STDs and sexual life

[Unhumble]

I have some information on the extent of damage that STDs can create.

I know that if you get them it can be very serious, and even deadly.

Recent studies even encourage people do deter from kissing...

 

But I'm not sure whether all this surge of information should deter me from having a sexual attitude. Or what I'm trying to ask is: is there ALWAYS a risk?

Or does it depend on the kind of people you accept to engage with?

Do you personally know people who have STDs?

Or is it just the media who, as always, tries to amplify little problems?

 

What do you think?

 

Does your awareness of all these illnesses affect your sexual lifestyle?

[astaro]

first of all there is always a risk, someone being a nice person doesn't mean they don't have an STD

 

i got HPV when i was 18 (got it even though i used a condom), believe me, having little lumps of skin burnt/frozen/electrocuted off your body IS NOT FUN.

 

the bottom line for me is that whatever you do in life there is a risk and no matter how careful you are something could always go wrong.

 

but if i lived my life by avoiding everything that is dangerous i would never leave the house and that isn't really fun now is it?

 

personally i do what (and who) i want to do, risks are a part of life, we take risks whenever we cross the street, get into our car, eat eggs/meat, smoke, drink, walk down stairs, even drinking tap water is potentially dangerous these days.

 

as long as your educated and take the necessary precautions the risk you take is minimal.

[rose2summer]

Like astaro said, there are risks with everything in life.

 

Be safe, and your chances are severely decreased to contract an STD.

 

HPV is the worry right now, and it can be spread even with condoms, but only if you contact the mucus membranes that are not covered by the condom.

 

It's highly transmissable that way. But then again, so many people already have it.

 

In terms of the other STD's, a condom protects you greatly, so definitely use one.

 

With kissing, your chances of contracting anything is really really slim, unless you are performing oral sex on someone, in which case, you should be cautious.

 

Hugs, Rose

[arwen]

Hey,

 

I think the others have provided good information. It is true that life itself is full of risks, some of them we are luckily not aware off all the time. I mean we wouldn't leave the house if we knew we could be hit by a car.

 

However, as far as STI's are concerned, you can always maximally protect yourself by using good condoms (Durex, trojans or whatever the brand is in your country), by not changing partners all the time, by getting tested before not using condoms anymore and staying faithful to the person you are committed to.

 

Arwen

[annie24]

Yes, life is full of risks, but there are things you can do to minimize them. ie, look both ways before crossing the street, don't drink and drive, don't walk through bad neighborhoods at night waving around $100 bills, don't wrestle alligators, etc...... sex is the same way.

 

Know your partners' sexual history, don't have multiple partners at one time, practice protected sex (condoms, birth control), don't become an IV drug user, and if you are, don't share needles. If you follow these guidelines, your chances of having an STD will fall tremendously.

[Hope75]

I recently read an article that did a study on teens and twenty-somethings attitudes towards STI's and the results were disturbing.

 

Despite the fact that knowledge as to the different types of STI's out there and the rising transmission rate of various STIs, teens and twenty-somethings remained unconcerned about getting STIs, felt that it was problem that they were not affected by, and were continuing to have unprotected sex, contract STI's, and the transmission rates are on the rise still.

 

There are several STIs that do not always exhibit outward symptoms, and so a person may not necessarily know that they have an STI unless they are tested. Unseen, these STIs can still have devestating effects on the reproductive system, including infertility, and in the case of some STI's, death. The kicker is that many STIs can be treated simply with a course of antibiotics- if they are detected before they do any irreversable damage. Sometimes it is more a matter of ignorance (a person not knowing they have an STI and transmitting it unwittingly) rather than deliberate omission to a sexual partner.

 

Here are some links to a few articles of interest:

 

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"Even when young people understand the theoretical risk of STIs, they regard them as something that happens to other people."

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Despite the fact that the condom is very effective against STIs, many people at risk do not use them. Some bacterial STIs, such as gonorrhea and chlamydial infection, are easily transmitted, making consistent condom use especially important.

