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Risky Business

It is a unpleasant reality of sex today that STIs are a risk.  It's a calculated risk we all take to enjoy the many...many pleasures and benefits of sex. Below is handy chart for all your STI risk needs.  This image is a modified version of the one originally created by our friends at the Sex is Fun Podcast. If you haven't had a listen visit them here. You are going to want to click on the image for a bigger view.  For further reference this will be perpetually available to the right in the "pages" section. Before you ask, yes you can catch all of this on your first time.

The jist for prevention is use a latex glove for your hands, a condom for the penis and a latex barrier for your mouth and other orifices.  If you notice a change in your body that is not normal: bumps, warts, open sores, white spots in the throat, swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, sore throat, rashes, discharge from any place it shouldn't, swelling, itching or burning sensations GO SEE A DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY!

Curables (Bacterial)

Gonorrhea [More info]:

• Symptoms - Inflammation of the urethra (urethritis) and a burning sensation in men, inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis) in women are the most common symptoms.
• Treatment - Penicillin, for most strains. There is one rare strain with no cure.

Chlamydia (#1 Bacterial STI) [More info]:

• Symptoms - Urethritis, cervicitis. Discharge from the penis, vagina and/or rectum. Can be in the genitals and in the eye (trachoma). 1 in 4 men are asymptomatic (no outward symptoms). Most women show no symptoms. In pregnant women it can case still births and premature deliveries.
• Treatment - Antibiotics tetracycline, azithromycin, or erythromycin.

Syphylis [More info]:

• Symptoms: Can imitate many different diseases. Systematic, it travels through the blood and reproduces. Comes in three stages, 1. Primary Syphyilis - Hard painless sores soon after contact; 2. Seconday Syphylis - A rash that doesn't itch, it is highly contagious at this stage; 3. Tertiary - Too late to treat, you would have bone deterioration. Children  born at this stage can have insephilitis (water on the brain), no noses, eye bleeding, deafness and respiratory problems.
• Treatment: At the first two stages treatment is penicillin. There is no cure at stage three.

Non-Curable/Chronic (Viral)

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) [More info]: Herpes like to hang out in the ganglion cells and can travel though your nervous system. Outbreaks last from 1-6 weeks. Shingles, and chicken pox are both herpes. Both simplex 1 & 2 can be transmitted to the mouth and the genitals.

• HSV1 - This shows up as the common cold sore. It is not normally transmitted during sex but it can be. 
• HSV2 - Shows up as genital herpes. It is highly contagious and is mostly contagious before symptoms in the prodomal stage.
• Treatment - Treated by anti-viral medication, there are several prescription antiviral medications for controlling herpes simplex outbreaks, such as acyclovir (Zovirax®), valacyclovir (Valtrex®), famciclovir (Famvir®), and penciclovir (Denavir®).

Human Papaloma Virus (HPV) [More info]: HPV has 95 strains, the most common are 6, 11, 16, and 18. 90% of women are infected. It is the #1 STI period.

• Symptoms: Males show few or no symptoms and it usually shows up as warts that go unnoticed or are in the urethra. In females the warts are usually in the vagina and if they are not caught they will go unnoticed without regular screening.
• Treatment: There is no treatment for HPV itself. Vaccines like Gardasil help prevent the most common strains. There are treatments for the diseases HPV causes. Visible genital warts can be removed by the patient him or herself with medications & cervical cancer is most treatable when it is diagnosed and treated early. But women who get routine Pap tests and follow up as needed can identify problems before cancer develops. Prevention is always better than treatment. 

Hepatitis [More info]: Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. B, C, and D are all sexually transmitted and can be transmitted through sweat, spit and other fluids.

• Symptoms: Many people with hepatitis B or C do not have symptoms when first infected and can still develop liver failure later. Other symptoms include abdominal pain or distention, breast development in males, dark urine and pale or clay-colored stools, fatigue, general itching, jaundice, loss of appetite, low-grade fever, nausea and vomiting, weight loss.
• Treatment:  There is no cure for hepatitis it self, there are vaccines for prevention.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) [More info]: HIV is a lentivirus that works by infecting white blood cells and turning them into HIV producing factories. It is spread through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, pre-ejaculate and breast milk. Shows up in 4 stages.

• Symptoms: 1. Acute HIV Infection - Shows up as Flu or mononucleosis like symptoms. 2-4 weeks after contact, it is very contagious at this point.  2. Asymptomatic HIV - This is a period of time that varies in length from person to person. The immune system degrades slowly but shows no symptoms. 3. PGL (Persistent Generalized Lymphadenopathy) - Lymphadenopathy is a term meaning "disease of the lymph nodes" and this is basically a swelling of the lymph nodes. 4. Full Blown AIDS - A severe suppression of the immune system caused by HIV. 
• Treatment - There is no cure for HIV. The treatment for HIV consists of antiretroviral therapy to suppress the replication of the HIV virus in the body. A combination of several antiretroviral agents, termed highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has been highly effective in reducing the number of HIV particles in the blood stream, as measured by the viral load (how much virus is found in the blood). A lot of patients have personal health and well being plans to help support their immune systems.