Cold Soars Vs. Genital Herpes

Is cold soars and genital herpes the same thing? If an individual finds that they have cold sores on their lips or around their mouth then this can be a sign of a herpes infection. In fact, a study has shown that more than eighty percent have the Herpes Simplex Virus or have been exposed to it in America. This is the virus which causes an individual to see sore outbreaks. If an individual has a high immune system then the herpes virus can be controlled but they do not have the best immune system the herpes virus can manifest as cold sores on lips. It can also appear on the individuals chin, around their mouth, and even on the cheeks. If an individual finds themselves having cold sores then they could in fact have Herpes simplex.

However, this does not mean that an individual has genital herpes. General Herpes is different from cold sores strain of herpes and is cause by a different strain of the herpes virus. Although each one of these types of herpes can find themselves being transferred from genital to mouth and vice versa with unprotected oral sex.

If an individual finds that they are beginning to have sores appear on the inside of their mouth then this is probably not a cold sore. It is likey that this is a canker sore which is not not formed by the herpes virus.

Is there a cure for herpes?

A cure for herpes has not yet been developed. Once infected, the virus remains in the body for life. However, after several years, some people will become perpetually asymptomatic and will no longer experience outbreaks, though they may still be contagious to others. Treatments with antivirals can reduce viral shedding and alleviate the severity of symptomatic episodes. Vaccines are in clinical trials but have not demonstrated effectiveness.

There are ways to mitigate the effects of both herpes simplex and genital herpes however. If you know how to get rid of acne, then you may be surprised to find that cold sore remedies can be quite similar. Cold soars can be treated with a cream or even a gel that can be purchased over the counter. However, many people won’t see symptom relief from these over-the-counter solutions. If you’re one of these people, it may be time to talk to a doctor about getting a more potent solution that will come in prescription form.

The same goes for genital herpes. There are over-the-counter solutions, but they simply aren’t as potent as their prescription counter parts. Remember, prevention is the best cure. Getting tested is imperative and if you’re sexually active, you should be getting tested on a regular basis.

Perhaps you will discuss your financial situation, whether your house is big enough for a little one, and talk about using an ovulation calendar. But, like it or not, few people are immune to sexually transmittable diseases. STD testing should not be a taboo for committed couples – in my opinion, it should be on everyone’s preconception checklist, along with starting a folic acid supplement and timing intercourse.

Why STD testing?

Many sexually transmitted diseases can be entirely symptomless. If you and your partner have had prior relationships before getting together, it is possible that one of you carried an STD into the relationship without knowing. Were you both virgins when you met? Did you both get tested and were found to be healthy earlier on? I say, still have the tests done. With sexually transmittable diseases, it is better to be safe than sorry.

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Testing is easy, and the perceived embarrassment of it is a price well worth paying. Once you have got the all-clear, you will know for sure that your baby will not be affected by any nasty diseases. And if you do have an STD, you will be grateful that you know. Most are treated easily with a course of antibiotics. Routine STD testing is often recommended for pregnant women – but isn’t it better to find out before you head for the OB’s office with pregnancy signs and symptoms?

What STDs should you be tested for?

You should get tested for everything under the sun. HIV and Hepatitis B are the most important. In this day and age, it is possible to prevent the spread of HIV from mother to baby, and HIV-infected men can have biological children without the risk of passing the disease on through fertility treatments.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea are easy to treat, especially in the early stages. However, if undetected, they can lead to miscarriage and pre-term labor. In newborns, they can cause pneumonia and eye infections that may cause permanent loss of vision if not treated.

Genital warts cannot be detected through blood or urine tests, and require a physical examination. Pregnant women with genital warts can pass the infection onto their babies during birth, which can cause the baby to develop warts in their throat in some cases. Some women who have genital warts need a cesarean, because the warts have obstructed the birth canal.

The message is clear – find out whether you have a sexually transmittable disease right before you try to get pregnant, and get treatment if needed.

About the Authors

The bloggers at Trying To Conceive are passionate about women’s health, fertility, and healthy pregnancy. Please visit our site for more information.

