Would You Have Sex With Someone Who Had An STD?

A shocking survey into the sexual wellness and wellbeing of people in Britain today has revealed that around 20 percent of the population would have sexual intercourse with someone who they knew had a sexually transmitted disease.

 

The survey was carried out with a group of 18 to 30 year olds, 19 percent of whom said they would sleep with someone even if they knew that they had an STD. Of the people in the survey who said that they theoretically would, it was found that in fact 39 percent of them had unprotected sex in the past with a partner that they knew had an STD. Most of those surveyed said that they just wanted to have intercourse and deal with any consequences later. Of this group, 11 percent said that they ‘always’ let their passions get the better of their common sense.

 

These statistics equate to one in five young adults saying that they would have sex with someone despite knowing that person had a sexually transmitted disease. The research was commissioned by an online pharmacy, and carried out with a group of 1, 231 young adults. The thought process behind those who were willing to take the risk was generally just that they would ‘deal with any repercussions later’.

 

Some of those who said that they would have sex with someone who was suffering from an STD said that they would be happy to go ahead, because it was ‘impossible’ to catch an STD if you used protection (which his categorically untrue).

 

In addition to those who said that they definitely would have sex with someone who was suffering from an STD, a further quarter of those who were asked the question said that it would depend on which STD their partner was suffering from.

Categories: group, Infected, knew, nbsp, percent, Sex, sexually transmitted, STD, suffering, transmitted disease, young adults

What All Older Couples Should Know About Contracting Herpes

When you get older, you may not be thinking about your sexual health as much as you should. It is a commonly held myth that STDs such as herpes are not really present amongst older people, but in fact quite the reverse is true.

 

Herpes is particularly prevalent – between 50 and 80 percent of all adults in America have herpes. The best thing to do if you are an untested adult is to have the test. There is no point in waiting and worrying – you should go to your doctor and ask for the simple blood test that is necessary in order for you to confirm whether or not you have the disease, and what kind you have. Getting an appropriate diagnosis can help you to prevent yourself from infecting others.

 

If you have herpes, you will find that it breaks out at certain times. When you have an outbreak of herpes, you should avoid sex 100 percent of the time. Don’t just look for the obvious, noticeable symptoms – any other itching or pain could be a signal that an outbreak is occurring. It’s also worth being aware that cold sores on the mouth are a form of herpes, and if you have one of these you must avoid oral sex as you can spread the virus to the genitals.

 

Herpes can be spread through oral sex, intercourse and any skin-to-skin contact between two people. Even if you have gone through the menopause, you should use condoms, as these can prevent you from getting a sexually transmitted disease such as herpes. If you want to be extra safe, make sure that you or your partner wear a condom before any kind of foreplay or genital touching takes place. This will also protect you from all other STDs.

Categories: Herpes, nbsp, nbsp herpes, older, oral sex, people, STD, STDs

Could You be at Risk of Getting the STD Chlamydia?

Chlamydia is the most commonly transmitted type of sexual infection. If you have not been careful about your sexual health, then this is one type of disease that you should be worrying about. In order to protect your sexual wellness and wellbeing, you should ensure that you always use protection when having intercourse with a new partner. If you have any concerns about your sexual health, the first and most important thing is to seek help from a medical professional.

 

Chlamydia itself is a bacterial infection that is usually spread through unprotected sex – either vaginal or oral. Not everybody who has chlamydia gets symptoms, so you should get checked out even if you are not suffering from any unusual symptoms.

 

Signs of chlamydia to look out for if you are a man include a white, watery or cloudy discharge from the penis, pain when you are passing urine and a painful swelling of the testicles. If you are a woman, the symptoms can include pain or bleeding during sexual intercourse, bleeding after sex, pain when you are passing urine, any unusual discharge from the vagina or bleeding in between your periods or suffering from  heavier periods than is usual for you.

 

After having unprotected sex with someone suffering from chlamydia, symptoms will take around two or three weeks to appear (although bear in mind that around a quarter of those affected will not get any symptoms at all). The only way to be sure about chlamydia is to have a test.

 

Your local genitourinary medicine clinic (GUM) or doctor’s surgery can give you a free STI test, and it will all be done in complete confidence.

 

People aged under 25 can also get tested for chlamydia as part of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (in England). Ask about it at your local clinic or doctor’s surgery.

Categories: bleeding, Chlamydia, chylamydia, nbsp, passing urine, Sex, sexual, sexual health, STD, Symptoms, unprotected sex

What to Do if You Think You Are at Risk of Having an STI

Are you worried that you have put your sexual health at risk and may have contracted an STI? If you have had unprotected sex with someone who’s medical history you do now know, you have certainly put your wellness and wellbeing at risk.

