Microbicide &Safe Sex (10)

PID

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the female reproductive organs. It usually occurs when sexually transmitted bacteria spread from your vagina to your uterus and upper genital tract. Many women who develop pelvic inflammatory disease either experience no signs or symptoms or don't seek treatment. Pelvic inflammatory disease may be detected only later when you have trouble getting pregnant or if you develop chronic pelvic pain.

Symptoms in PID range from subclinical (asymptomatic) to severe. If there are symptoms, then fever, cervical motion tenderness, lower abdominal pain, new or different discharge, painful intercourse, or irregular menstrual bleeding may be noted. It is important to note that even asymptomatic PID can and does cause serious harm. Laparoscopic identification is helpful in diagnosing tubal disease, 65–90% positive predictive value in patients with presumed PID. Regular Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) testing is important for prevention. Treatment is usually started empirically because of the serious complications that may result from delayed treatment. Definitive criteria include: histopathologic evidence of endometritis, thickened filled fallopian tubes, or laparoscopic findings. Gram-stain/smear becomes important in identification of rare and possibly more serious organisms.

A woman can get PID if bacteria (germs) move up from her vagina and infect her pelvic organs. Many different types of bacteria can cause PID. But, most cases of PID are caused by bacteria that cause 2 common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) — gonorrhea and chlamydia. It can take from a few days to a few months for an infection to travel up from the vagina to the pelvic organs.

You can get PID without having an STI. Normal bacteria found in the vagina and on the cervix can sometimes cause PID. No one is sure why this happens. You can get pelvic inflammatory disease without having an STI. Normal bacteria found in the vagina and on the cervix can sometimes cause pelvic inflammatory disease. No one is sure why this happens.

Microbicide & Safe Sex (8)

HIV/Aids
Persons initially infected with HIV may develop an "acute retroviral syndrome" characterized by fever, lymph node enlargement, and flu-like symptoms. If symptoms are present, they clear spontaneously, but all infected persons, both with and without symptoms, remain infected and infectious to others indefinitely. The incubation period is highly variable, averaging about a decade, but ranging from a few months or years to possibly longer than two decades. When sufficient damage to the immune system has been sustained, measured either by laboratory cell counts of the Thelper cells or by onset of opportunistic infections, the patient is said to have AIDS. Common manifestations of HIV infection include tiredness, lymph node enlargement, fever, weight loss, and yeast infections of the mouth and vagina.

HIV infection is diagnosed by laboratory detection of evidence of infection, usually identification of HIV-specific antibodies in a blood, oral fluid, or urine specimen. AIDS can be diagnosed in HIV-infected persons in several ways, based on either laboratory evidence of immunodeficiency (lowered levels of CD4+ cells), or clinically by onset of any one or more of a specific list of opportunistic diseases. Opportunistic diseases are those that occur only, or most severely, in patients whose immune systems are impaired. The most common opportunistic diseases in AIDS patients are Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Kaposi's sarcoma, toxoplasmosis of the brain, tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections, and severe herpes, cytomegalo virus, and yeast infections.

How the AIDS Virus Works?
The AIDS virus weakens the immune system (“immune deficiency”), allowing other infections to ravage the body. These infections are called “opportunistic” because they take advantage of the opportunity to live where the body’s immune system would normally destroy them. It’s when these opportunistic infections strike that the person is said to have AIDS.

Microbicide & Safe Sex (5)

STD Gonorrhea Information
Gonorrhea sometimes mistaken for the clap (Chlamydia) isn't really an STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) but actually an STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). It's caused by bacteria called Neisseria gonorrhoeae which lives in the sexual organs including the urethra and reproductive tracks of both men and women.
Gonorrhea has one of the highest infection rates. In the USA It's estimated that almost one million people a year are infected with this STD. The most effected are young adults and teens mostly because of there high promiscuity rate between them.
Like most STDs and STDs it is contracted through sexual contact. Including coming in contact with the penis, vagina, anus, and even the mouth and throat. It is very easily transmitted from one person to another, which is why Gonorrhea has such a high rate of infection. On top of that the new strains of Gonorrhea are becoming increasingly harder to treat as they are adapting to the antibiotics used to treat them.

