcers include genital herpes, syphilis, chancre, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and scabies.

5.WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOU MAY HAVE A STD.
First of all the majority of the people with STD have no immediate symptoms and when they do have them it can be misleading to diagnose as the
symptoms can be confused with non sexual diseases. Please note that this applies much more to women than men.

6. WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS FOR WOMEN WHEN THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM AN STD.
unusual or A bad-smelling vaginal discharge,
severe itching or burning in the genital area,
unusual bleeding,
pain in the pelvic region,
pain during sex,
rashes on the genitals,
open sores or warts on the genital area, and/or recurrent urinary tract infections.

7. WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS FOR MEN WHEN THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM AN STD.
In men, the most common symptoms of STD are:
pain when urinating,
open sores or warts on the genital area,
genital rash
discharge from the penis, and/or pain in the scrotum/testicles.

8. WHAT ARE THE OTHER SYMPTOMS NOT CONNECTED TO THE GENITALS
The following symptoms are present in both men and women.
discharge from the anus,
swelling of the groin,
jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes),
oral thrush (white tongue),
arthritis,
sores or bumps in and around the mouth, and
generalized rashes.

9 CAN I CONTRACT STI AS A RESULT OF MUTUAL MASTERBATION
Yes you can and listed below are some examples.
Bacterial Vaginosis
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Herpes Simplex
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, Warts)
Pubic Lice
Scabies

10. CAN I PREVENT GETTING STI or STD
The only foolproof way is abstinence from sex. A condom merely reduces the risk, and it must be used every time, before any sexual
fluids are exchanged.

As the world is getting more open to sex and as people are changing their sexual values and behavior, the cases of sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, are also increasing rapidly. Despite the warnings and teachings about the dangers of unprotected sex and of exceeding the normal limits in sensual activities, there is a boost in sexually transmitted diseases. The incidence is not limited to just some parts of the world, but no nation is considered safe from this trend.

This article briefly lists the common sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, just to raise people’s awareness towards such a deadly issue. We must know how to prevent and treat them. We should be aware of the fact that such diseases are transmitted during sexual contacts with an infected person. Whatever kind of sexual activity is involved, vaginal, anal, or oral, the diseases can transmit easily to another person.

Gonorrhea: A bacterial STD that remains unnoticed for long, except for some cases when men can notice some kind of discharge from their organ.

Genital Warts or HPV/Human Papilloma Virus: A most common STD, which is not curable so far, and just the symptoms can be controlled only.

AIDS/HIV: It is one of the most deadly STDs. It can be transmitted through semen, vaginal secretion, blood, and breast milk. It involves no risk of being transmitted by casual contact. AID is not curable. However, its progress can be controlled that makes the infected people to live longer.

Chlamydia: It is one of the most common but curable STDs. Its symptoms include pain during lovemaking, discharge from woman and man sexual organ, etc. Its symptoms remain unnoticed for long.

Syphilis: This STD can lead to serious complications if not treated in time. Syphilis sores can appear on the external genitals, mouth, rectum or vagina.

Mycoplasma Genitalium: This STD has surpassed gonorrhea in prevalence. Its symptoms are not easy to identify. Studies are underway to know more about this disease. It is known to cause cervicitic in women and nongonococcal urethritis in men.

HSV/Herpes: A viral STD; it is recognized as HSV1 and HSV2. HSV1 is related to cold sores, whereas HSV2 is associated with genital sores. It can be transmitted through the genitals to the mouth or vice versa. It usually spreads through skin-to-skin contact.

Hepatitis/HBV: There are many types of hepatitis but the one that is considered a STD is hepatitis B, HBV. It affects the liver. Its long-term complications can be very serious.

BV/Bacterial Vaginosis: It infects when the healthy bacteria in vagina disappear and different organisms inhabit the area. Women will suffer from itching around the vagina, burning, gray or white discharge and some strong smell will become noticeable after lovemaking. BV has recurring trend, and it increases the risks of pelvic inflammatory disease, HIV, etc.

The sexually transmitted diseases can lead to many severe complications if not controlled on time. Moreover, it is highly advisable to ensure all the preventive measures that protect us from such diseases, since some are not curable, while symptoms of some STDs appear much late.

I will like to start by explain the meaning of sexually transmitted disease. A sexually transmitted disease or STD is a disease that one can get through sexual intercourse. In a world where there are so many sexually transmitted diseases with out cure, it will be better to avoid getting a deadly disease. As the saying going says, prevention is better than cure.

As we all know, a sexually transmitted diseases is a type of disease which one get by having indiscriminate and unprotected sex. How can one really avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease? Is sexually transmitted disease good for human? Definitely no. No sane human will like to get a sexually transmitted disease.

For one to avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease, knowledge of how one can get it should be a necessity. The major way through which one can get a sexually transmitted diseases is through – having indiscriminate and unprotected sex.

For people who are still single, the only sure way to avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease is to practice abstinence. Yes! The only way to avoid getting STD is to avoid having sex.

For the married people, the only way to avoid getting STDs is to be faithful to your marriage partner. Yes when you do this, you will escape the wrath of deadly sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDs,

Most sexually transmitted diseases can be avoided to some extent by practicing safe sex. Safe sex involves the use of condoms.

Example of sexually transmitted diseases includes Chlamydia, Syphilis, HIV and AIDS, Gonorrhea, etc

In summary, the best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is to avoid high-risk behaviors and practice safe sex.

Abstinence is still the only ultimate way to completely avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease.

Victor writes for Sex Education Blog. Visit his Love, Sex & Romance site to lean more about having a happy sex, love and romantic moment.

Read more at http://sex-4u.blogspot.com/

Find More Diseases STDs Articles