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]]>If you’re sexually active, particularly with multiple partners, you’ve probably heard the following advice many times: Use protection and get tested.
This is important because a person can have a sexually transmitted disease without knowing it. In many cases, there aren’t any signs or symptoms. In fact, that’s why many experts prefer the term sexually transmitted infections (STIs), because you can have an infection without disease symptoms.
But what types of STI testing do you need? And how often should you be screened? The answers depend on your age, your sexual behaviors and other risk factors. If you think you need STI testing, request it from your doctor. Talk to your doctor about your concerns and what tests you’d like or need.
Here are some guidelines for STI testing for specific sexually transmitted infections.
Get screened annually if:
Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening is done either through a urine test or through a swab inside the penis in men or from the cervix in women. The sample is then analyzed in a laboratory. Screening is important, because if you don’t have signs or symptoms, you can be unaware that you have either infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages HIV testing, at least once, as a routine part of medical care if you’re an adolescent or adult between the ages of 13 and 64. Younger teens should be tested if they have a high risk of an STI. The CDC advises yearly HIV testing if you are at high risk of infection.
Hepatitis C screening is recommended for everyone born between 1945 and 1965. The incidence of hepatitis C is high in this age group, and the disease often has no symptoms until it’s advanced. Vaccines are available for both hepatitis A and B if screening shows you haven’t been exposed to these viruses.
Request testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis if you:
Your doctor tests you for syphilis by taking either a blood sample or a swab from any genital sores you might have. The sample is examined in a laboratory. A blood sample is taken to test for HIV and hepatitis.
No good screening test exists for herpes, a viral infection that can be transmitted even when a person doesn’t have symptoms. Your doctor may take a tissue scraping or culture of blisters or early ulcers, if you have them, for examination in a laboratory. But a negative test doesn’t rule out herpes as a cause for genital ulcerations.
A blood test also may help detect a past herpes infection, but results aren’t always conclusive. Some blood tests can help differentiate between the two main types of the herpes virus.
Type 1 is the virus that more typically causes cold sores, although it can also cause genital sores. Type 2 is the virus that causes genital sores more often. Still, the results may not be totally clear, depending on the sensitivity of the test and the stage of the infection. False-positive and false-negative results are possible.
Certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical cancer while other varieties of HPV can cause genital warts. Many sexually active people become infected with HPV at some point in their lives, but never develop symptoms. The virus typically disappears within two years.
There’s no routinely used HPV screening test for men, in whom the infection is diagnosed by visual inspection or biopsy of genital warts. In women, HPV testing involves:
HPV has also been linked to cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis, anus, and mouth and throat. Vaccines can protect both men and women from some types of HPV, but they are most effective when administered before sexual activity begins.
If you test positive for an STI, the next step is to consider further testing and then get treatment as recommended by your doctor. In addition, inform your sex partners. Your partners need to be evaluated and treated, because you can pass some infections back and forth.
Expect to feel various emotions. You may feel ashamed, angry or afraid. It may help to remind yourself that you’ve done the right thing by getting tested so that you can inform your partners and get treated. Talk with your doctor about your concerns.
Dr. Sharmila Majumdar
Make an Appointment at the Sexual & Mental Health Clinic
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]]>Many STIs are spread through contact with infected body fluids such as blood, vaginal fluids, or semen. They can also be spread through contact with infected skin or mucous membranes, such as sores in the mouth. You may be exposed to infected body fluids and skin through vaginal, anal or oral sex.
Most STDs don’t produce symptoms or, if they do, result in vague or generic flu-like symptoms that could be the result of many different conditions. It can be difficult to determine the cause of symptoms due to an STD without getting tested. Women are more likely than men to suffer symptoms such as bumps, itching, or burning urination due to a sexually transmitted disease/infection, especially in the genital region. Without those first noticeable signs of an STD, infections often go unnoticed and untreated, which can cause long-lasting or even irreversible effects if left untreated.
