Coming to Terms with a Sexually Transmitted Disease

The microbes that cause sexually transmitted diseases are equal opportunity bugs. They don't care if you are white or black, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, happy or sad. If you're a warm body, you'll do. STD germs settle in an estimated 15 million Americans each year. Worldwide, they find 250 million new hosts a year.

These numbers reflect men and women, young and old. STD germs love everybody who loves, because they are spread by intimate body contact. The word "venereal," as in venereal disease, comes from the name of the Romans goddess of love, Venus.

Germs can, however, be biologically sexist in the damage they do. Women suffer more adverse consequences from STDs than do men because, generally, it is easier for an STD to be transferred from a man to a woman. More harm can be done to a woman's reproductive organs if an infection is left untreated - and, women's infections do, in fact, go untreated more often, since women are less likely to show symptoms of an STD. The absence of symptoms in the presence of an infection is known medically as being "asymptomatic."

Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people under the age of 25. This isn't necessarily because this age group is more vulnerable to STDs. It's simply that these people are more likely to expose themselves to the number one risk factor for STDs: having sex with multiple partners without adequate protection from germs.

Bacteria, Viruses, and Bugs

Over a lifetime, the body can host many different kinds of germs including those that cause sexually transmitted diseases. There are three types of STDs - bacterial, viral, and bugs.

Bacterial STDs are transient which means they will respond to medication and can be kicked out of your system. However, if they remain untreated they can cause very serious damage.

Bacterial STDs include gonorrhea, a bacteria which can cause infertility, heart disease, blindness, damage to the urinary tract, arthritis, and damage to an unborn child; chlamydia, which has been implicated as a risk factor for cervical cancer and is a major cause of infertility; syphilis, which can affect the nervous system, cause blindness, deafness, heart disease, insanity, and result in the birth of a stillborn or crippled child; and chancroid, which causes genital sores and enlarged lymph nodes.

Viral STDs are permanent. Once you acquire one, it stays in your system forever. You will not be troubled by a viral STD as long as it remains dormant, but they do act up now and then. Human Papillomavirus (HPV) generally hides in the genital tract, and causes genital warts from time to time over the years. Some strains can lead to cervical cancer. Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) lives in nerves at the base of the spine and causes painful blisters to form, mostly on the vulva and in the mouth. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can also remain in the system but once it manifests itself, it becomes a deadly disease with no cure and limited treatment options. HIV is discussed in detail in "The Persistent Threat of AIDS."