 

Even if you feel perfectly healthy, the most important thing you should do first of all is to get tested. Many STIs have no symptoms, so don’t fall into the trap of assuming that you haven’t caught anything just because you are not suffering any unpleasant side effects yet. You can catch an STI through vaginal, anal or oral sex. You can also catch an STI from a patient of the same sex to you, as well as from a partner of the opposite sex.

 

Many STIs can be cured with a simple course of the right antibiotics. Other infections, such as HIV, cannot be cured at all, but can be treated in a long term way to avoid them getting any worse.

 

Many people don’t notice the symptoms of an STI, or don’t have symptoms at all, so the things to keep an eye out for include suffering from pain when you pass urine, finding blisters, spots, sores or lumps around the genital region or anus, or finding black powder or small white dots in your underwear (this could be eggs or droppings from pubic lice).

 

Women can also suffer from green or yellow vaginal discharge, and this may have an unpleasant odour. Women may also notice bleeding between their periods or after having sexual intercourse, or lower abdominal pain. Men may notice discharge from the penis or irritation of the urethra.

 

These can also be symptoms of other things, so don’t panic unnecessarily, but it is important to see a doctor to find out what is happening in your body and to get appropriate treatment.

Categories: catch, Disease, nbsp, notice, risk, STD, STI, Symptoms

Would You be Too Embarrassed to Get Help for an STD?

Did you know that around a quarter of all Britons suffer from a sexual health condition? This can range from a sexually transmitted disease to erectile dysfunction. Nearly two thirds of those affected have admitted that they used the internet to diagnose their condition for themselves, and a further 18 percent of those simply used over the counter medications to treat themselves rather than seeking any kind of proper medical advice or prescription medication. Doctors say that they could be damaging their wellness, because by not getting medical help they could be letting a more serious condition go undiagnosed, and this delay can make things far more serious.

One in ten people in Britain suffer from an STD at some point in their lives, but do not seek medical help because they feel too embarrassed, despite their wellbeing being at risk. They feel ashamed or embarrassed about seeking medical help and they may also feel worried about what the outcome may be if they do have a problem, both in physical and social terms.

Even when the conditions are painful, the research still showed that people were unlikely to seek help, even though they knew that this could have serious repercussions. Those who had not been officially diagnosed often had a view about what they believed their ‘secret sex problem’ to be. Around 35 percent thought that they had an STD, 27 percent felt that they were suffering from erectile dysfunction and 22 percent were experiencing undiagnosed pain during sex.

In this group, just over half of those surveyed said that they were too embarrassed to seek medical help, whilst around 29 percent said that they were too worried about what the outcome might be if they went to see a doctor. Some had discussed the problem with a partner or friends, in lieu of medical advice.

Categories: embarrassed, Help, STD

Why Have Sexually Transmitted Diseases Risen?

Recent figures have shown that the number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases diagnosed have risen by 5 percent – however, Public Health England claim that this is most likely attributed to the improved data collection, as opposed to more people contracting diseases. They state that while this is probably the case, there is still a high proportion of people with diseases, contracted through unsafe sex practices, especially amongst young people and the gay community. If someone has sex with a new partner without contraception, or have had sex with more than one partner in the past year, they should get tested immediately to rule out any diseases or infections which could then be passed on to someone else or cause damage to the individual’s health.

The problem needs to be addressed urgently, as the earlier the problems are detected, the more easily they can be treated. People often feel embarrassed to go to their GP, which is why so many people avoid testing. However, a local GUM clinic can offer testing anonymously and without judgement, so more people need to be getting regular check-ups if they are sexually active. Chlamydia remains the most common sexually transmitted disease, but there are high numbers of genital warts and genital herpes as well, which are spreading due to insufficient testing. New figures show that gonorrhoea diagnoses have risen by 21 percent overall. These figures are concerning as the global threat of antibiotic resistance is increasing. The Gonorrhoea Resistance Action Plan for England and Wales is planning to be launched in the next few months to tackle this problem. If you think you may have signs of an infection, it’s crucial that you get tested as soon as possible. Likewise, if you are sexually active, you should schedule regular check-ups to rule out any infections that you may not have symptoms for, despite having caught the disease.

Categories: sexual health, STD, Testing

Syphilis: Is It Back and Do You Need To Worry?

It seems as though iPhone applications such as Grindr have fuelled a new syphilis epidemic in the Christchurch community. Sexual health experts are warning that measures need to be taken now before the disease spreads to the heterosexual community, where it’s a threat to unborn children. This sexually transmitted disease has been on the rise in New Zealand since 2003, with the number of cases reaching an all-time high last year.

