Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) by JayHew

Introduction

With the advent of puberty we all become sexual beings to a certain degree and thus opens a new world for us as well as exposures to diseases that can be associated with exploring and experimenting with our sexuality. Knowing something of what is out there and how to protect our self is essential for a safe venture into our sexual beings.

Overall, the best protection for not being exposed to any sexually transmitted disease is total and complete abstinence but for the overwhelming majority of us, that is just not going to happen. The next best thing and the most common method is barrier protection (condoms for the most part). There are two varieties on the market now, one the oldest, is for use by men and covers the penis, but now there is a vaginal condom available that is inserted in the vagina. In some cases, gay men are using the vaginal condom when having anal sex, but I have not read any information as to effectiveness, etc in the literature. You need to understand use of condoms is not 100% protective, but only greatly reduces the risks. Next it is important to know what diseases are out there, how they are contracted, treated, possible complications and how to prevent them. That is what we are going to do here is present the facts as they are best known today.

To dispel some myths; you can’t get a sexually transmitted disease from a toilet seat, shaking hands with someone, being close to someone. For the most part it has to come from close intimate contact with an infected person and unsafe sexual acts performed.

Transmission of disease requires many factors being met and exposure does not necessarily mean you will contract the disease. Viral or Bacteria load is a factor (how many copies of the disease particles are you exposed to at a given time) as is environment of exposure (are there chemicals about, hot, cold, etc.) length of exposure, health of the individual. All factors have to meet a certain level of being right for the infection to take place, but since there are so many factors involved, it is hard to make sure one or another is not met so it is best to be as safe as possible.

Specific Diseases

Each disease is detailed as a separate article in the menu on the left that can be accessed by those that have an interest for the specific disease. It is presented in this manner to prevent being overwhelmed with all the information at one time. The information comes from the US Center for Disease Control.

I hope this information is helpful to any who use it. It may seem a lot at first, but knowledge is power and we need power to prevent these diseases from spreading, which in spite what some cite as a decrease in number of certain diseases, there actually has been an upturn in the number of cases of all STDs in the last couple of years.