Tag: STD

Syphilis – An Enduring STD

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Syphilis is an STD or sexually transmitted disease that can be passed sexually through the mouth, vagina, lips, anus, penis, and urethra.

Syphilis can cause serious health problems when it is untreated.

Symptoms

Symptoms can be mild or there would be none which could make an infected person unaware of it.

There are 3 stages of syphilis which could show a latent stage where the infected person will be symptom-free for a long period of time.

There are different symptoms for every stage and they may include:

Primary stage

One or a few painless chancre, which is a wet ulcer or a sore, will appear after 3 weeks or 90 days after infection. The sores or chancres will appear in the anus, vagina, breasts, the cervix, mouth, and lips that go away after 3-6 weeks even without treatment. The infected person will also experience swollen glands at this stage.

Secondary stage

After the sores disappear, other symptoms will start to appear if the infection is untreated. The symptoms that show in this phase will come and go for two years. Rashes growing on the soles of the feet or palms of the hand will last for 2-6 weeks. The infected person will also have other symptoms such as muscle pains, low-grade fever, headache, fatigue, swollen glands, sore throat, weight loss, and hair loss.

Late stage

If syphilis remains untreated during the first two stages, it will progress to the late stage which causes serious health problems and damage to the brain, nervous system, heart, and other major organs resulting in death. Reaching this stage would mean 20 years has passed since the time when the infection happened.

Treatment

The first two stages of syphilis are highly treatable. An antibiotic regimen usually clears up the infection. Your sexual partner/s should have to be informed to make them take an STD test and be treated if found to be positive for infection.

The late phase of syphilis can still be treated, but the damage that has been done to the major organs of the body cannot be undone. The best way to avoid this is to have regular testing leading to an earlier treatment which could prevent future serious health problems.

Transmission

Contact with the syphilis sores is the way the infection is spread. Direct contact takes the form of:

  • Kissing (not very common)
  • Anal and vaginal intercourse
  • Oral sex

The early stages of the infection are the highly contagious phase of the disease. The liquid from the chancres or ulcers that oozes fluid is very virulent. The latent stage of the disease is also the non-infectious stage. Latent stage untreated syphilis can lie dormant for many years or for a person’s lifetime, but could be transmitted to a fetus from an infected mother.

Prevention

Syphilis can be prevented by abstaining from sex.

If you like to engage in anal or vaginal intercourse, just remember to use latex or female condoms to all sexual activity. Condoms or latex should also be used when performing oral sex. This safe sex practice lowers your risk of acquiring the infection.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases – Understanding STD

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Any type of sexual contact that has an infection that can be passed from one person to another is termed as a sexually transmitted disease. It is important to note that sexual contact would not only mean sexual intercourse through the anus or the vagina. It also covers the sharing of sex toys, kissing, and genital-oral contact. STDs are not modern diseases but has been around for years. It was only in 1984 that HIV/AIDS was recognized.

Most STDs are curable but some are not treatable at all such as the viral infections of hepatitis B and C, HPV, and the dreaded HIV. Gonorrhea, used to be a highly treatable STD, has evolved some strains that have become resistant to older created antibiotics. This is the reason why awareness and knowledge about STDS can be the best prevention against the infection.

What Are Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)?

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STDs/STIs are sexually transmitted diseases/infections are otherwise known as venereal diseases which are transmitted from one person to another through sexual intercourse that include genital contact. The spread of these infections is through oral, vaginal, and anal sex. There is a range of various symptoms involved in 25 different STDs/STIs.

STD or sexually transmitted disease has another name which is STI or sexually transmitted infection. STI is now the preferred term used because some STDs can infect but not cause any disease. Take the case of Chlamydia. One can get infected with Chlamydia yet do not show any signs and symptoms associated with the disease. When there is the absence of symptoms, people believe that they do not have a disease even when there is the presence of an infection that needs to be treated.

Sometimes the only way you will be able to know you have an STD would be the manifestation of symptoms or your sexual partner tells you that you are infected because he or she has been diagnosed with STD. The absence of symptoms still makes an infected person infectious. Some STDs can be passed by an infected mother to her unborn child.

If you suspect that you may have been exposed to an STD, you should see a doctor. Most STDs are curable, but it can also bring serious medical conditions if left untreated.

Here are some of the most common genital diseases and STDs:

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that is bacterial in nature and one of the most reported. It infects the cervix in women, and the eyes, urethra, and rectum of both sexes. An infected person can pass the infection through sexual intercourse and genital contact. Infertility problems will be one of the serious health conditions if left untreated for a long time.

Genital warts

Some sub-types of HPV or human papilloma virus cause genital warts. They appear in the genital area looking like lumps shaped like a cauliflower which could be fleshy and large or small bumps colored flesh or white. They are hard to spot as they are painless. Having a wart on the cervix may make a woman experience colored discharges from the vagina or may have some slight bleeding.

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted disease that is popularly called in slang language as ‘the clap’. It can infect the throat, urethra, anus, cervix, and rectum. It may not have any symptoms but if it does, it appears between 1 to 14 days after infection and may include:

  • If the rectum is infected there will be discharges or irritation from the anus
  • Painful urination
  • Changes in the discharges from the vagina
  • A yellow or white discharge from the penis

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver due to viral infections is called hepatitis. There are several kinds of hepatitis virus that have been named after the alphabet, from A to G. The most common types are A, B, and C. Prolonged and excessive use of alcohol or usage of certain drugs and medications can lead to hepatitis but the common infection comes from a virus.

There are more varieties of STDs and learning more about them could make you see ways and means to prevent acquiring them. Prevention is still the best choice against a cure.