Why You Shouldn't Underestimate the Risks of STDs

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Sexually transmitted diseases are most often acquired through sexual contact. The microorganisms that cause them pass from person to person through blood, semen, vaginal or other body fluids.

These are very insidious diseases, because a healthy person can become infected with them and not even notice the symptoms. The absence of symptoms is one of the reasons why sometimes doctors prefer not to call them diseases, but sexually transmitted infections. Sometimes, only STD testing can reveal them.

How Do You Recognize the Symptoms of STDs?

These infections rarely show symptoms at all, and the patient can feel completely healthy. Often, the signs of the disease are already disturbing when complications develop. It happens that a healthy person begins to suspect something was wrong when an STD is found in his partner.

When symptoms do occur, they may include:

- Sores or bumps on the genitals, mouth, or anus

- Burning or pain during urination

- Discharge from the opening in the penis

- Unusual or bad-smelling vaginal discharge

- Abnormal vaginal bleeding (between periods or after intercourse)

- Pain during sex

- Painful, swollen lymph nodes in the groin area; sometimes this phenomenon is observed in other parts of the body (for example, in the cervical lymph nodes),

- Pain in the lower abdomen

- Fever

- Eruptions on the body, arms or legs.

Symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases may appear several days after infection. In some people, they appear only after years of infection..

What Causes STDs?

These diseases are caused by the following types of microorganisms:

- Bacteria (gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia)

- Parasites (trichomoniasis),

- Viruses (human papillomavirus, genital herpes, HIV).

High sexual activity plays a significant role in the transmission of other disease-causing agents, although they can be contracted without sexual contact. These include hepatitis A, B, and C, as well as shigella and intestinal giardia.

Who Has An Increased Risk of Getting Infected?

Every sexually active person is at increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection. Factors that increase the chances of getting infected include:

- Young age. According to the statistics of American experts, about half of the cases of infections are diagnosed in young people aged 15 to 24 years.

- Unprotected sex. Vaginal or anal penetration by an infected partner who is not using a condom greatly increases the risks. Incorrect or inconsistent use of condoms also increases the chance of infection.

- Having several partners. The more sexual partners you have, the higher your risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections.

- Rape or forced sex.

- Having infections in the past. If a person has already been sick, their body becomes more susceptible to any sexual infections, including HIV.

- Abuse of alcohol and soft drugs. The use of psychoactive substances makes a person more prone to commit unprotected intercourse.

- Taking drugs by injection. A large number of serious infections are spread through injecting drug use, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

- Taking drugs to stimulate erection. Men who take erectile dysfunction medications are more likely to be diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases.

Some infections - gonorrhea, chlamydia, HIV and syphilis - can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth. In this case, the child may develop very serious disorders, which are sometimes fatal. For these reasons, pregnant women are required to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases during the first prenatal examinations.

What Happens If STDs Are Not Treated?

Because most people don't show symptoms until late, it's important to get regular screenings. If a person at risk ignores this recommendation, they run the risk of facing such problems:

- Pelvic pain

- Pregnancy complications

- Eye Inflammation

- Arthritis

- Inflammatory disease of the pelvic organs

- Infertility

- Heart diseases

- Certain types of cancer, including cervical and rectal cancer.

This is why it is important to take STD tests at least once a year. Early diagnosis increases the chances of successful treatment.