When symptoms do occur, they typically appear within days or weeks of exposure to an STD. Often, symptoms never appear or go unnoticed. Even if an infection never results in obvious symptoms, the STD can still be transmitted and progress into a more serious condition that may result in irreversible side effects. Regular comprehensive STD testing is the only way to guarantee a clean bill of sexual health. It is especially important to get tested for STDs after risky or unprotected sexual.
Many sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are characterized by ambiguous or even flu-like symptoms in the early stages, making it difficult to specifically identify a sexually transmitted infection. For men, especially, a lack of symptoms is not a reliable measure of whether an STD is present. The symptoms that usually alert men to the presence of an STD are bumps or rashes on the genitals, discharge, discomfort or itching in the penis or testicles, or pain while urinating or ejaculating. Even a symptomless STD infection can have long-lasting or irreversible effects if left untreated.
STD symptoms in men usually take a few days to develop, but can take up to weeks (if there are symptoms at all). A lack of symptoms is often mistaken for a lack of an STD, but an infection can continue to progress even in the absence of symptoms. Because men so often don’t show symptoms, the only way to be sure that an STD is not present is to get tested regularly, especially after unprotected sex.
Take Charge of Your Health, free your mind!
Getting tested is the only way to know for sure if you do or do not have an STD. Visit our Hospital, Avis hospital in Jubilee Hills, next to Chiranjivee Blood bank, for consultation with the renowned sexual medicine specialist Dr. Sharmila Majumdar. Visit www.doctorsharmila.in
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]]>Let’s take a look at a few of them:
Pleasuring yourself is the ultimate form of safe sex. There is no way for you to catch an STD – sexually transmitted disease, or for it to cause any sort of mental health problem. The only risks involved are allergic reactions to lubricants or toys and a feeling of guilt or shame due to societal pressure. It lowers the chances of you having an orgasm during sex.
Single people as well as people in committed relationships masturbate. While it can lead to problems in a relationship depending on your partner’s views about it, it does not amount to cheating on him or her.
Pleasuring yourself does not reduce your chances of getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant. However, for men with a low sperm count, restricting ejaculations while trying to get their partner pregnant is a good idea. The only way it could be a problem is if partners who share sex toys do not keep them clean and pass on STDs through them.
Erectile dysfunction has a number of psychological and biological causes, such as heart disease, stress and obesity but masturbation is not one of them. Eating certain foods can help control the urge to masturbate.
Touching your genitals is very unlikely to damage them. The sex organs are designed to withstand friction and hence are very tough organs. The maximum damage that can be caused by masturbation is a little chafing. Using lubricant can prevent this from occurring.
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]]>The post The Ugly Truth about Sexually Transmitted Diseases appeared first on Dr. Sharmila Majumdar - Sexologist Psychoanalyst in Hyderabad.
]]>Today, there are approximately 30 STIs. A few can be fatal. Many women are living in fear of what their future may hold as a result of STD infection. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Indians between the ages of 15 and 55 are currently infected with one or more STDs, and 19 million Indians are newly infected out of which 63% are in people less than 25 years.
This epidemic is a recent phenomenon. However, most of these diseases were not around 20 to 30 years ago. Prior to 1960, there were only two significant sexually transmitted diseases: syphilis and gonorrhea. Both were easily treatable with antibiotics. In the sixties and seventies this relatively stable situation began to change. For example, in 1976, chlamydia first appeared in increasing numbers in India. Chlamydia, particularly dangerous to women, is now the most common STD in the country. Then in 1981, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus which causes AIDS, was identified. By early 1993, between 4 and 5 million Indians were infected with AIDS, over 12 million were infected worldwide, and over 160,000 had died in India alone. Over 10% of the total Indian population, 30 million people, are infected with herpes.
In 1985, human papillomavirus (HPV), began to increase. This virus results in venereal warts and often leads to deadly cancers. In 1990, penicillin resistant-strains of gonorrhea were present in all fifty states.
By 1992 syphilis was at a 40-year high. As of 1993, pelvic inflammatory disease (PIV), which is almost always caused by gonorrhea or chlamydia, was affecting 1 million new women each year. This includes 16,000 to 20,000 teenagers. This complication causes pelvic pain and infertility and is the leading cause of hospitalization for women, apart from pregnancy, during the childbearing years.