Gonorrhea Symptoms Do I Have Gonorrhea?
Gonorrhea symptoms are generally mild to non existent. When there are symptoms of Gonorrhea they will usually become noticeable between 5 and 30 days and differ slightly between men and women. Since gonorrhea lives in the sexual organs and in the throat these are the primary places to be aware of when wondering if you have gonorrhea symptoms.

Microbicide & Safe Sex (3)

Chlamydia
Click here to learn about Chlamydia and click here to learn about Chlamydia Home Test.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV)

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus.
CMV is part of the herpes family of viruses. As with most other herpes-type viruses, once you are infected with CMV, it will remain inactive in your body for the rest of your life. CMV causes few symptoms in most people.

CMV is spread through bodily fluids, such as saliva and urine. It can be passed on through close bodily contact. For example, the infection can be found in small droplets of saliva which are spread from one person to another when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Unlike many viral infections, CMV usually causes few if any symptoms. Most people do not know they have (acquired) an infection.

The symptoms of cytomegalovirus (CMV) differ depending on whether you have:
- primary CMV - where someone develops a CMV infection for the first time
- re-infection with CMV - an infection with a different strain of virus
- reoccurring CMV - a previously inactive CMV infection is reactivated, often because the immune system (the body’s natural defence against infection and illness) is weakened
- congenital CMV - a CMV infection develops when a woman is pregnant and infects the unborn baby

Primary CMV
Most cases of primary CMV cause no noticeable symptoms. If you do experience symptoms, they will be similar to flu symptoms and can include:
- a high temperature of 38C (100.4F) or above
- extreme tiredness
- sore throat
- swollen glands
- muscle and joint pain
- loss of appetite

These symptoms should only last for a couple of weeks.

Microbicide & Safe Sex (1)

In this first decade of the 21st century the various risks connected with having sex have (alas) increased.
The figures for HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhoea are all going up. This is almost entirely because so many people – whether they're heterosexuals or homosexuals or 'bi' – don't practise safe sex.

One way to have safer sex is to only have one partner who has no sexually transmitted infections and no other partners than you.

But, this isn't always the safest kind of safer sex. That's because most people don't know when they have infections. They are very likely to pass them on without knowing it.

Another other reason is that some people aren't as honest as they should be. In fact, about 1 out of 3 people will say they don't have an infection when they know they do, just to have sex. So most of us have to find other ways to practice safer sex.

Another way to practice safer sex is to only have sex play that has no risk — or a lower risk — of passing STDs. This means no vaginal or anal intercourse. Many of us find that great sex is about a lot more than a penis going in a vagina or anus. It is about exploring the many other ways you and your partner can turn each other on. Not only is it a way to discover new sexual pleasures, it's also safer.

Safe Sex:
- Reduces our risk of getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
- Using condoms and/or microbicide makes vaginal or anal intercourse safer sex
Although condoms provide the best form of protection for people who are sexually active, using a microbicide will be much safer than nothing for women for whom condom use is unlikely or impossible.

For some women and men, the contraceptive effect of condoms is a major deterrent to use; developing both contraceptive and non-contraceptive microbicides is important. Providers can counsel patients on the use of microbicides in conjunction with condoms for added protection, and as a "backup" method when condom use cannot or does not occur.

(The Excerpt of) Potential Impact of Vaginal Microbicides on HIV Risk Among Women with Primary Heterosexual Partners

James M. McMahon, PhD, Associate Professor, Kathleen M. Morrow, PhD, Associate Professor, Margaret Weeks, PhD, Professor, Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, FNAP, WHAP, Professor and Dean, and Amanda Coyle, APRN, Senior Associate

Over the past 2 decades women have increasingly shouldered the burden of the global HIV pandemic (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS], 2004), with the majority of infected women acquiring HIV through sexual contact with a primary male partner (O’Leary, 2000). These trends are the result of multiple factors. Women may be biologically more susceptible to heterosexual transmission of HIV than men, especially via receptive anal intercourse (Boily et al., 2009; Mastro & Kitayaporn, 1998; Padian, Shiboski, & Jewell, 1991). 

In addition, gender-based social inequalities limit women’s options with regard to protective sexual behavior (Higgins, Hoffman, & Dworkin, 2010; Quinn & Overbaugh, 2005; Remien, Halkitis, O’Leary, Wolitski, & Gomez, 2005). Latex condoms, currently the only effective form of barrier protection against HIV, are under the control of men, who often are unwilling to use them, especially in the context of primary relationships (Conley & Collins, 2005).

