It’s no surprise that a majority of people in the United States are effected by sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STD’s). But according to a new report, it looks like women are the most effected by the epidemic.
According to Dr. Hunter Handsfield, a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Washington Center for AIDS and STDs, “STDs are biologically and psycho-socially sexist at all levels.”
“Women bear the largest burden of these diseases,” agreed Dr. Edward Hook, co-director of the Center for Social Medicine and Sexually Transmitted Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“Chlamydia and gonorrhea, for example, are two of the leading preventable causes of infertility and ectopic pregnancies in the United States, and on Earth.”
It also appears that they are biologically more likely to transmit from the male to female rather than female to male.
“So at any one exposure, a susceptible woman is more likely to catch it than a susceptible man,” Handsfield explained. It appears that because of the vagina’s thin skin, it’s easier for bacteria and viruses to enter and then grow due to the moisture.
One specific example of this, Handsfield reveals, is herpes. “Because of the nature of the female genitalia, if you get new herpes, there’s likely multiple painful blisters,” Handsfield said. “For men, typically a few blisters.”
He also brings up human papillomavirus, or HPV which can cause cervical cancer.
“Yes, men can get penile cancer from HPV,” Hansfield said, “but at about one hundredth the rate that women get cervical cancer from HPV.”
It appears that even after a woman has contracted an STD, she still may not notice it.
“If a woman has a little burning on urination, maybe it was too much time on the exer-cycle, maybe the underwear was too tight, maybe there were spicy foods for dinner,” said Hook.
“Maybe there’s a little discharge, a little itch,” Handsfield said. “It’s easy for a woman to think it’s a yeast infection and self-treat while the chlamydia is climbing up into her fallopian tubes.”
This issue also extends itself to doctor diagnoses, where it’s apparently easier to find men with STDs than women.
“If a guy goes into a doctor’s office with a urethral discharge,” Handsfield said, “there are only a very small handful of things that can cause it, and most of those are STDs. Any half-trained medical school student can diagnose it and accurately get it treated.”
It apparently can take several days for a doctor to run the tests needed to determine what may be causing a woman’s symptoms.
“Even the most sophisticated expert clinicians end up scratching their heads about the cause of 20% or 30% of women’s vaginal discharge,” Handsfield said.
Meanwhile Hook gave a personal example for how more than the STDs can be sexist.
“My wife is a OB-Gyn and I am an infectious disease physician who specializes in STDs, so there’s been a lot of talk about this issue at my house,” Hook said.
“Once my daughter went to see her doctor and at the end of the exam the doctor said, ‘Okay, you’re good to go.’
“Now for over 10 years, it’s been recommended that every woman age 24 or less who is sexually active be tested for chlamydia once a year. But data show that occurs in less than 50% of women in our country,” he explained.
“So my daughter said, ‘Well, did you do a chlamydia test?’ And that elicited a lecture from the doctor on why she didn’t need to have sex to please boys.”
Most frightening, perhaps, is that the numbers for infection are at staggering heights.
“These numbers, astounding as they are, probably represent only half of all STD cases because they are not uniformly reported to the CDC,” Hook said.
It turns out their testing has become even more advanced for such things.
“With the popularity of anal and oral sex, we now look at what we call extra-genital sites of sexual exposure, both the throat and the rectum,” Hook said.
Handsfield also mentioned that it’s untrue when people suggest women infected with STDs are simply more sexually active.
“There are 1.7 million cases of chlamydia in the United States,” Handsfield said. “And we know that rates are higher in women than men. And we also know more than half of the women who get infected with chlamydia had only a single sexual partner in the last year.”
Thankfully, they did give some advice for women regarding these situations.
“I think that most people believe that the only people who get sexually transmitted infections are people who are somehow taking risks and doing wrong things,” Hook said. “And that’s clearly not the case.”
“Learn your genitals,” Handsfield said. “Learn what’s normal for you and be aware of any new oddities, and don’t be afraid to check them out.
“Any new or unexplained vaginal discharge or change in the character of vaginal discharge, including odor, requires professional evaluation,” Handsfield said, and included that “any unexplained genital sore, lump or swollen gland in the groin, low abdominal or pelvic pain, or change in menstrual pattern are all reasons to visit a doctor.”
“Spotting between periods and spotting after sex is high risk of an inflamed cervix due to STDs,” Handsfield said. “Many women have symptoms like this from time to time anyway, so it’s a bit frustrating, but you’ll know if that is abnormal for you.”
Finally, it’s suggested to be tested often.
“Everybody owes it to themselves to make sure they’re sexually healthy and they shouldn’t hesitate to be tested for these infections,” Hook said. “Look at it this way: If your tests are positive, the good news is that you found the infection and it can be treated before it causes you problems or gets transmitted to others.”
Source: CNN