Although a yeast infections can be passed from person to person during sex, the condition is not normally classified as a sexually transmitted disease as celibate people can also be affected.   This is because Candida yeasts occur naturally in the body, normally without causing any negative symptoms.  But if conditions allow, the Candida yeast can grow opportunistically into an outbreak causing an infection.

The main causes of thrush (in addition to sexual transmission) include the following:

• Wearing tight fitting underwear made from synthetic materials. As yeasts thrive in dark and airless environments, wearing loose fitting clothing helps reduce the risk of infection.
• It is thought that the prolonged use of antibiotics, steroid use as well as certain contraceptive pills may alter the biochemistry of the vagina and penis allowing for a yeast outbreak.
• Hormonal changes such as those that occur during menstruation, pregnancy or menopause may change the natural balance of bacteria and other beneficial microorganisms that reside in the genital areas providing an opportunity for Candida to grow rapidly and cause an infection.
• It is thought that certain spermicides and highly perfumed soaps and washes can irritate the vagina and penis.

Most yeast infections can be treated quickly using an antifungal cream. There are also a range of homeopathic sprays that can help alleviate the negative systems. Read thisyeastrol review for information on a popular treatment for yeast infections.

When considering making an appointment to have tests done learn what specific exams are available. Different diseases have different signs and symptoms. Both men and women should speak with their doctor and describe their symptoms clearly so that the proper tests are given.

In general, men and women share similar signs and symptoms that something may be wrong. The presence of any unusual discharge, odor, genital sores or ulcerations and pain when urinating are all indicators of disease. Contact a doctor to have a check up done as soon as possible.

The doctor will perform routine tests for common sexual diseases during the exam. For a woman a PAP test and chlamydia swab are taken to rule out these common diseases. Men will usually have chlamydia and gonorrhea swab testing done during a routine exam. The doctor will suggest additional tests if there is an indication of possible exposure due to the sexual practices of the patient. It is very important to answer all questions clearly so that the doctor can decide what test to perform.

HIV testing is recommended at least once according to the Centers For Disease Control. The test should be done routinely if the man or woman engages in behavior that could possibly cause the disease to be contracted.

Schedule regular visits with your doctor. The presence of a sexually transmitted disease is not always easy to detect at first. The best way to stay healthy is to use protection and be aware of any unusual changes within your body.

Chlamydia is a particularly tricky sexually transmitted disease as it is often symptom free and can lead to serious fertility issues. Similarly Gonorrhoea often exhibits few symptoms and so people who have put themselves at risk of contracting the disease neglect to get themselves tested as soon as possible and start treatment.

If you believe you have put yourself at risk of contracting an STD it is important that you undertake tests to find out whether you have caught a disease and start treatment. Diseases such as Chlamydia, Syphilis and Gonorrhoea are all treatable and curable. A trip to your GP can get you a referral to an STI clinic where the first thing they are likely to do is test you for these diseases, along with HIV. They will then recommend additional tests according to what your risk is.

There is a new “embarrassing illness” service in the UK launched in April 2011 for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea which means that people over 16 years old can get tests and treatments for the diseases . The tests and treatments cost between £20 and £40 pounds each. The scheme is being run by Superdrug and uses assessment via an online doctor to receive the prescriptions. The scheme will also be able to provide the contraceptive pill and cystitis medicine.

It will be interesting to see the take up of this service as whilst it involves no embarrassing face to face with your local GP, the cost of the diagnosis and the treatment may see people summoning up their courage and attending the STD clinic.

Once you have found a clinic, call them up and schedule an appointment. Most places will allow you to simply walk in to get tested, but you may have to wait for some time if you do this. Instead, making an appointment will guarantee that you will get seen quickly.

Before you can make sure that you avoid going to the bathroom. In order to get tested you will need to provide a urine sample and therefore you need to be able to go when the time comes.
Go down to the center and fill out all of the necessary paperwork. You will be required to offer basic information such as your phone number, address, age, social security number, and a few others. If you do not know what information you require, ask over the phone so that you actually bring it along.

Until your test results come in, make sure you avoid any additional sexual activity. Generally you will get a call back within only a few days to find out what your results are. If you find that you have tested positively for something you need to follow the instructions provided. This will include getting in touch with previous partners to let them know.