Pelvic inflammatory disease can result in scarred fallopian tubes which block the passage of a fertilized egg. The fertilized egg, therefore, cannot pass on to the uterus and the growing embryo causes the tube to rupture. By 1990, there was a 400% increase in tubal pregnancies, most of which were caused by STDs. Even worse is the fact that 80% of those infected with an STD don’t know it and will unwittingly infect their next sexual partner.
Syphilis is a terrible infection. In its first stage, the infected individual may be lulled into thinking there is little wrong since the small sore will disappear in 2 to 8 weeks. The second and third stages are progressively worse and can eventually lead to brain, heart, and blood vessel damage if not diagnosed and treated.
Chlamydia, a disease which only became common in the mid-1970s, infects 20 to 40% of some sexually active groups including teenagers. In men, chlamydia is usually less serious; with females, however, the infection can be devastating. An acute chlamydia infection in women results in pain, fever, and damage to female organs. A silent infection can damage a woman’s fallopian tubes without her ever knowing it. A single chlamydia infection can result in a 25% chance of infertility. With a second infection, the chance of infertility rises to 50%. This is double the risk of gonorrhea.
The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is extremely common and rapidly growing. 46% of the sexually active coeds were infected with HPV. Another study reported that 38% of the sexually active females between the ages of 15 and 21 were infected. HPV is the major cause of venereal warts; it can be an extremely difficult problem to treat and may require expensive procedures such as laser surgery.
The human papillomavirus can result in precancerous condition or cancer of the genitalia. By causing cancer of the cervix, this virus is killing more women in this country than AIDS, or over 6,600 women in 1991. HPV can also result in painful intercourse for years after infection even though other visible signs of disease have disappeared.
And of course there is the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The first few cases of AIDS were only discovered in 1981.
While the progress of the disease is slow for many people, all who have the virus will be infected for the rest of their life. There is no cure, and many researchers are beginning to despair of ever coming up with a cure or even a vaccine (as was eventually done with polio). In 1992, 1 in 75 men was infected with HIV and 1 in 700 women. But the number of women with AIDS is growing. In the early years of the epidemic less than 2% of the AIDS cases were women. Now the percentage is 22%
Teenagers are particularly susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases or STDs. This fact is alarming since more teens are sexually active today than ever before. An entire generation is at risk and the saddest part about it is that most of them are unaware of the dangers they face. We must give our teenagers the correct information to help them realize that saving themselves sexually until marriage is the only way to stay healthy.
The medical reasons for teens’ high susceptibility to STDs specifically relates to females. The cervix of a teenage girl has a lining which produces mucus that is a great growth medium for viruses and bacteria. As a girl reaches her 20s or has a baby, this lining is replaced with a tougher, more resistant lining. Also during the first two years of menstruation, 50% of the periods occur without ovulation. This will produce a more liquid mucus which also grows bacteria and viruses very well. A 15-year-old girl has a 1-in-8 chance of developing pelvic inflammatory disease simply by having sex, whereas a 24-year-old woman has only a 1- in-80 chance in that situation.
Teenagers do not always respond to antibiotic treatment for pelvic inflammatory disease, and occasionally such teenage girls require a hysterectomy. Teenage infertility is also an increasing problem. In 1965, only 3.6% of the married couples between ages 20 and 24 were infertile; by 1982, that figure had nearly tripled to 10.6%. The infertility rate is surely higher than that now with the alarming spread of chlamydia.
Teenagers are also more susceptible to human papillomavirus, HPV. Rates of HPV infection in teenagers can be as high as 40%, whereas in the adult population, the rate is less than 25%. Teenagers are also more likely than adults to develop precancerous growths as a result of HPV infection, and they are more likely to develop pelvic inflammatory disease.
Apart from the increased risk from STDs in teens, teenage pregnancy is also at unprecedented levels, over 1 million pregnancies, and 400,000 abortions in 1985. Abortion is not a healthy procedure for anyone to undergo, especially a teenager. It is far better to not get pregnant. Oral contraceptives are not as effective with teenagers, mainly because teens are more apt to forget to take the pill. Over a one-year period, as many as 9 to 18% of teenage girls using oral contraceptives become pregnant.
