Physical and emotional effects of sexually transmitted diseases

¶ … Sexually Transmitted Diseases also had negative psychological, as well as physical, effects on the individual.

The purpose of the report is to convince the audience that STDs are not only a serious problem, but that many are able to remain hidden for years, silently causing neurological damage. This neurological damage, when untreated, may have longer and more serious effects upon the body than some of the initial physical issues.

STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, are caused by infections that pass from one person to another during sexual activity, sharing of blood or body fluids, or by accident in medical procedures. A more common and correct term under use now by the medical and public health profession is STI, or sexually transmitted infections, which is a broader base term that has more meaning in the contagious disease paradigm. Often, the infections do not cause any overt symptoms, but remain hidden and allow the person to remain infected.

STD and STI rates are quite high in most of the world, despite the advances in diagnostic and therapeutic treatments that allow for infected individuals to get treatment early on. In a number of cultures, changing sexual morals combined with oral contraceptives have eliminated some of the traditional (cultural) sexual restraints, especially for women. Still patients in many countries, and physicians, often have difficulty dealing openly with sexual issues, especially in countries that have primarily male physicians. In addition, the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria makes some STDs more difficult to control. Air travel and the shrinking of the ability for cultures to come into contact with one another causes the World Health Organization to estimate that about a million people are infected with some type of STI daily, most of whom are under 25 years of age (STD Statistics Worldwide, 2010).

Forecast -- The rest of the report will expand on the epidemiology and prevention of the most common STIs, focusing on the psychological and psychosocial factors that are consequences and circumstances of the infections. Alternatives and expansion of prevention mechanisms would be the next logical stage of research.

Step Six

Methodologically, my focus was on combining primary and secondary research materials to find the most cogent and understandable information on the subject. The challenge in this research was not a lack of information, but too much information that needed to be appropriately qualified. The information on the subject is typically categorized into: medical layman, medical technical, epidemiological, educational, sociological, political, social policy, and statistical. Because of the amount of information, it was important that one find the most current possible that was understandable, and scientific enough for validity but accessible enough for the regular scholarly researcher. However, of interest was the focus of much of the data. It was primarily dealing with physical symptoms and treatments with the psychological and ancillary effects far less. Until the diseases progressed into the severe neurological range, many of the studies briefly mentioned psychological and psycho-social effects, but rarely did they focus upon them.

Step Seven

STDs are more commonly called STIs (infections) because the epidemiology now focuses on causation and spread of the diseases after infection

Studies show that approximately 1 million people are infected with an STI daily, almost half of those under the age of 30

Education and safe sex are the two predominant means of controlling the epidemic

STDs are more commonly called STIs (infections) because the epidemiology now focuses on causation and spread of the diseases after infection

Sexually transmitted diseases have become endemic in most of the modern world. However, because of their nature, it is more appropriate to study them as STIs, or sexually transmitted infections since that is the their most common form, and the manner in which they are typically spread. The distinction, particularly from a public health perspective, is that the term STI has a broader range -- meaning those who may become infected through needle sharing, sexual activity, or medical procedures; not necessarily those who develop the disease.

Studies show that approximately 1 million people are infected with an STI daily, almost half of those under the age of 30.

At least 25% of U.S. teenage girls have had a STI, 40% among those who have acknowledged they are sexually active. In the world, AIDS/HIV is the single largest cause of mortality in some countries (Sub-Saharan Africa) and one of the most hard to control and virulent STIs. In the United States, about 1.1 million individuals live with HIV / AIDS, and yet it remains the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34.

Education and safe sex are the two predominant means of controlling the epidemic.

It is through the public consciousness and education that the rate of STIs may be mitigated. Recognition, for instance, that AIDS threatened to become a global pandemic led to numerous United Nations educational campaigns and most of the developed world has aggressive education and prevention programs that have allowed AIDS to be slowed down. Significant research in HIV still hopes for a vaccine. In all STIs, contact tracing, education, and open communication are important measures to contain the infection.

Step Eight -- Implications

Prior to the invention of modern antibiotics and aggressive medical treatments, STIs were incurable and often led to dramatic psychological and psychosocial effects from the disease. Many creative geniuses of the past were said to have one or more STI, usually syphilis, resulting in a form of madness and later death. Once antibiotics came onto the scene, it was only HIV / AIDS, HPV and some forms of Hepatitis that remain incurable; but treatable. Public health contact tracing, testing potential partners of infected individuals, treated the infected and then tracing their contacts in return has become a powerful weapon. Frank discussion and open educational programs prove that societal morality must be put aside in order to help prevent and then mitigate the issue.