1. People ‘over the hill’ still have sexual urges, albeit less often than youngsters. But many people believe a person’s sex drive just disappears as they get older, and unfortunately, this myth is even believed by some health professionals, which prevents doctors from asking older patients about their sexual behavior.
2. Little or no screening for sexual diseases increases the risk of diseases going unnoticed and untreated for years, which often leads to serious complications, as well as the continued spreading of the disease.
3. Older people don’t think they’re at risk of getting STDs, and they were never educated about how condoms should be a part of sex and thus, they are less likely to use condoms.
4. Womens’ vaginal tissues get thinner and their natural lubrication decreases after menopause. This increases the danger of micro-tears and thus, the sexual transmission of some diseases, such as HIV/AIDS.
5. As people age, the immune system naturally weakens and becomes less effective, which increases the risk of catching sexually transmitted infections.

The Extent of the Problem

Over 60% of people over age 60 have sex at least once a month, but ironically, they often aren’t considered to be at risk of getting an STD. And even if one is no longer sexually active, they may still have a sexually transmitted infection that they never had diagnosed or treated; and the long term side effects of diseases like syphilis and HIV may be easily mistook as some other diseases of aging.
Therefore, it is essential that older adults, and the people who care for them, get educated about STD risks in the elderly. Older people, and their caregivers, need to be taught about safe sex so they can learn how to reduce their STD risk. Sex is often an important part of an individual’s life, no matter how old they are. Learning how to engage in sexual activity safely can enhance one’s health, instead of damage it.

HIV: An Old, but Real Problem

New HIV infections are actually growing faster in people over age 50 than in people age 40 and under, and HIV is just the tip of the iceberg, according to statistics from the CDC. Several factors have contributed to the rise in STDs in the elderly, and many of those factors stem from a single problem: scientists and clinicians don’t spend enough time and energy thinking or talking about elderly sex, and the associated issues and implications. Besides being overlooked in many STD studies, the elderly are also less likely to get screened, let alone get tested, for STDs than younger people.
Part of this problem is addressed by the CDC screening guidelines, which recommends that health care providers screen all patients between 13 and 64 years for HIV as part of their regular visits. Those are great recommendations that need to be followed, especially in this day and age when Viagra and other erectile dysfunction meds are easily accessible available online, divorce rates are up, and sex among the elderly is at an all-time high.

Cervical Cancer

Thousands of women in the U.S. die from cervical cancer every year. Many of these deaths should never occur because cervical cancer is mostly a preventable disease. It’s caused by the sexually transmitted virus HPV, which can be detected through regular cervical screening via Pap smear. Regular pap smears can often catch any early cancerous changes of a woman’s cervical cells before they start to cause problems.

Yet cervical cancer rises quickly in older women for several reasons. One of which is that older women stop needing birth control pills, and so they stop going to see their gynecologist. Pap smears can be quickly performed by any clinician, but many older women do not seek out this sexual health exam that is often perceived as uncomfortable and inconvenient, especially if they are not sexually active, unmarried, post-menopausal, have a limited income, or are under-insured. Older women are also more reluctant to get screened for cervical cancer because they perceive themselves to be at little risk and it has no symptoms in its early stages.

Yet screening is essential because an HPV infection can take up to a decade or more to develop into the early stages of cervical cancer. Thus, even older women should still be considered to be at risk, even if they are not sexually active.

Women aged 55 and older should talk to their doctor about how often they need to be screened for cervical cancer. It varies by circumstances, but generally speaking, most women need to be tested once a year, although some women are considered to be at very low risk and can reduce their screening to once every two or three years–as determined by their health care provider.

Sources:

-The American College of Gynecologists: http://www.acog.org/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=20&bulletin=5021
-The American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/FindCancerEarly/CancerScreeningGuidelines/american-cancer-society-guidelines-for-the-early-detection-of-cancer

What Is AIDS?

AIDS stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. This is the final stage of HIV infection. AIDS can be defined as a condition when several diseases attack the body simultaneously. These are called “opportunistic infections” and they can lead to death. The body is too weak to fight any of these because the immune system is already destroyed by HIV. AIDS is the last stage of HIV infection. This phase ends in death. AIDS can be prevented if the virus is detected early. That is another reason for education. People must know more about HIV prevention and treatment. The symptoms of HIV can be similar to flu symptoms, but if you experience any of these, you must not ignore them.

