Preventing STDs

The best way to prevent STDs is to abstain from sexual contact with others. But for indivividual who is sexually active, the following can be done to reduce the risk of developing an STD.1.Have sexual intercourse with only one uninfected partner whose only sexual partner is you.2.Use an unexpired male condom consistently and correctly. 3.To give intravenous injection, use new needle.4.Prevent and control other STDs to reduce susceptibility to HIV infection and to reduce your infectiousness if you are HIV-infected.5.Abstain from sex for as long as possible because the younger people are when having sex for the first time, the more susceptible they become to developing an STD.The risk of contacting an STD increases also with the number of sexual partners.6.Have regular medical checkups for STDs even when there are no symptoms, especially if you have sex with a new partner.7.Try and know the common symptoms of STDs, seek medical help if you suspect you have STD, no matter how mild they are.8.Avoid sexual intercouse during menstruation,an HIV-positive woman is probably more likely to infect her sexual partner during that time. On the other hand an HIV- negative woman is more likely to get infected during menses.9.Avoid douching because it removes some of the normal protective bacteria(normal flora) in the vagina, thus increasing the risk of contacting some STDs.
9.Get treated to reduce the risk of transmitting an STD to an infant,e.g a woman who have gonorhea can infect her newborn baby during delivery,thus developing conjunctivitis10.Know the possible risk of transmission in breast milk and whether commercial formula should be substituted.11.Inform all recent sex partners and urge them to get a checkup.12.Abstain from all sexual activity while being treated for an STD.13.Follow the doctor's prescription orders and complete the full course of medication prescribed.
At times some people are afraid or embarrassed to discuss their problem or seek for information abut their problems. There is really no need for this because most STDs are readily treated, and the earlier a person seeks treatment and warns sex partners about the disease, the less likely the disease will do irreparable physical damage, be spread to others or, in the case of a woman, be passed on to a newborn baby.It is also necessary to know that infertility can result from untreated STDs in both sexes.

MORE STD FACTS

STDs are infections with a varied group of agents which are grouped together because sexual contact is significant,although it is not compulsorily the only mechanism through which the diseases are acquired. It is a disease of life-style.It is thus possible to identify a population of patients at high risk for each infection, namely the sexual partners of patients with the STD.The more the sexual partners the more the risk of having STD.Such sexual partners must be evaluated and treated.An individual with one STD are very likely to have others.Thus, an individual diagnosed as having one STD should be evaluated for others that may be clinically silent but of much greater eventual medical consequence. Sexually active individual often present repeatedly with new infections. Cure rates are usually high when sexual partners are treated simultaneously, meaning that all have completed treatment before unprotected sexual contact is resumed.But if any of the partners acquired new sexual partner, risk of re-infection is possible.Some patient may not give good sexual history while some may not return for follow-up.Also there is possibility of having used self prescribed medications which may mask clinical features of disease without producing a cure. It is thus of utmost importance that individual with STD seek treatment from a qualified medical personnel. From personal experience as a medical practicioner, patient education regarding risk reduction is an important aspect of management.STD should be accorded the importance it deserved because it has done havoc to the productive ability of large section of the populace.

STD stand for sexually transmitted diseases. It affects both sexes and largely results in infertility in both sexes. An individual with STD cannot and should not be treated in isolation, the sexual partners should be carefully traced out and treated. Laboratory investigations may be necessary to pin down the organism causing the STD. It is of utmost importance that an individual with STD seek medical doctor opinion for treatment and counselling. And while doing this all information requested for by the doctor must be supplied as this would go a long way in determining the success or failure of the treatment.
It may be possible to trace the origin of the STD to non human source as in the case of a person who carelessly used a toilet and thus get infected. Such toilet disease may end as STD if and when such individual has sexual intercourse with his/her partner.This individual so infected may transfer it to his/her other sexual partner. Thus multiple sexual partner is a great factor in the spread of STD.
Many of the STD do not have readily detectable symptoms [especially in the females]- it calls for high index of suspicion for some people to realise they are harbouring STD. For example many do not realise that vaginal discharge is not something to joke with.But because such discharge may be without pain or any discomfort, such an individual may be silent about it.