Vaginal microbicides represent a female-initiated form of barrier and/or chemical protection that can potentially empower women with a means of self-protection. Vaginal microbicides are self-administered chemical compounds, most commonly in the form of a gel, that women can apply intravaginally prior to sexual intercourse to prevent or reduce HIV transmission. Modeling studies indicate that even a partially effective microbicide could have a major impact on the global HIV pandemic (Watts, 2002). 

While it is anticipated that the first generation of vaginalmicrobicides will be less effective at preventing HIV than latex condoms, the enormous potential of this new technology lies in its enhanced acceptability and usability by women. As our experience with the female condom has demonstrated, the importance of the acceptability of any new HIV prevention technology cannot be overstated (Kaler, 2004). It is therefore critically important that the public health sector in the United States prepare for the introduction of commercially available vaginal microbicides (Van de Wijgert & Coggins, 2002). While many American women have expressed a keen interest in vaginal microbicides (Darroch & Frost, 1999), the issues surrounding their acceptability and preference in relation to condom use are complex and have not received adequate attention. One complexity involves the potential reduction of condom use that might result from the introduction and adoption of microbicides.

Gardnerella & Candidiasis (2)

What You Should Know About Candidiasis

Candidiasis, (commonly known by other names thrush, yeast infection, fungal infection) like diabetes, has been dubbed a 20th-century disease, proclaimed widespread and charged with causing complaints such as allergies, migraines, mental disorientation, bloating, skin complaints, and at their worse, organ failure and cancer.

Candidiasis, or yeast infection, is a stealthy attacker, in that it mimics symptoms of other illnesses and thus go unidentified as candida. That is the reason candida population can bloom in our bodies unchecked until it has proliferated well into every part of our system (systemic candida).

The problem with mainstream medical professionals is that a large number of them do not believe in the dangers posed by candida. Instead they treat the symptoms that manifest clearly – allergies, coughs, chronic bronchitis, and such, without knowing that the medications prescribed may actually make the yeast infection worse.

Take allergies for example. Allergies have mystified health practitioners for decades. And yet, although the candida-allergy connection had been discovered and confirmed by biological technologists and natural health therapists since the 1970s, it is yet to be a recognised branch in the study of conventional medicine. Research studies show that to control yeast infections would ultimately cure most allergies, because an uncontrolled growth of candida in our blood system is a major cause of allergic reactions to chemicals in our food, air and water.

Candida yeast are a normal component of healthy flora existing in our bodies. They are tiny, microscopic plants that love warm, dark and moist environment, and so seek places like the intestines, the walls of the vagina, and when systemic (all over our body) the blood vessel linings and mucous membranes of our organs. Because they are plants, candida yeast have roots, stem and foliage. They sink their roots into the mucous membranes of the body, which, to candida, are fertile soil.

Gardnerella & Candidiasis (1)

When women are experiencing issues with their reproductive tract it's important to determine what the problem is and the way to treat it best.
In the case of Gardneralla and vaginal Candidiasis it can be confusing for women to know which one of these infections they might have.

This is a problem since Gardnerella and Candidiasis are treated in entirely different ways.

If a woman thinks she has Candidiasis and then goes and gets an over the counter treatment for yeast infections, but at the same time has Gardnerella, then she is not only wasting her money, but also not treating the infection.
Infections left untreated only get worse.

Gardnerella is caused by bacteria infecting the female reproductive tract and it is referred to as bacterial vaginosis.

This overgrowth of bacteria can be brought on by having unprotected sexual intercourse with a partner who is infected with the Gardnerella vaginalis bacteria, however, it has been contracted in some cases non-sexually too.

Women with Gardnerella will have a grey or yellowish discharge when infected and it will produce a strong fishy odor especially when washed with alkaline based soaps.

Women will experience little to no irritation when infected with Gardnerella and the noticably symptom is the odor.

A doctor will prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection and sexual partners should also be treated.

Douching can help with the odor, but will not treat the infection.


Vaginal Candidiasis

Candidiasis, on the other hand is caused by the fungus Candida albicans and occurs when there is an overgrowth of the yeast cells in the vagina as a result of antibiotics, weakened immune systems, poor diet, or sexual transmission.