Before the onset of iPhone apps such as Grindr for which the sole use is for promoting casual sex, the types of men who caught syphilis were those in their mid-40s who caught the disease in sexually promiscuous locations such as brothels. Now, however, the gay community is being less aware of the risks and having more casual sex with strangers who aren’t using protection against diseases such as syphilis. If the disease spreads back to the heterosexual community, it could threaten the health of mothers and their children – congenital syphilis can lead to miscarriages, still births and deformities in the baby.

If you are sexually active, as well as engaging in casual sex, you should be checked regularly at your local sexual health clinic for any infections or diseases. A regular check-up is quick and free, but will give you the peace of mind that you’re healthy and haven’t caught any infections which can damage your health or fertility in the future. It’s important to remember that not all diseases carry symptoms, so a check-up is the only way to be entirely sure. In addition to this, you should always practice safe sex – condoms and other contraceptives are available through your GP or a GUM clinic, so speak to a medical professional who can advise you which contraceptive is the best choice for you and your lifestyle.

 

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Syphilis: Is It Back and Do You Need To Worry?

Categories: new study, sexual health, STD

How AIDS And HIV Have Come To Dominate The World

HIV/AIDS is a scary disease. It’s scary on a world-wide scale and it has been scary for almost thirty years now. It’s not curable but it is avoidable and over the course of years and years volunteers all over the world have been trying to educate everyone on the importance of protection during sex. Around 70% of people who are HIV/AIDS positive in the world live in Sub-Saharan Africa as these people simply didn’t have the education or the money for contraception. Huge amounts of money have been piled into educating and supplying these people with all they need to protect themselves. It’s not enough though.

That’s the thing with HIV/AIDS, the effort has to be consistent or the condition just resurges. Though a great deal of progress was made in Africa in terms of contraceptives, the Pope visited and undid decades of work with a single proclamation claiming contraceptives went against god. Aid workers are now starting the battle for awareness and protection all over again but it’s not just an issue for Africa. HIV/AIDS are a worldwide problem and every country has people infected with the condition.

In countries which are more developed and have more resources for healthcare, HIV is no longer the death sentence it once was. There are now drugs available to help manage it and providing the patient keeps to their doctors advice they can live long and full lives. Treatment like this is only available where there’s money to pay for it and it’s expensive because it’s going to be needed for the patients’ whole life.

Researchers are constantly looking for ways to treat HIV/AIDS which are more cost-effective and easier to distribute. The day that they achieve a cheap and reliable way of managing this disease is the day we see the end of AIDS orphans. There are too many children who have had to grow up without parents due to this awful disease.

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How AIDS And HIV Have Come To Dominate The World

Categories: aids, HIV, STD

How To Keep The Passion And Keep Safe

Everyone loves to have sex and a lot of people have sex very often. Regular intercourse isn’t for everyone but even the least sexual amongst us will enjoy a good romp from time to time. The issue comes in contraceptives. They come in such a broad variety now and each has their own pros and their own cons. Choosing your contraceptive depends very much on who you’re sleeping with and what kind of sex you’re looking to have. The following is the top two along with their biggest draw backs and how to counter them. Sex is healthy, STD’s are not.

 

Condoms – One of the biggest issues with these rubber prophylactics is the time it takes to put them on. For those of you well practiced in the art, you’re looking at around thirty seconds, for those not so it could be longer. If you’re young and raring for it this could seem like a small eternity and if you’re older and arousal is more of a challenge than it once was, you may start to droop. This is where your partner comes in. It’s up to them to look after you as you’re clamouring to pull on the condom. They can stimulate other areas of your body or use dirty talk to keep you going. How they do it doesn’t matter.

Condoms also have the added benefits of protecting from STD’s and pregnancy. Most other contraceptives only protect from the latter.

 

Birth Control Pills – Very effective for most women, these comes in a broad variety. Oddly it’s this variety which causes the main issue with these contraceptives and provides the best solution to it. Some birth control pills might dull your sex drive or leave you with other less pleasant side effects. The best way of dealing with this is to see your doctor and ask to try one of the other brands of pill. There are quite a few varieties and at least one should work perfectly for you!

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How To Keep The Passion And Keep Safe

Categories: Protection, Sex, STD

Syphilis Can Be Cured & Here"s Why You Should Cure It

Syphilis is one of the better known STD’s in the world today. It’s said to have emerged after our first expeditions into the new world, being brought back by sailors. The infection spreads through direct contact with the syphilis sores of an infected person. The sores are painless and generally develop on the external genitals, lips, tongue or anus.

Syphilis can be treated and as such it’s important to start the treatment as soon as is physically possible. This is only going to be possible if you know what to look out for in terms of symptoms. The following is a list of the different symptoms in the different stages of syphilis:

• Primary Stage Syphilis
  
  Small, painless but firm sores that last around 5 weeks. These are generally fairly small and form where the syphilis bacteria first entered the body, they typically heal without treatment.