Our teenagers are at great risk. In a society that has abandoned God’s design for healthy meaningful sexual expression within marriage, our children need to be told the truth about the dangers of STDs.
We must now take a hard look at the message of “safe sex” which is being taught to teens through the media across the country. Some people believe that if teens can be taught how to use contraception and condoms effectively, that rates of pregnancy and STD infection will be reduced dramatically. It is significant to note that condoms, the hero of the “safe sex” message, provided virtually no protection from STDs.
Will condoms prevent HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS? While it is better than nothing, the bottom line is that condoms cannot be trusted.
Condoms do not even provide 100% protection for the purpose for which they were designed: prevention of pregnancy. One study from the School of Medicine Family Planning clinic reported that 25% of patients using condoms as birth control conceived over a one-year period. Other studies indicate that the rate of accidental pregnancy from condom-protected intercourse is around 15% with married couples and 36% for unmarried couples.
Condoms are inherently untrustworthy. The FDA allows one in 250 to be defective. Condoms are often stored and shipped at unsafe temperatures which weakens the integrity of the latex rubber causing breaks and ruptures. Condoms break 8% of the time and slip off 7% of the time. There are just so many pitfalls in condom use that you just can’t expect immature teenagers to use them properly. And even if they do, they are still at risk. In addition, programs that emphasize condoms tend to give a false sense of security to sexually active students and make those students who are not having sex feel abnormal. Hardly the desired result!
The list of damages from unmarried adolescent sexual activity is long indeed. Apart from the threat to physical health and fertility, there is damage to family relationships, self-confidence and emotional health, spiritual health, and future economic opportunities due to unplanned pregnancy. Condom-based sex-education does not work.
Diseases such as chlamydia, human papillomavirus, herpes, hepatitis B, trichomoniasis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and AIDS have joined syphilis and gonorrhea in just the last 30 years. There is no question that the fruits of the sexual revolution have been devastating. I have also shown how our teenagers are at a greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases than are adults and that sex-education based on condom use is ineffective and misleading. There is only one message that offers health, hope, and joy to today’s teenagers. We need to teach single people to save intercourse for marriage.
Sex is a wonderful gift, but if uncontrolled, has a great capacity for evil as well as good. Our bodies are not made to have multiple sex partners. We can avoid almost all risk of STD and out of wedlock pregnancy by saving intercourse for marriage.
Delaying intercourse until teens are older is not a naive proposal. Over 50% of the females and 40% of the males ages 15 to 19 have not had intercourse. While not a majority, they are living proof that teens can control their sexual desires. Current condom-based sex-education programs basically teach teenagers that they cannot control their sexual desires, and that they must use condoms to protect themselves. It is not a big leap from teenagers being unable to control their sexual desires to being unable to control their hate, greed, anger, and prejudice. This is not the right message for our teenagers! Teenagers discipline themselves for things they want, desire and are convinced about. We can discipline our teens in their sexual lives if they have the right information to make logical choices.
Saving sex for marriage is the common sense solution. In fact, it is the only solution. We don’t hesitate to tell our kids not to use drugs, and most don’t. We tell our kids it’s unhealthy to smoke, and most do not.
It is normal and healthy not to have sex until marriage. Sexually transmitted diseases are so common that it is not an exaggeration to say that most people who regularly have sex outside of marriage will contract a sexually transmitted disease. Not only is saving sex for marriage the only real hope for sexual health, it is God’s design. God has said that our sexuality is to blossom within the confines of a mutually faithful monogamous relationship. What we are seeing today is the natural consequence of disobedience. We need to re-educate our kids not just in what is best, but in what is right; and abstinence is right.
Dr. Sharmila Majumdar
Sr. Consultant Sexologist & Psychoanalyst
MS Sexuality, M.Phil Clinical Psychology, PhD Cognitive Behavior Modification
Certified from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA.
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