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According to the link removed, the US has the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the entire industrialized world - with over 19 million new cases of STIs reported each year: The highest STI rates in the entire industrialized world, 50-100 times higher than in other industrialized nations. Despite the fact that STIs are extremely widespread, most Americans remain unaware of the risk and consequences of all but the most prominent STI: HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It is in this context that many people know the efficacy of condoms in preventing the transmission of STIs, but more and more people are not using them. Why not?

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So yes, there is always a risk, and yes, I would always be tested and have a partner tested- at least 3-6 months after beginning a monogamous sexual relationship (the typical incubation period for longer incubating STI's is 3-6 months) before even considering not using condoms.

[Unhumble]

Thanks for your replies

 

This is what I had read about kissing...

 

Kissing increases meningitis risk

link removed

 

Kissing many 'risks meningitis'

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[Hope75]

Meningitis is not a sexually transmitted disease, though.

 

It is an inflammation of the spinal cord meninges and brain that is either caused by a virus or by a bacteria, and it is transmitted via droplets- or saliva that is passed through intimate contact or via sneezing, talking or coughing within approximately 3 feet of a person.

 

And menigitis is not something that you carry around for an indefinite amount of time before you know that you have it and are hospitalized and on transmission based precautions to prevent transmission, and treated. The incubation period is relatively short- where with STIs you can carry them around for months or years, pass them to others, and not even know that you have them, meanwhile, they are wreaking havoc on your body and reproductive system.

[annie24]

And menigitis is not something that you carry around for an indefinite amount of time before you know that you have it and are hospitalized and on transmission based precautions to prevent transmission, and treated. The incubation period is relatively short- where with STIs you can carry them around for months or years, pass them to others, and not even know that you have them, meanwhile, they are wreaking havoc on your body and reproductive system.

 

Actually, this isn't entirely true. Yes, meningitis is a disease that has a really fast onset. I was just reading an article today about a co-ed that was fine, and 18 hours later she was dead.

 

However, up 20% of the population carries the the bacterium, N. meningitidis, that causes bacterial meningitis in their nasopharynx as normal flora. Yet, 20% of the population does not get meningitis! It is a really big area of research to figure why some people have the bacterium, but don't get sick. It isn't clear if they have "tamer strains" or if their immune systems are somehow stronger.

 

However, I've never heard of someone getting meningitis from kissing, but it is known to crop up in areas where people are living in close quarters and stressed, like in the college dormitories.

[Hope75]

Actually, this isn't entirely true. Yes, meningitis is a disease that has a really fast onset. I was just reading an article today about a co-ed that was fine, and 18 hours later she was dead.

 

However, up 20% of the population carries the the bacterium, N. meningitidis, that causes bacterial meningitis in their nasopharynx as normal flora. Yet, 20% of the population does not get meningitis! It is a really big area of research to figure why some people have the bacterium, but don't get sick. It isn't clear if they have "tamer strains" or if their immune systems are somehow stronger.

 

However, I've never heard of someone getting meningitis from kissing, but it is known to crop up in areas where people are living in close quarters and stressed, like in the college dormitories.

 

That is very interesting- I read that on the WHO site as well. It definitely seems to coincide with a weakened immune system of a stressed person.

 

It's spread by droplet or respiratory secretions:

 

Both types of meningitis can be spread from person to person by direct contact with saliva or mucus of an infected person. Viral meningitis can also be transmitted by contact with feces, especially among small children who are not toilet trained and to adults who change diapers of an infected infant.

 

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and as you mentioned, living in close quarters such as a dorm falls under that catagory:

 

The bacteria are transmitted from person to person through droplets of respiratory or throat secretions. Close and prolonged contact (e.g. kissing, sneezing and coughing on someone, living in close quarters or dormitories (military recruits, students), sharing eating or drinking utensils, etc.) facilitate the spread of the disease. The average incubation period is 4 days, ranging between 2 and 10 days.

 

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[annie24]

yeah, and the symptoms aren't really clear cut. That co-ed I mentioned went to the hospital, but they sent her home. The only thing that really stands out about meningitis is the "sore neck". It is too bad that the people at the hospital realize how sick she was.