What Is HIV?

HIV stands for “Human Immunodeficiency Virus”. It attacks human beings, causing the immune system damage. It can be transmitted through blood and other body fluids. Mother-to-child transmission is also possible. However, there are medications made for treating HIV. These are called “antiretroviral medications” and they are effective in preventing HIV from destroying the body. Antiretroviral medications are very helpful in preventing mother-to-child transmission. Thanks to this therapy, HIV positive women can have healthy children. Antiretroviral medications can successfully prevent AIDS. With the right therapy, HIV positive individuals can live for decades without any major problems or symptoms.

As you can see, HIV can develop into AIDS, but this can be prevented. It all depends on how early HIV is detected. Knowing the symptoms is extremely important. HIV prevention is another important thing in fighting this virus. Young people can be especially vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, since they are often unaware of the risk. Condoms are the best protection we have against HIV. Drug users are also at risk, since they often use non-sterile needles. Frequent changes of sexual partner can also put you at risk, so you should be careful and always use condoms. Remember, a person with HIV can be unaware that he/she is infected. There can be no symptoms at all! If someone appears to be healthy, this doesn’t necessarily mean he/she really is healthy. Educate your children about sexually transmitted diseases. Many mistakes are made out of ignorance and some of these mistakes can be lethal.

Author Bio:

HIV is an extremely dangerous virus, taking millions of lives worldwide. To find out more about HIV symptoms, visit our website. There you will find some useful information on HIV.

Okay, now that you have heard the scary “fine print” type warnings about sex, let’s face it sex can be an amazing way to get closer to your partner. While there are roughly 50 recognized STDs, there are many that can be cured with antibiotics or other non-invasive treatments. Of course, you should always get tested between partners or when beginning a new sexual relationship but here are 3 that you may want to be aware of since they ordinarily remain symptomless and the majority of people with them don’t know they are infected.

1. Chlamydia

While both men and women may become infected with Chlamydia, women are at highest risk for developing long term irreversible effects if left untreated. In women , these may include infertility, chronic pain or complications during pregnancy. Each year roughly 4 million new cases emerge and once diagnosed can ordinarily be treated with antibiotics. Typically about 75% of women and 50% of men who are infected are asymptomatic. Chlamydia can be passed from one person to the other through unprotected sex.

2. HPV – Genital Human Papillomavirus

While you may have heard about HPV recently since there is now a preventative vaccine for one of its many strains, it’s difficult to fully understand how HPV works. Much like Chlamydia, women are more seriously affected than men. HPV is currently considered the fastest growing STD and sadly there is not yet a cure. Roughly 30% of all women have HPV and are believed to be at a higher risk of cervical cancer as a result of the sporadic cell growth, a side effect of the virus. For women, an abnormal pap smear may be a sign of HPV. Sometimes warts may be visible on the out parts of the vagina, but typically they develop inside the body and occasionally will need to be removed by a doctor. It’s important to know whether you have HPV or not so that you can be routinely monitored and screened for cervical cancer.

3. Gonorrhea

Roughly there are 1 million new cases of gonorrhea which are diagnosed and reported each year. While some forms of gonorrhea are resistant to antibiotics the majority can be cleared up once diagnosed. For women, the highest concern of gonorrhea is PID, or pelvic inflammatory disease, which often results in abdominal pain and can lead to life threatening pregnancy complications and infertility. If men are left untreated, they too may experience pain and infertility. Sexual contact can spread gonorrhea and ejaculation does not need to occur for the bacteria to spread.

One stigma which still exists in our society today is that we can profile those who have STDs based solely on stereotypes. Many think they only happen to those who are involved in drugs, prostitution or various other industries which they deem as “dirty” or “sinful.” The truth of the matter is, your neighbor may have Chlamydia, your elementary school teacher could have gonorrhea or your best friend who is known as a “good girl” may have herpes. Scary right? STDs don’t discriminate and you could be infected without ever seeing the symptoms. While no one likes going to the doctor, getting tested for STDs is not only important for your health, but for the health of your partner as well!