• Secondary Stage Syphilis
  
  A rough, reddy brown rash appears on one or possibly more areas of the body. This generally includes your palms or the soles of your feet. Other symptoms may include sore throat, patch hair loss, weight loss, fatigue, aches and pains, headaches, or fever.


• Latest Stage Syphilis
  
  If the secondary stage is left untreated then the infection can remain dormant in the body, sometimes for huge periods of time.


• Late Stage Syphilis
  
  Syphilis can damage the heart, blood vessels, brain, nerves, liver, bones, joints and eyes at this late stage. Complications are also very common at this stage and things like dementia, heart disease or stroke might occur bringing their own issues and potentially death.

 

This can all be prevented if you make sure to see a doctor as soon as you suspect symptoms. Getting the treatment as early as is possible could well save you life or at the least save you and those you love from undue suffering. There’s no excuse not to get yourself checked if you suspect something!

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Syphilis Can Be Cured & Here"s Why You Should Cure It

Categories: sexual health, STD, Syphilis

How Talking About Sex Could Save The World

We live in a world which is dominated by the past in every way. Every tradition and belief we hold is due to our ancestors and many things which may seem bizarre to us must have made sense long ago. The fact of the matter is that, thought these traditions are good in many ways they can also be incredibly stunting. When something is always done or done simply because your parents did it that way, meaning can be lost. Though it’s always good to take lessons from the past so that we don’t make the same mistakes as our parents or grandparents, that doesn’t mean we have to be them.

A great example of this strange recurrence is sex. In the past sex was a taboo subject worldwide simply because a lot of religions made it so. Religion feeds directly into culture and culture persists today, even for those who don’t consider themselves religious. In a lot of the developed world sex is becoming more talked about. Kids are talking to their parents about it with only minimal levels of discomfort, there are classes taught in schools on it and of course the internet has opened many doors (some horrifying). We’re getting there but we’re not there yet, a decade or two more and people will feel comfortable discussing sex fully. This is important due to all the dangers which are now associated with sex, STDs being the main ones.

In less developed or more religiously dominated countries this simply isn’t the case. Children feel intimidated or embarrassed to discuss sex openly. In many cases they’d face condemnation if they did bring it up. This too is changing but much less quickly than in the more developed world. The fact is that sexually transmitted diseases exist more prominently in countries with a lower GDP and understanding them is a big part of avoiding them. Educating the children in these countries would be a massive first step towards countering what is becoming a global problem.

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How Talking About Sex Could Save The World

Categories: sexual health, STD, worldwide

Gap in treatment of STD among Teens

For treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) the partner needs to be treated to prevent re-infection of the patient with STD.  Indeed, even after receiving antibiotics to clear their infections, 40 percent of teenage Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia patients are diagnosed with a second bout of the same illness within a year. About half of all sexually transmitted infections in U.K. occur in teenagers.

Golden is the senior author of a study published Sept. 17 in Paediatrics that examines whether California paediatric residents –

New physicians receiving specialty training in paediatric medicine — know about expedited partner therapy, which helps doctors stop sexually transmitted diseases from bouncing back and forth within a couple.  Knowledge of expedited partner therapy is better in physicians enrolled in the state’s three residency programs that offer fellowships in adolescent medicine.

Expedited partner therapy laws, which were introduced in California, have since been adopted in 30 other states, to allow physicians to prescribe antibiotics to the sexual partners of Gonorrhoea or Chlamydia patients without seeing the partner. Earlier, laws authorized state health departments to contact sexual partners of people diagnosed with these infections and to test and treat the partners. However, most health departments lack the resources to offer this service widely. Expedited partner therapy has been shown to be an effective alternative, especially in cases where the patient says his or her partner is unlikely to visit a Doctor.

The Research study results suggest that the lack of familiarity with Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT) extends beyond residents to more experienced paediatricians, the research team said. It may be that many of the paediatrician mentors don’t know about these laws.  The findings underscore the need for a more systematic approach to incorporating EPT information into paediatricians’ training.

The best way for adolescents to deal with STDs is to avoid getting them in the first place.  Parents of teenagers should be encouraged to talk to their kids about sexual health. If parents can speak to their children about protecting against sexually transmitted infections, that’s very useful.  Obviously, using protection such as condoms is the best way to prevent these infections.

The best person other than a parent for teens to talk to about these issues is the paediatrician.  Regardless of whether parents weigh in, it’s the responsibility of paediatricians to broach the subject with teens, and parents should ensure that their adolescent children have time to have confidential conversations with their paediatricians, without mom or dad present.

Gap in treatment of STD among Teens

Categories: Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, STD